Symposium 02 Workshops

Deem creates space for vital and transformative conversations. Through our public programs, we create live moments for designers, and the design curious, to explore their practices together. With the Deem Symposium, Reference Room, and Forum Series, we have been able to expand beyond print and provide opportunities for our community to interact in real time.On October 24 - 25, 2025, the MCA Chicago will host Deem Journal’s third annual symposium.Designing for Dignity 03: A Convening of Possibilitieswill carry forth the thematic discourse of the past two years with a day of hybrid in-person/online programming dedicated to expansive perspectives on liberatory design thinking, and grounded in the shared value of dignity. Through presentations, conversations, and a participatory activation, this daylong gathering will consider challenging and topical subjects through the intersecting lenses of design and social practice. As in the past, our program will bring together deeply engaged, experimentally inclined, and intergenerational thinkers and doers across a range of lived experiences and expertise. It is our intention that the time we share will stimulate connectivity and dialogue, energized by our credence in each person's critical potential to help design the world around them.Designing for Dignity 3: A Convening of Possibilities is made possible with support from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Graham Foundation, and is presented as part of the sixth edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial.