Special Lecture Series
This lecture series, held at the close of each academic year, features a senior IDC faculty member. While our faculty are regularly invited to speak at conferences and events around the world, we seldom have the opportunity to hear them reflect here, within our own community, on what matters most to us.
The series seeks to create that space—an opportunity to listen to those who have witnessed IDC’s evolution over the years, and to learn from their perspectives on how far we have come, where we stand today, and how we might think about the future.
- Inaugural lecture by Prof Ravi Poovaiah on 17 April 2025 at 4:00 PM at Prof Nag Auditorium, VMCC.
- Lecture by Prof Alka Hingorani on 17 April 2026 at 4:00 PM at Prof Nag Auditorium, VMCC.
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Re: Design
Moving into lower gear
Abstract: Design, today, is compelled to reconfigure its complicated relationship with nature. Human activity since the industrial revolution has sought to tame and subjugate nature, harness it to the point where sustainability has become a matter of stewardship of a human-transformed natural environment, not of nature as such. Design carries part of that responsibility. Social and political dimensions also direct design, and this coming together of realms makes design a cultural system – shaped not only by formal and material considerations, but also by ideas in social, political, philosophical and environmental contexts. Its contribution to consumer capitalism gives us pause, not only to think, but also perhaps to tackle this uphill task by moving into lower gear: less speed, more torque. In this talk I will share my thoughts on the role of intent, time, and place, in design.
Transcript of the lecture