New Stamps Faculty Member to Focus on Anti-Racism By Design

Emilia Yang, Ph.D. will join the Stamps faculty as assistant professor of art and design this coming fall, bringing with her experience in community-based research/​creative work and in teaching 3D modeling, augmented/​virtual reality and other emerging technologies. Yang’s hiring was part of the University of Michigan Provost’s Anti-Racism Faculty Hiring initiative. 

Yang will focus on Anti-Racism by Design as a central area for research/​creative work, and will join colleagues at the U‑M School of Information and the Ford School of Public Policy to form the Racial Justice & Technology cluster. ​“My research is based on a commitment to racial and transformative justice that combines community outreach and inquiry with technological and theoretical experimentation to create community based media arts and designs that intervene in public space,” she said. 

As a cornerstone of her research and creative work, Yang will create a Transmedia Design and Transformative Justice Lab at Stamps which will produce research and experimental media production that contributes to societies’ efforts to reconfigure community bonds after human rights violations and racialized state violence. 

“At Stamps, I look forward to creating spaces that foster conversations and interdisciplinary collaborations around social, racial and gender justice across the University of Michigan, and the Ann Arbor and Detroit communities at large,” she said. ​“I also aim to design courses where students can explore, collaborate, innovate and cultivate a critical imagination. I feel very honored and grateful to join this great community of socially engaged artists, designers and makers.”

Yang recently completed a Ph.D. in the Department of Media Arts and Practice in the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. She holds an M.A. in communications from Pennsylvania State University and a B.A. in economics from Ave Maria University Latin American Campus.

View images of Dr. Yang’s recent work below, and learn more on her Stamps profile page.