Inclusive Excellence Fund

Submitted by: Bryan Orthel

Project Summary: The proposal outlines a plan to integrate Indiana-based Indigenous design knowledge into the W300 Design and Culture course. This course is taught at an institution and within a state named from Western colonial appropriation of the Indigenous cultures that are the past, present, and future caretakers of this land. Western understanding of design process starkly contrasts tacit, culturally derived, and traditional design processes used outside the Westernized approach. The proposed module may be the only focused discussion of Indigenous design in the students’ Eskenazi course of study.

Submitted by: Hassnaa Mohammed

Project Summary: For this study, the applicant proposed to conduct a discourse analysis of articles mentioning churches, temples, mosques, and synagogues in five main online interior design and architecture magazines frequently referenced by designers. With the rationale that media influence our thoughts and shape our practices, this study seeks to unravel some of the biases of framing religious buildings from a design perspective.

Submitted by: Daniel Luis Martinez

Project Summary: Marion Memorial represents an important collaboration between Eskenazi School faculty member Daniel Luis Martinez, noted Indianapolis-based artist Samuel Levi-Jones, and artist and educator Sam van Aken. The project aims to develop a proposal for a memorial and public space of healing adjacent to the Grant County Courthouse in Marion, Indiana. The courthouse square was the notorious site where a mob of residents lynched J. Thomas Shipp and Abraham S. Smith on August 7, 1930. James Cameron, a third African American victim was beaten by the mob, but narrowly escaped death. Photographs of this tragic event inspired the lyrics to the poem, “Strange Fruit,” later transcribed into a song by Abel Meeropol and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939.

This project seeks to create a spatial embodiment of historical events that can bring community members together and foster dialogue about the continued need for equal rights in our society. It will acknowledge the grim realities of Indiana’s past, while simultaneously creating a new public space that promotes diversity and inclusion. Support from the Inclusive Excellence Fund is providing a stipend for a graduate student assistant to gain invaluable experience over a ten-week period working as a team member on the project. The student will be selected from the National Organization of Minority Architects Student Chapter at Indiana University and will assist with historical analysis, contextual documentation, community engagement, and visualization of early design ideas for the project during the Summer of 2022.

Submitted by: Ran Huang, Minjeong Kim, and Sharron Lennon

Project Summary: This proposal aims to conduct a cross-cultural study of U.S. and Chinese consumers on the rapidly emerging retail innovation of livestreaming shopping. The primary goal is to bring enhanced cross- cultural understanding and perspectives into the merchandising curriculum. As a new type of social commerce, livestreaming is transforming the retail industry globally (Bloomberg, 2020). China is currently leading this emergent livestreaming business (e.g, Taobao Live, JD Live) with estimated $480 billion revenue. On the contrary, U.S. businesses (e.g., Facebook Live, Amazon Live) are struggling to adapt this new social commerce to the U.S. market with estimated $11 billion in revenues in 2022 (eMarketer, 2021). Livestreams in China have been highly effective in fostering emotional and social connections between consumers and streamers and have attracted over 559 million Chinese consumers, 62% of China’s internet users (CNNIC, 2020). Conversely, livestreams in the U.S. are emerging, but underdeveloped. This project will offer insights about retail innovation through a cross-cultural lens. It will involve international students from China in discussions of cross-cultural consumer behaviors in livestreaming and provide them with an opportunity to lead discussions and help interpret the insights from the research with faculty and students at the Eskenazi School.

Submitted by: Linda Tien and Betsy Stirratt

Project Summary: Identity is a mutable and personal concept. The intersections of location, culture, sociopolitical realms, objects, personal & collective experiences all contribute to how we develop our own unique sense of identity, and the perception of the identities of those around us. Identity/Identify (working title) will be an exhibition of contemporary art that explores the vast territories of identity within today’s visual artistic practice. Containing works in photography, painting, digital art, fashion design and other media, the exhibit will illustrate the concept of identity from a variety of intersectional viewpoints and perspectives.

The exhibition will take place at the Grunwald Gallery, and artists will be selected by invitation from a pool of local and national emerging and established artists and IU MFA students and faculty. Gallery talks and performances will take place during the course of the exhibit, several of which will be organized through collaborative partnerships with both IU and community organizations such as Bloomington Pride, Neal- Marshall Black Culture Center, Queer Students IU and La Cass/Latino Cultural Center.