DCRIT

D-CritD-CRIT Thesis Symposium and 2NDFL Issue Two Launch

Fri, May 15, 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Please join us for the launch of 2NDFL Issue 2 and an evening of thesis presentations, sharp dispatches, and critical conversations on the shifting contexts and consequences of design.

Featured presentations by MA Class of 2026 :

  • Mo Alabi, “Flyers, Stickers and Storefronts: the Transient Monuments of New York City’s Immigrant Communities”
  • Deborah Adams Doering, “Dreaming the Manifest-O: Outside Meets Inside at Kassel’s documenta”
  • Vlad Ilkevich, “Peak B2B: The Latte Art of War, Normalizing Palantir, and Davos as Anti-Venice”
  • Tash Nikol, “Speaking in Iron: The Hidden Language of New Orleans”
  • July Winters, "Skincare in the Game: Designing for Beauty with Black Excellence"

With remarks by D-Crit program chair Molly Heintz and lead thesis advisor Alex de Looz.
Hosted by Amanda Ramos, CEO of WIN and MA candidate, D-Crit Class of 2027.

Doors: 5:00pm
Program: 5:30pm
Reception to follow

An NYC x Design official event.

About 2NDFL
"2NDFL is our publication—and also the floor where D-Crit happens: second thoughts, second opinions, second drafts. It’s the space between boots-on-the-ground reporting and rigorous research, where ideas travel up from the street and down from the clouds—toward clarity, consequence, and context."

—Eric Schwartau, editor, 2NDFL

"The diverse range of thesis topics often surprises the guest critics who join us for students’ 'work-in-progress' presentations during the academic year. How can Iranian stamps, fertility treatments, and a 1980s rock concert, for example, be part of the same conversation around our seminar room table? The common thread is the mode of analysis: the lens of design. Starting with the designed artifacts—objects, entities, or systems produced to serve a specific purpose– students consider what a design is made of, who made it, and why. It’s an unassuming start to a research journey that may go on to epic, unexpected places over the course of two semesters and, we hope, beyond. Bigger and broader questions of cultural diplomacy, economic exploitation, or social impact unfold and cross-pollinate. New, and often more urgent, levels of conversation and debate flourish. Ideas gain strength and clarity in the written word, all sustained by the common ground of design."

—Molly Heintz, Program Chair