Introduction
Welcome to 51–372 Persuasion
School of Design / Carnegie Mellon University.
Spring 2022, Mondays & Wednesdays, 11:50 am–1:10 pm (Eastern Time), Room MM 107 and Zoom
Instructors (PhD Researchers):
Donna Maione (dmaione@andrew.cmu.edu);
Fas Lebbie (flebbie@andrew.cmu.edu);
Silvana Juri (sjuri@andrew.cmu.edu)
Teaching Assistant: Ann Li (annli@andrew.cmu.edu)
Overview to this class
Persuasion is an important capacity for designers to understand and to have — both in design practice itself and in professional situations. Your ability to put across your message, to get other people to agree with you, to value your work, and to want to work with you, will be central to your career, both inside and outside of design. Equally, understanding what persuades you and others — how we are influenced by other people, by media, by technology, by our environment, by design — is a crucial reflective and critical skill to develop in better understanding yourself, your design practice, those around you, and more widely, society.
In this course, we will explore persuasion through a diverse range of influencing tactics or approaches from a series of perspectives, some focused on design specifically, and some looking at insights from other fields and applying them within a design context.
This is a huge subject, and we will be introducing you to a variety of ideas and methods which form a broad body of knowledge rather than a deep dive into a single subject. The classes will be a mixture of discussions, practical activities, lectures and workshops, taught in different ways and with the participation of a series of guests who have expertise on the different subjects. You will have the opportunity to engage with the different themes and angles both individually (through readings) and through group activities and group projects, giving you the chance to properly reflect and enhance your learning at your own pace and also by developing it through dialogue and collaboration.
We acknowledge that these are peculiar times, so we have committed to support your learning journey by making the course a platform to promote: plurality and openness, wellbeing, respect and care, while offering an enjoyable space in which to meet and grow, collectively.
Course Calendar
The course contents cover a diverse series of concepts, tools and skills to develop. The following table shows the outline of the key themes and dates throughout the semester.
