she/they
Alison Place is a designer, educator and researcher whose work explores the intersection of design and feminist theory as a space for critical making and radical speculation. She is currently writing a book, Feminist Designer: On the Personal and the Political in Design (MIT Press 2023), which illuminates design as a feminist practice through essays, case studies and dialogues. She has presented her research at universities and conferences, both nationally and internationally, and has received numerous honors for her design work and scholarship, including the Design Incubation Book Writing Fellowship and the Robert C. and Sandra Connor Endowed Faculty Fellowship.
Alison is currently an assistant professor of graphic design in the School of Art at the University of Arkansas, where she also serves as director of the graphic design program. She teaches all levels of design, specializing in design research, emerging technologies and speculative design. Prior to joining the University of Arkansas, Alison was a visiting assistant professor of communication design at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she also served as director of the communication design minor program. Since 2019, she has served on the AIGA Design Educators National Steering Committee. She has over ten years of industry experience as a creative director and designer for higher education and nonprofit institutions. She earned an M.F.A. in experience design from Miami University, and a B.S. in graphic design and a certificate in journalism from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning.