Join us for rapid-fire thesis presentations, sharp dispatches, and the launch of 2NDFL Issue Two—celebrating the D-Crit Class of 2026. The program will feature original research, short readings, and conversation exploring the shifting contours of design, culture, and society—followed by a reception and publication launch in the lobby.

Featured thesis presentations (Class of 2026):
Mo Alabi
Tash Nikol Smith
Vlad Ilkevich
Deborah Adams Doering
July Winters

Additional faculty and alumni participants to be announced, including department chair Molly Heintz, lead thesis advisor Alex de Looz, Eric Schwartau, Brian Droitcour, Amanda Ramos and more (TBA).

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.

"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