When Students Challenge the Eurocentric Bias in Architectural Discourse

2021-03-16T12:21:00-04:00

The founders of ASTERISK. From left to right: Kayla Castro, Ezinneka Emeh, Mohamad Annous, Karin Najarian

I have become particularly impressed by a group of architecture students at Woodbury University who run an organization called ASTERISK. Kayla Castro, Karin Najarian, Ezinneka Emeh, and Mohamad Annous are all third-year B.Arch students in the School of Architecture, and they have — among others during this time — begun to challenge the male-dominated eurocentric canon they have observed in architectural discourse. These four, I think, are prime examples of the kind of character that grows from a sincere desire and determination to bring about change and to challenge long-held conventions.

When the quartet began to realize that there was a bias embedded in how architecture history was presented to them, they began to question the overarching narrative of that “history.” While the school is actively working to reform its curriculum, students are given an open voice to engage, chall...

Woodbury SoA and Social Advocacy

2020-11-02T14:00:00-05:00

Woodbury NOMAS chapter at the 2018 NOMA Conference in Chicago. Students pictured (from left to right): Cory Matsuda, Stephanie Green, Khan Muhammad, Storm Campo, Daniel Pena-Sosa, Lamont Burnley. Image courtesy of Woodbury University School of Architecture.

“Advocate” is one of those terms mired with connotative presuppositions. Both noun and verb; the advocate advocates. See what I mean? Many have become self-proclaimed advocates, while few have actually practiced the harder path of advocacy. Advocates proper, by definition, put their money where their mouth is. Currency, that is. Advocates contribute currencies of value: time, money, you get it. And while a press statement of solidarity is great and all, what happens afterward, and perhaps even beforehand, is a useful measure of who is the self-proclaimed advocate and who is the advocate proper.

Woodbury University calls itself an advocate of diversity, equity, and inclusion in architecture. Many schools have called themselves the ...

Archinect - Reflections on Academia

When Students Challenge the Eurocentric Bias in Architectural Discourse

Woodbury SoA and Social Advocacy