Reflections and Research-Get to know the participants
Human-Centered Design in the Liberal Arts and Social Sciences:
Reflections and Research
Get to Know the Participants
Guest Speaker Dr. Sofía Bosch Gómez!
Dr. Sofía Bosch Gómez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art + Design at Northeastern’s College of Arts, Media, and Design. She is also affiliated with the Burnes Center for Social Change and The GovLab. As a designer and researcher, she is interested in the intersection of public service innovation, design research, and education.
Bosch Gómez earned her doctorate from the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University, where she also served as a Teaching Fellow. Before pursuing her PhD, she worked in design research, experience and service design, and visual communication for both the Mexico City government and the Mexican federal government. She has also collaborated with international and philanthropic institutions such as the International Labour Organization, Bloomberg, and the Inter-American Development Bank.
As a Chevening Scholar, she earned an MA in Design: Critical Practice from Goldsmiths College in London, UK, and holds a BFA in Design from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.
Participant Bios
Nikia Brown
Former Associate Director, Intercultural and Global Learning, International Student Experience
Nikia is a Philadelphia native with an unyielding passion for people and places. Growing up in a Caribbean household sparked her desire to build bridges between diverse cultures. After teaching English in South Korea, she earned a master’s in sociology from Sungkyunkwan University, researching identity negotiation among youth from multicultural families. Back in the U.S., she worked in youth development and civic engagement while completing a second master’s in intercultural and international communication at American University. Now, as Associate Director for Intercultural and Global Learning – International Student Experience at UIUC, she supports international students and leads programs like the LAS Global Leaders Program. A travel and brunch enthusiast, Nikia is passionate about creating platforms that empower individuals to become agents of their own change.
Carrie James
SCD Fellow, LASS Research & Integration
Carrie is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Siebel Center for Design. She recently earned her PhD in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research explores multimodal writing, out-of-school literacy practices, culturally responsive teacher prep, and integrating human-centered design (HCD) into the humanities and social sciences. She has shared her work at conferences including AERA, LRA, and ISLS. At SCD, she teaches courses such as Exercising Empathy and Design for Social Impact.
Shubham Kumar
Senior Product Designer for the Healthy Regions & Policies Lab
Shubham senior product designer at the Healthy Regions & Policies Lab within the Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. We integrate innovative GIScience, public health, and statistical approaches to explore, understand, and promote healthy places. My role involves all parts of the design process—from getting to know our users’ needs to creating high-fidelity mockups, and everything in between.
Jena Marble
Clinical Assistant Professor of Graphic Design
Jena Marble is a graphic designer, art director, and educator. She has extensive experience in industry—working with clients that include Kohl’s, Toyota, Vienna Beef, and American Express—as well as academia and government—collaborating with Arizona State University, Baylor, USAID, the US State Department, and the National Institutes of Health. With a degree in visual communication and years of professional experience, she uses streamlined research and design processes to help transform brands. She has extensive knowledge of brand identity methodology and execution, and has designed solutions for both startups and well-established companies. Within the classroom, she combines firsthand knowledge with hands-on instruction to foster a collaborative, creative, and practical environment.
Andrew Moss
Senior Lecturer, LAS Department of English
Andrew Moss teaches writing and literature at the University of Illinois. He has developed courses in grant writing, international business culture and practical business argument. He works extensively with public schools and community organizations in Champaign-Urbana to connect Illinois' resources to under-served students and groups.
June Sirichusinwong
Undergraduate Student Majoring in Chemistry and Economics
June is a senior studying Chemistry and Economics and has been in the LAS Global Leaders Program for 4 Years. Post Graduation, she aspires to work in the finance industry as an analyst. She also plans to continue her efforts in a sustainability and social impact driven work.
Michael Tissenbaum
Associate Professor, Curriculum & Instruction
Dr. Tissenbaum's research, which focuses on collaborative learning and knowledge communities, aims to understand how children develop STEM and computational literacies when engaged with technology-enhanced learning. More broadly, his work focuses on how to design transformational learning environments that combine interactive physical spaces, digital information, and collaboration between learners to envision the future of learning both in and out of schools. Dr. Tissenbaum has developed several theories on how students collaborate and learn in open-ended and exploratory learning environments.