Events
Instructional Approaches to Information Design and Visual Communication
Event Start Date: Tuesday, April 22, 2025 - 10:30 am
Event End Date: Tuesday, April 22, 2025 - 11:30 am
Location: Hornbake 2119
Abstract: Dr. Samantha McDonald will present an overview of her academic research and teaching philosophy, highlighting her commitment to fostering critical thinking and applied learning in the fields of information systems and data visualization. As part of her presentation, she will lead a brief course on Gestalt Principles, demonstrating their foundational role in design thinking and the effective communication of visual information.
Bio: Dr. Samantha McDonald is a civic technology researcher specializing in the design of communication systems that support representative and deliberative democracy. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine, and has worked as a consultant for congressional technology companies, as well as a UX researcher at Meta, focusing on products for monetization users. In addition to her industry and academic work, she spent the last two years as a civic advocate for affordable housing and public recreational access in the California tidelands, where she currently lives aboard her sailboat.
Speaker(s): Dr. Samantha McDonald