DISSENT BY DESIGN is a book that was produced during 2022-2023 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.  It was on this date that I began a social media campaign on LinkedIn that directly addressed the invasion of a Sovereign country by a rogue super power. As a Graphic Designer I felt it was my obligation to do all I can to bring attention to this atrocity and bring the narrative to the forefront of the conversation so that we help end this conflict in all theways we can.  This book is a call to action, in the form of 'social media' posts throughout a one year period of time in our collective past, it is a documentation in chronological order of what happened, when and who was to blame and how many sufferred.   FInally, this book illustrates how Graphic Designers can use their knowledge as storytellers to forward a conversation about the most important things in our lives and how to preserve them.  We can be a vehicle of change and/or social engagement, to help people understand all the complex problems we face and to begin the process of solving those problems.  This is a way forus to bring past narratives to light once again, to rejoin the conversations that have been lost, and to further discuss and provide solutions through dialogue and change.

The following is a Generative AI instructional framework that seeks to warn up-and-coming professionals, corporations, and organizations of the potential social dangers of the widespread usage of generative artificial intelligence (AI), while also providing a framework for safeguarding digital racial and gender justice at the institutional level. 

This lesson provides an overview of the life and work of African American economist Glenn Cartman Loury, one of America’s most provocative thinkers on issues related to race, poverty, and social policy. A technical economist by training, Loury is usually identified as a Black conservative, though his worldview has undergone a series of transformations since he first emerged as an outspoken Reaganite in the 1980s. Born and raised in a working-class neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Loury rose through the ranks of elite academia to become the first Black tenured professor of economics at Harvard in 1982, doing groundbreaking work on “social capital.”The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all. 

Economist, cultural historian, social theorist, and unwavering critic of misguided social policy and self-important intellectuals, Thomas Sowell is celebrated as one of America’s greatest writers for his insistence on telling unpopular truths. He’s the author of over 50 books, countless essays and articles, and 19 scholarly papers in economics. But his ideas have also been shaped by his own life story, one that took him from rural North Carolina to the streets of Harlem, from the Marine Corps to the halls of academe, and from Marxism to classical liberalism. It’s a journey that might surprise Sowell’s critics – and that students of all ages will find compelling, empowering, and a wonderful introduction to a brilliant mind. Made possible in part by the generosity of the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation.  The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

Bullying is a widespread problem among our schools and communities that can lead to increased fighting and violent futures for both the victims and bullies themselves. How can youth change these statistics and contribute to a positive school environment?

Highlighting the film, Girl Rising, this curriculum seeks to examine the barriers that prevent children, specifically girls, from accessing education. The curriculum engages students in a critical discussion of: "How do we, as youth, create solutions to overcome the challenges of access to education?"

With a focus on education in Afghanistan, the Witness to Education in Afghanistan and Throughout the World curriculum examines global and local examples of how education can be use to create social change. Students address the driving question: "How can we, as youth, utilize education to promote positive change within our communities?"

Often compared to modern day slavery, human trafficking has become one of the world's largest hidden criminal industries. How do we, as youth, combat all forms of human trafficking?

The ocean's resources are slowly being depleted. This curriculum examines the issue of overfishing and its impact on both the environment and human life. In developing sustainable solutions, the students address the driving question: "How can we as youth, sustain the future of the world's ocean through our actions today?"

The TechCamps Collaborative Innovation Project Guidebook leads students through activities that help peers collaborate and define a challenge in their own local or global communities. Then, develop a project that addresses a chosen issue by promoting positive change and community engagement.

The Wasted: Don't Trash the Earth curriculum asks students to examine the impact of the waste we locally and globally produce and seek creative solutions to reduce this wastefulness by answering the driving question: "How can we, as youth, rethink waste?"

How do we, as youth, learn from the conflict in Rwanda to strengthen media access and quality in our own communities? In this program, students will explore the role of the media in Rwanda, before, during, and after the genocide and explore how to expand media access, quality, and equity in their communities and around the world.

Students will identify how Martin Luther King Jr's dream of nonviolent conflict-resolution is reinterpreted in modern texts. Homework is differentiated to prompt discussion on how nonviolence is portrayed through characterization and conflict. Students will be formally assessed on a thesis essay that addresses the Six Kingian Principles of Nonviolence.

This curriculum addresses legislative, policy, and political analysis for child welfare issues; analysis of the impact of funding sources; content of legislation; policy decision-making processes; development of plans for advocating for legislation that will help people who receive child welfare services; strategies for social action; lobbying; political campaigning; and identifying opportunities for intervention. It includes material on federal and state child welfare policies and funding mechanisms with practice-related content, a list of websites that can be used to gather information on legislation, policy-making, and electoral campaigns, and class discussion topics and assignments. (194 pages)Hardina, D. (1997)

This course examines different types of violent political conflict. It compares and contrasts several social science approaches (psychological, sociological, and political) and analyzes their ability to explain variation in outbreak, duration and outcome of conflict. Incidents such as riots in the U.S. during the 1960’s, riots in India, the Yugoslav wars, and the Russian Revolution, as well as current international events are discussed.