Dr. Diane Derr

Biography

Diane Derr, Ph.D., is a scholar and educator whose work investigates how design can operate as a form of cultural inquiry.  Working across discursive design and emergent technologies, her practice examines how cultural narratives, systems of knowledge, and technological conditions shape what can be seen, questioned, and imagined. She approaches design as a problem-seeking practice—a means of revealing assumptions, reframing questions, and making alternative possibilities tangible.

Prior to serving as Associate Dean for Research and Development at VCUarts Qatar, Derr spent a decade teaching in the school’s Master’s program in Design Studies. Her pedagogy brought critical inquiry into conversation with speculative practice and emerging technologies, asking students to consider not only what design produces but how problems themselves are framed. She holds a Ph.D. in Interactive Arts from the University of Plymouth, an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art and Media from Columbia College Chicago, and dual BFA degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Her work has been featured in publications, conferences, and exhibitions, including Technoetic Arts, Frameless Labs, the Istanbul Design Biennial, ISEA, Artists Space (New York), and Gezira Art Center in Cairo. She has lectured at universities and cultural institutions including University College London, the University of Toronto, Sapienza University of Rome, the University of the Witwatersrand, CIANT in Prague, and Fábrica de Arte Cubano in Havana.