My name is Laurene Vaughan and I am the 2012 – 2103 Nierenberg Chair, Visiting Professor in Design at Carnegie Mellon University. I am the studio leader, working with Anna (our TA) and the students on this exploration into design, place and social innovation. The theme of guns and kids came about long before the Newtown shooting, but since then it has grown to become one of the hot topics for social change. I normally live in Melbourne Australia, where I am an Associate Professor in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University. I am also part of the Design Research Institute there, and of the Design Futures Lab with colleagues in the Communication Design Programme at RMIT.

In designing this course I am working with a great range of students and colleagues from in the States and internationally. My approach to this class is one of co-design – in conjunction with the students we are designing our way into the problem space and out again. what that will be and what will result we have yet to know.