CED Cal Day Keynote Lecture: Storytelling, Design, and Social Change

This lecture will be given by Eric J. Cesal, CED Lecturer and Director of the Sustainable Environmental Design Major Program

Eric J. Cesal will present an interactive session on the art of storytelling and design as a tool for social change. In addition to his faculty role at CED, Cesal is a designer, writer, and noted post-disaster expert, having led on-the-ground reconstruction programs after the Haiti earthquake, the Great East Japan Tsunami, and Superstorm Sandy. Cesal’s formal training is as an architect, with international development, economics and foreign policy among his areas of expertise. 

Cseal is Special Projects Director for the Curry Stone Foundation, which honors innovative design projects addressing pressing social justice issues. He also hosts Social Design Insights, a weekly podcast on design for social good.

Cesal has been called “Architecture’s First Responder” by The Daily Beast for his work leading Architecture for Humanity’s post-disaster programs from 2010 to 2014. He has been interviewed widely on the subjects of disaster and resilience by publications such as The New Yorker, Architectural Record, Architect Magazine, Foreign Policy Magazine and Monocle. He has served as a juror for various design awards and frequently lectures globally on disaster reconstruction and resilience.