Design in a Global Context: Envisioning Postcolonial and Transnational Possibilities

Karen Fiss (PhD, Yale University) is Associate Professor of Visual Studies and Design at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Her current research examines nation branding and nation building in post-apartheid South Africa and other emerging economies. Her forthcoming book, Grand Illusion: The Third Reich, the Paris Exposition and the Cultural Seduction of France (University of Chicago Press, Fall 2009) analyzes the “branding” of National Socialism through related developments in architecture, film, and mass culture. Fiss also has written articles on topics relating to globalization, politics, and social responsibility for the design magazines Print, CMYK, and Metropolis online.