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Colleagues are warmly invited to an Open Lecture hosted by the TVAD Research Group at the University of Hertfordshire TVAD Visiting Researcher 2011/12 - DR DAVID BRODY Open Lecture, Wednesday 28th March 2012, 5.30 - 7 pm A166, Lindop Building, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Herts AL10 9AB '"We Listened to Our Guests": Rethinking the Redesign of Chicago's Hyatt Regency' This talk examines the relationship between hotel renovations and labour. While guests often laud renovated hotel rooms, with the hopes that interiors will be updated with the latest in technological features and design savvy, the results of these efforts can become a challenge for the housekeepers charged with maintaining these spaces. Indeed, new designs all too often translate into more work, as additional glass, more fabric, and an overabundance of light colours increase the physical challenges that attend room cleaning. Using the example of one hotel renovation in Chicago, David Brody will discuss how design choices can burden labour. Dr David Brody is an Associate Professor of Design Studies at Parsons The New School for Design, New York. He directs the Masters Program in the History of Decorative Arts and Design. He is the author of Visualizing American Empire (University of Chicago Press, 2010) and co-editor of Design Studies: A Reader (Berg 2009). A specialist in material culture, visual culture, and design studies, Dr Brody has published writing in Prospects: An Annual of American Cultural Studies, Journal of Asian American Studies, American Quarterly, Journal of Design History, American Periodicals, and his article on hotel design and housekeeping appeared in Design and Culture in 2011. His new book project is titled Do Not Disturb: Design, Hotels, and Labor and is under advance contract with the University of Chicago Press. David has given papers at numerous academic conferences. http://www.newschool.edu/parsons/faculty.aspx?id=48674 All are welcome for this open drop-in event - we look forward to seeing you! Dr Grace Lees-Maffei, MA RCA PhD FHEA Reader in Design History and Coordinator, TVAD Research Group http://tvad-uh.blogspot.com/ School of Creative Arts, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB, UK. Direct Line: 0 44 (0)1707 285369 * Fax: 0 44 (0)1707 285350 * [log in to unmask] www.go.herts.ac.uk/gracelees-maffei http://herts.academia.edu/GraceLeesMaffei Managing Editor, Journal of Design History http://jdh.oxfordjournals.org/ Editor, Writing Design: Words and Objects http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1847889557/ Co-Editor, The Design History Reader http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1847883893/ Advisory Board member, The Poster http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-journal,id=181/ www.twitter.com/graceleesmaffei