Assistant Professor @ UW-Madison’s School of Human Ecology
Lead PI @ The Critical Praxis Lab
Owner & Principal @ studio eyk

Community-engaged (action) research and scholarship on the relationship between the history of place, the role of the design industry, and the evolving innovation economy.

Currently focusing on the social implications of hyperscale data center proposals for residents in rural and industrial Wisconsin.

On the Horizon:
[Journal Article] In Press. Unsettling Boundaries: Accounting for Social Histories in Participatory Design. Temes de Disseny. Publication Date: Summer 2026

[Book Chapter] In Press. The Politics of Place-based Design: An Inquiry into a Worldbuilding Practice. Urban Humanities 2: An (Un)volume of Place, Pedagogy, and Practice. Publication Date: Summer 2026. Publisher: Routledge

[Conference Presentation] 4S Confernce in Toronto, CAN. Technopower . Technoscientific Futures. Presentation Date: October 2026

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*Photography

© Esther Y. Kang 2026 | eykang2@wisc.edu