Joseph Krupczynski
Director of Civic Engagement & Service-Learning and Professor of Architecture
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Joseph Krupczynski is a Professor in the Department of Architecture and the Director of Civic Engagement & Service-Learning at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is also one of the founding directors of the Center for Design Engagement (CDE), a non-profit community art/design resource center in Holyoke MA that is dedicated to bringing participatory design, public art and civic engagement strategies to local communities and community-based organizations in Western Massachusetts. A first-generation college student from a Puerto Rican and Polish family, Krupczynski’s work is founded on cross-cultural investigations that bridge ideas and places. As an educator, university administrator, and public artist/designer, his scholarship and creative work explores spatial justice, Latinx identity, and restorative creative place-making/keeping as he builds participatory platforms for meaningful engagement — especially in collaboration with underrepresented communities. As the director of Civic Engagement and Service Learning (CESL) at UMass Amherst Krupczynski supports programs and courses that allow students, faculty and staff to work collectively with communities for a more just world. He is the co-editor (in collaboration with Mari Castañeda) of Learning from Diverse Latinx Communities: Social Justice Approaches to Civic Engagement (2017).