Hospitality as Pedagogy

Event ID: PP1161927

Thu, Mar 12, 2026 | 4:30 PM - 4:50 PM

Venue: Paramount III (The Westin Austin Downtown)

View on Official SXSW

Summary

What if classrooms were designed like hospitality spaces—hotels, restaurants, places of welcome, rhythm, and care? In this talk, designer-researcher Shruthi Manjula Balakrishna explores how hospitality frameworks such as arrival sequence, wayfinding, sensory design, and emotional arc can reshape the rituals and environments of learning. Drawing from design psychology and service strategy, this session offers a fresh lens for fostering trust, comfort, and connection in education.

Contributors

Raw Event JSON

Large nested arrays are compacted for page readability. Full payload remains in dataset files.

Open JSON payload
{
  "id": "PP1161927",
  "track": "Culture",
  "focus_area": "Convergence",
  "category": "Solo",
  "event_id": "PP1161927",
  "event_type": "panel",
  "format": "Solo",
  "genre": null,
  "subgenre": null,
  "name": "Hospitality as Pedagogy",
  "presented_by": null,
  "publish_at": "2025-10-22T08:00:00.000-05:00",
  "reservable": false,
  "reservable_id": null,
  "reserved": false,
  "date": "2026-03-12",
  "end_time": "2026-03-12T11:50:00.000-05:00",
  "start_time": "2026-03-12T11:30:00.000-05:00",
  "message": null,
  "image": null,
  "credentials": [
    {
      "name": "Music Badge",
      "type": "music"
    },
    {
      "name": "Platinum Badge",
      "type": "platinum"
    },
    {
      "name": "Innovation Badge",
      "type": "innovation"
    },
    {
      "name": "Film & TV Badge",
      "type": "filmtv"
    }
  ],
  "contributors": [
    {
      "id": 84804,
      "company": "FÖDA Studio",
      "credential_types": [
        "filmtv",
        "innovation",
        "music"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2246770,
      "name": "Shruthi Manjula Balakrishna",
      "speaker_types": [],
      "title": "Director, Design & Research",
      "image": null,
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "Shruthi Manjula Balakrishna is a designer, educator, strategist, and researcher exploring how storytelling, space, and systems shape human behavior. She is the Director of Design & Research at FÖDA in Austin, TX, and a Doctor of Design candidate at North Carolina State University, where her research investigates how design influences trust, perception, and decision-making in hospitality environments. Shruthi has led brand and spatial design projects across various industries, from Michelin-starred chefs to fashion startups, and frequently speaks on the intersection of emotion, experience, and design.",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    }
  ],
  "venue": {
    "accessible": false,
    "age_policy": null,
    "floor": "2",
    "id": "V1323",
    "indoor_outdoor": null,
    "name": "Paramount III",
    "parent_id": "V0562",
    "parent_venue_name": "The Westin Austin Downtown",
    "venue_entry_info": null,
    "formats": null,
    "location": {
      "address": "310 E 5th St.",
      "lat_lon": [
        30.2665709,
        -97.7404396
      ],
      "city": "Austin",
      "postal_code": "78701",
      "state": "TX",
      "name": "The Westin Austin Downtown"
    },
    "root": {
      "accessible": null,
      "age_policy": null,
      "floor": null,
      "id": "V0562",
      "indoor_outdoor": null,
      "name": "The Westin Austin Downtown",
      "parent_id": null,
      "parent_venue_name": null,
      "venue_entry_info": null,
      "formats": null
    },
    "events": "[omitted 5 venue events]"
  },
  "description": "What if classrooms were designed like hospitality spaces—hotels, restaurants, places of welcome, rhythm, and care? In this talk, designer-researcher Shruthi Manjula Balakrishna explores how hospitality frameworks such as arrival sequence, wayfinding, sensory design, and emotional arc can reshape the rituals and environments of learning. Drawing from design psychology and service strategy, this session offers a fresh lens for fostering trust, comfort, and connection in education.",
  "experience_level": "Field Experience",
  "accessibility": [
    "Closed captioned"
  ],
  "accessible_venue": false,
  "add_bcl_url": false,
  "add_slido": false,
  "age_policy": null,
  "american_sign_language": false,
  "apple_url": null,
  "audio_description": false,
  "caption_url": null,
  "closed_captioned": true,
  "cpe_credit": false,
  "has_subtitles": false,
  "hash_tags": [],
  "high_sensory_experience": false,
  "live": false,
  "long_description": "What if classrooms were designed like hospitality spaces—hotels, restaurants, places of welcome, rhythm, and care? In this talk, designer-researcher Shruthi Manjula Balakrishna explores how hospitality frameworks such as arrival sequence, wayfinding, sensory design, and emotional arc can reshape the rituals and environments of learning. Drawing from design psychology and service strategy, this session offers a fresh lens for fostering trust, comfort, and connection in education.",
  "meeting_url": null,
  "meeting_url_live": false,
  "mentorly_url": null,
  "mobile_audio_url": null,
  "open_captioned": false,
  "playlist_tag": null,
  "rebroadcast": false,
  "recommended_ids": [],
  "search_conversions": null,
  "short_program": false,
  "slido_url": null,
  "sort": "HOSPITALITY AS PEDAGOGY",
  "source": "Official",
  "squad_up_url": null,
  "stream_embed": null,
  "stream_id": null,
  "stream_url": null,
  "strobe_warning": false,
  "subdiscipline": null,
  "summit": null,
  "summit_display_name": null,
  "tags": [
    {
      "id": 1815,
      "name": "SEL",
      "created_at": "2017-11-27T17:00:48.043-06:00",
      "updated_at": "2025-10-15T16:40:34.280-05:00",
      "sort": "SEL",
      "alpha": "S"
    },
    {
      "id": 1270,
      "name": "Experiential learning",
      "created_at": "2017-10-11T15:52:01.651-05:00",
      "updated_at": "2025-10-15T16:40:34.267-05:00",
      "sort": "EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING",
      "alpha": "E"
    }
  ],
  "talent_attending": null,
  "title_only": false,
  "track_display_name": "Culture",
  "trailer_id": null,
  "trailer_url": null,
  "video_on_demand": null,
  "vimeo_id": null,
  "vod": false,
  "xr_project_type": null,
  "youtube_id": null,
  "related_sales_client": null
}