The lives of South Asians in America, or desis—a term meaning "of the land" from the Hindi/Urdu word desh, or country—are both historically constituted and circumscribed by global processes and the limitations of what is possible today.
DESIS is a no-profit and cultural association, with the purpose to promote design for social innovation in higher education institutions with design discipline so as to generate useful design knowledge and to create meaningful social changes in collaboration with other stakeholders.
de si ˈdā-sē ˈde-sē variants or Desi plural desis or Desis see usage paragraph below : a person of South Asian descent especially : a person of South Asian ancestry who lives outside of South Asia
Urban desis are mixing Hindi and hip-hop. There were only a handful of other desis in the area when he was in elementary school.
Desi is a term broadly used to describe individuals, traditions, and products originating from the Indian subcontinent. Used within the subcontinent to mean ‘local’ or ‘indigenous,’ the term is widely used by the global South Asian diaspora to foster a sense of shared identity and pride in South Asian culture.
The Department of Design is proud to announce the launch of a DESIS Lab! By doing so, it joins an international network of universities and colleges leading in Social Innovation and Sustainability through Design.
The DESIS network was founded by the Italian design researcher, educator, and author Ezio Manzini, whose work has expanded the notion of what it means to design for sustainability and social innovation.
Many Desis feel their distinct cultural background and struggles as immigrants are blurred when the Democratic Party combines them with broader “South Asian” or “Asian American” communities.