Dear Carma and others
thank you for pulling our feet back to the ground now and then.
i was hoping that someone would pick up your question. and since no one has yet done that, i will.
once again, i would qualify my post by saying that it is based on my limited experience as a design student.
if it makes sense to you, great. if it doesn't, i am sorry.
i have studied in three design schools in Canada and USA. in my design education, design theory, design history, design criticisms and philosophy of design are not a major 'feature'. as harsh and insensitive as it is going to sound, there was a little critical discourse or serious reflection on the
meanings of design(ing). i am sad about that. so at this moment, i won't worry that we may overemphasize these subjects in design education although i maintain reflection+articulation of design and design practice need to be bridged and the field of design needs its own point of view, (NOT as the only
privileged one, but its own) on these matters.
who is going to teach these subjects?
if i have a say in who is going to teach me, i will say:
i don't care from which discipline he/she comes as long as this person
1 has respect and appreciation for the tradition of design practice: skills and knowledge
2 is willing to accept that the design field can potentially be
strengthened by different points of view and that the view he/she holds is just but one
3 is familiar with other points of view on design.
4 is willing to include these points of view in the teaching
5 is willing to explore with the students how the students might develop their points of view
6 doesn't fail the students because they think otherwise
7 admits when not knowing something and refers the students to someone who may know
hope this is not asking for too much.
sincerely yours. rosan
Carma R Gorman wrote:
> Dear list:
>
> I do think that the issue of how UCI will teach
> design theory, design history, design criticism and, of course, philosophy
> of design, is an issue that needs to be discussed more fully. I am still
> interested to know what kind of persons will be staffing the UCI courses
> that fall into these areas. Will they be designers? Design historians?
> Philosophers? Sociologists? As I mentioned in a post on December 1, "what
> *I* think would constitute an appropriate syllabus for, say, 'Social Aspects
> of Design,' would [probably] differ dramatically from what a designer or a
> sociologist or a philosopher would deem appropriate for a course with that
> title."
--
Rosan Chow
Female Doctoral Student
University of Arts Braunschweig, Germany
|