Dear all
The nature, purpose and uses of PhDs in Design have been core issues of
this email group since it originated in the Columbus Ohio conference.
The paper I presented at that conference looked at these matters from
the perspective of the actual doing of a PhD rather than the having of a
PhD. While I can concur with many of the positive outcomes mentioned in
this topic, I am concerned that the focus needs to be on the doing. That
is, if people stop doing PhDs then who cares about having one?
I offered three suggested intrinsic reasons for doing a PhD is design by
way of looking at three types of candidate.
First there is the student who has found a pathway in their
undergraduate studies that demands to be followed. Such candidates can
be at the cutting edge of a field and they simply must continue.
Second there is the person who has been in practice for a decade or more
who suddenly needs to ponder about what they have been doing, how they
got to this point and where they are going now.
Third is the person who has culminated a career and now wishes to
reflect on not only their practice but the wider historical and critical
aspects of their field.
I still think there is some use in these distinctions (not that they are
complete) especially if they get us back to looking at why anyone would
bother engaging in the task of a PhD.
Keith Russell - Oz Newcastle
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