Thanks, Clive, for this post!

It is extremely difficult to express my thoughts 
and feelings about the conference. Because of my 
problems of a non-native English speaker, but, 
even more, because of the strange atmosphere 
which has built up since the event. Every 
imprudent word may cause an explosion - this is 
my impression.

Therefore, for the beginning, I just concentrate 
on one case / event. Clive said:
"There has been flattery of the last conference. Much of it was
appropriate. But almost no-one will claim, I think, a sparkling level of
engaged debate around the papers offered. Three questions at the end of
a cramped 20-minute presentation just does not cut it."

I take this latter aspect, because I feel 
addressed. Maybe Clive does not mean me, but it 
was exactly the situation with my presentation at 
the end of the second (male!) plenary on day 2:
First, I was surprised to be part of this panel, 
since I had just submitted a working paper. But 
somehow my theme fitted with John Langrish´s, 
evolution. But why has there been no topic / 
theme / title for the panel, which could have 
served as a means of integration? A kind of 
preparation from the organizers´ side.

As usual I wanted to say too much in 20 minutes. 
And, as usual, I did not have the self-confidence 
to demand 5 more minutes. It was obvious that the 
end / the conclusion of my statement was missing. 
Therefore it was difficult for the audience to 
raise questions that come to the essence of what 
I wanted to say. Sorry for that.

I do not want to blame anybody for this 
uncomfortable situation (uncomfortable for all, I 
assume), because it was my responsibility to 
request the time. As there was no positive signal 
from the chair (has there been a chair at all?), 
I had the impression that I had to stop. And I 
stopped.

There was the analog situation on day 3, same 
position in the schedule. Other than me, Alain 
Findeli took it for granted that he could overrun 
his time for 10 minutes or more. I admire his 
attitude and I am angry about my own weakness and 
unassertive behaviour.

Again: who is to blame? No idea. The atmosphere 
wasn´t helpful for me, or for creating a 
"sparkling level of engaged debate". Who / what 
is creating the atmosphere? There is something 
else than rigidity and academic standards. Maybe 
a culture of composure, tolerance, generosity, 
subtle irony and self-irony...

Full stop.

Maybe all this is totally devious... (if so, 
forget it - paradox demand, I know)

... just an attempt to get rid of the lump in my throat.

Jonas


__________




At 9:37 Uhr -0500 15.11.2006, Clive Dilnot wrote:
>All,
>It really is remarkable that such a listing or survey of doctoral
>programs in design does not exist. One would have thought it a project
>almost necessary for the DRS to have to hand, and also almost a
>requirement for those institutions currently offering doctoral programs
>in design (how else does one know what is happening in the field, what
>crucial developments are taking place elsewhere?). 
>
>My strong thanks to everyone who has contributed to this post so far
>(and to Alex for setting it off) but a collation of this kind really
>ought to be undertaken and made available to the design research
>community.
>
>Its current absence perhaps speaks to a deeper problem within the field
>of design research and that is a fragmentation of effort leading to a
>situation where the whole is considerable less that the sum of its
>parts. Whether it is in organizing conferences, setting intellectual and
>academic agendas or in failing even to have an adequate road map of
>doctoral programs, there is a lack of cohesion that not only, as Dori
>Tunstall pointed out in a recent post, leads not only to constant
>attempts to re-invent (usually tiny) wheels but to the inability to move
>forward thinking through real debate and engagement.
>
>There has been flattery of the last conference. Much of it was
>appropriate. But almost no-one will claim, I think, a sparkling level of
>engaged debate around the papers offered. Three questions at the end of
>a cramped 20-minute presentation just does not cut it.
>
>If the field wants to move forward, and not again collapse around hopes
>un-realized, more attention has to be paid to how the field organizes
>its intellectual agenda, NOT, as a singularity but as a plurality of
>strong questions.
>
>Part of the process of assessing questions and issues has, however, to
>be the mapping of what is done, as publishing, as research and perhaps
>above all, at this stage of the game, in terms of the global growth of
>doctoral programs in design.
>
>Is there, out there, someone or some instiution who will take on this
>responsibility?
>
>Best wishes
>
>Clive Dilnot
>Professor of Design Studies
>New School University,
>New York.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>>>>  silvia pizzocaro <[log in to unmask]> 11/15/06 4:14 PM >>>
>Dear Alex,
>
>I'm not informed of a general index of PhD programmes in industrial
>design, but here some information and links that may be useful:
>
>in 2001 John Demao and Sid Newton promoted surveys of PhD programmes.
>Their original messages are attached below;
>
>
>in october 2003, at the 3rd conference Doctoral Education in Design,
>David Durling and Kazuo Sugiyama provided the results of a Survey of
>Education in Design Research (with a specific focus on programmes at
>IIT, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, Kyushu University, Chiba
>University and Politecnico di Milano;
>
>
>in 2001, within the PhD programme in industrial design at POLITECNICO
>di MILANO, a temptative, not very rigourous list of links was put
>together; it is still available at
>http://pcsiwa12.rett.polimi.it/~phddi/uk/02/siti01.htm, but it has
>not been udated so it is not reliable any longer;
>
>
>for a more updated guide to PhD programmes in industrial design I
>often refer to the page of resources available at the PhD programme
>at IIT (see http://www.id.iit.edu/phd/resource_program.htm).
>
>
>All the best,
>
>
>
>Silvia Pizzocaro
>
>
>
>
>
>At 10:18 -0500 5-10-2001, John Demao wrote:
>>Date:         Fri, 5 Oct 2001 10:18:45 -0500
>>Reply-To: John Demao <[log in to unmask]>
>>Sender: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhDs in Design
>><[log in to unmask]>
>>From: John Demao <[log in to unmask]>
>>Subject:      Doctoral Education in Design Survey
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>>Two years ago, ZED / A Journal of Design, published a volume on
>>international visual communications/graphic design education. It was a
>>critical look at Master's level programs worldwide. In our upcoming
>issue,
>>scheduled for late January 2002, publication, we