Dear all:
In the past past couple of days I have sent more posts to the list than in the previous 5 years. This is probably because I am currently on leave and have a bit (though not much) more time on my hands that usual. My posts are very simple and I will not seek references for what I consider to be a friendly discussion.
Mark talks about the setting up of a new design school and at the moment I find myself working my way through Sybil Moholy-Nagy's Experiment in Totality, the biographical account of her husband's Lazlo Moholy-Nagy's life, that includes glimpses of the founding of the School of Design in Illinois.
According to the narrative, Moholy-Nagy, whose life trajectory was about crossing boundaries (before he became an artist/designer he trained as a lawyer), was often derided by many of his colleagues as "a dabbler".
The book is a sobering account of the life (24/7 non-stop work) of one of the great artist/designers of the 20th century and someone whose efforts IMHO have made possible our own discussions on this list. Really a stark contrast to the notion of "celebrity" that seems to abound in our times.
It seems to me that one of the great things about working in design is precisely the opportunity afforded to be able (actually required) to be able to take leaps across domains of knowledge and practice.
In closing: consider a band of pre-historic hominids roaming across the savannas. How much survival would be afforded if they relied on specialization? The male of the species who went on the hunt might have needed to be skilled in the hunt (physical conditioning and skills), making of the instruments (craft-making), terrain recognition (geography), some sort of basic knowledge about the heavens (astronomy) to name a few. The female might have needed to have knowledge about care of the family (nutrition, childbirth-medicine, management) food production (agriculture) garment-making (craft-making) story telling and memory keeping (history) among others.
PhDs are not a threat to design education anymore than having great craftsmanship in a particular area is. Being a good 3D modeler in digital media is a highly sough after craft skill, for example. It is one more way in which a designer can communicate his/her ideas/concepts/results.
Lily
On 7.10.2011, at 9.09, Mark Evans wrote:
> Don’s thread on ‘Design Education: Brilliance without Substance’ claimed that there were weaknesses in (industrial) design education and that there was a need for change. My response indicated my disagreement with almost all of his concerns and solution. However, as the discussion moved on to the increasing requirement for design academics/educators to have PhDs, I was reminded of a presentation I was invited to give at the Education Symposium of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) in September of this year. In discussing the status of industrial design education in the UK/Europe, I identified a key strength as being the significance and centrality of the PhD in its capacity to contribute new knowledge to the discipline. I also identified a key weakness as being an increasing requirement for new lecturers to have PhDs as opposed to evidence of substantial capability as a practitioner.
>
> In returning to Don’s thread about his view on the need for design education to change, it may be necessary to reflect on the validity of the PhD for those academics/educators at the sharp end of industrial design education i.e. those who have to teach the core skills and knowledge of practice such as visualising; CAD; form-giving; interface design; mock-up/prototyping; manufacturing. This may, of course, also apply to other design disciplines. I have reasonable experience of industrial design education in the USA where ‘new hires’ must excel in professional practice and where many senior members of faculty continue to run their own consulting firms. I have a high degree of confidence that this approach serves undergraduate and masters students extremely well.
>
> If I was to set up a new design school, my priority would be to recruit a team of highly capable practitioners to teach core skills. I would want them to have undergraduate/masters degrees and stunning portfolios that include work from a wide variety of commercial projects. It may also be necessary to recruit specialists to subjects such as ergonomics and design history. With relatively large undergraduate/masters programme in place, I would then want to have a team of academic researchers (probably with PhDs) who would engage in cutting-edge design research.
>
> The threat that I alluded to in my presentation to the IDSA and subject line of this thread is that an increasing requirement for new staff to have a PhD may be impeding the capacity of institutions to deliver undergraduate/masters design education of the highest standard.
>
> Mark
>
> Dr Mark Evans
> Loughborough Design School
> Loughborough University
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Dr. Lily Diaz
Professor of Systems of Representation
and Digital Cultural Heritage
Head of Research
Department of Media
Aalto University, School of Art & Design
Finland
+ 358 9 47030 338
+ 358 9 470 555 (FAX)
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