Dear All,
Sincere applause to all the ones voicing, sharing and bringing forward this
recent discussion, on the aftermath of what some of us might regard as a
timely list's inflection point, a change of course.
To that point, I would like to continue Dora's train of thought on core
competency and diversity, kindly requesting your help on dissecting one of
the most contencious points of our field of knowledge, the Design
discipline with capital D, broader than that of design thinking, design
process and design framework: *what constitutes Design core competency?* Or
if, following the teachings of Prof Peter Kroes (@TUDelft), what are the
professional competences of this domain, albeit in all its project-based
cousins, forms and shapes [i.e. all the prefixes and suffices given to the
Design domain, for example: landscape design and design management, design
theories and research design, literally as examples]?
The reason why this question comes yet again forward is two fold:
1. I always visited, read and got inspired by the many discussions on the
list because I consider it the (play)ground of genuine, informal yet
critical conversations in our domain. In all its quirks, personal verbosity
or formal notices. The list offered me info, triggers and links in that
order to advance my knowledge in the field. Who ever lurks, writes, owns,
or misuses it is not as important as the content it triggers, provided it
sustains the principles of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. As a subscriber
I am more interested to know if the owner/manager will moderate an engaging
arena for the advancement of the Design field of knowledge. If this said
person will bring forward, for instance, a collection of topics, needs and
core issues that will make us all buzz about, with and for Design.
2. I have recently moved to the other side of the pond, USA, to be part of
a Design College, where I have yet again been confronted with the lack of
knowledge and misuse of the concepts of Design Skills and Design
Competences/Competencies, at a most crucial time of curriculum and academic
review. The future of the next generation of Design professionals (be it
practitioners, scholars and/or educators) is being drafted and will be
implemented by Design professionals whom themselves still do not know what
Design is, means or entails as core competencies, skills and attitude.
Thus, to all the ones before me, to all the ones lurking like me over the
years and to all the ones yet to be the fruitful recipients of our
community definitions and theories of Design, ... I would kindly, most
humbly, please request your thoughts/links/notes on the yet still
unresolved conundrum of "what is/are Design core competency(ies)"?
I believe once this discussion starts rolling, it will be almost obvious
who could join David's gracious DEI request, if a greatly possessor of
these professional competences themselves.
Warm regards,
Ana
Practicing Design in Education, Designing research practices of learning,
Researching Design frictions everywhere,
And critically commited to Design Discipline with no labels, titles or
frames.
On Tue, Mar 5, 2019, 11:03 Dora Souza Dias <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear All,
>
>
>
> I am writing to support David's attempt to make the list's ownership more
> representative. In my opinion, diversity is key for this list's
> continuation and I am going to try to explain why.
>
>
>
> International/global councils of design (or at least Ico-D) have struggled
> with diversity and representativeness in the past (and maybe in the
> present). The histories of these NGOs show that this is not a simple thing
> to achieve (sorry, this is my case-study). This list – for its
> digital/online nature and for the diversity of members subscribed – has
> great potential. A more culturally diverse representativeness would allow
> more of us, list subscribers, to feel represented by the list's moderators.
>
>
>
> I am sure there is a number of competent people for the moderator position
> among the list's subscribers. Still, it would be interesting if most us –
> list subscribers – could agree that diversity in power might be a good
> thing. And yes, in the context of this list, moderation is equal to power
> given that "List owners are specifically responsible for [...] monitoring
> messages to ensure that they are appropriate and taking action if
> necessary."
> (according to Nigel's e-mail) And a more diverse ownership would mean more
> diversity of voices and points of view in power.
>
>
>
> Gunnar's words might help us to untangle the issue at stake. Gunnar said:
> "I’m
> not sure how [his lists' moderation] would have been different if they had
> been run by [his] sister." The fact is that, for those of us that don't
> understand the problem, there is no way to be sure until it happens. But
> also, just a thought: possibly, if someone's sister was the moderator of
> the list, she might have acted more strongly upon feeling personally
> offended by some of the things said in this list in the past. I know I have
> felt personally offended many times, but felt that my voice would not be
> heard.
>
>
>
> To me, what David seems to be trying to do, is to add someone to the
> moderation of the list that would add credibility to the discussions;
> someone that would be able to intervene more vehemently and promptly when a
> list member says something that might be deemed offensive. Maybe Keith's
> disposition could have changed if someone that understood how inappropriate
> his comments were – someone that felt personally offended by them and had
> the power to intervene – had intervened sooner.
>
>
>
> I can say that I almost left the list in more than one occasion due to
> Keith's (and other similar) e-mails. I stopped reading the e-mails but felt
> sad to leave the list. I know I am not the only one. It was not until
> recently that I saw the possibility of change, and joined in again.
>
>
>
> I believe this list would greatly benefit of a more diverse moderation.
> Unfortunately, for that, some parameters might be necessary. And,
> sometimes, some of us still use binaries or opposition to talk about
> diversity, because finding the right words is not always easy. Moreover,
> modern constructs such as 'gender,' 'race' and 'nationality' are usually
> built on such oppositions and, that said, we might need these same terms to
> be able to dismantle the power imbalances brought by these constructs.
> These
> terms are crutches we sometimes need to make ourselves clear. (I can
> mention some books that might be a good read for those interested in the
> topic: David Harvey's "The Condition of Postmodernity"; Nestor Garcia
> Canclini, "Hybrid Cultures: strategies for entering and leaving modernity;"
> and Arjun Appadurai's "Modernity at Large.")
>
>
>
> Yet, there is a long distance between using a construct to make a point and
> being offensive.
>
>
> Also, I agree that core competency should be one of the criteria to choose
> a moderator, but diversity is important too. I am sure both criteria –
> core-competency and diversity – can be met. The way to do it might not be
> simple, but I see the good in David's attempt.
>
>
>
> I see this effort as a great step forward.
>
>
>
> Best wishes to all,
>
> Dora
>
>
>
> Em ter, 5 de mar de 2019 às 15:32, Nigel Cross <[log in to unmask]>
> escreveu:
>
> > It might be relevant to clarify and consider what 'list owner' means and
> > what criteria might apply from the list provider, JiscMail. List owners
> are
> > not literally owners of the list. They are managers of the list. The
> actual
> > owner is its provider - JiscMail. At the top of every JiscMail list page
> it
> > states its purpose: to provide email discussion lists for the UK
> Education
> > and Research communities.
> >
> > "Jisc (formerly the Joint Information Systems Committee) is a United
> > Kingdom not-for-profit company whose role is to support post-16 and
> higher
> > education, and research, by providing relevant and useful advice, digital
> > resources and network and technology services, while researching and
> > developing new technologies and ways of working. It is funded by a
> > combination of the UK further and higher education funding bodies, and
> > individual higher education institutions."
> > (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jisc)
> >
> > About JiscMail, its policies and the role of list owner -
> >
> > 1. from JiscMail Home (
> > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/about/whatisjiscmail.html)
> >
> > What is JiscMail?
> > JiscMail is the UK national academic mailing list service, provided by
> > Jisc. Our service helps people working in education and research sectors
> to
> > discuss, debate, collaborate and communicate with peers, experts and
> > partners using mailing lists. Our mailing lists are themed around taught
> > subjects, research areas, special interest groups and collaborative
> project
> > activities.
> > JiscMail only hosts mailing lists which support or enhance UK academic
> and
> > research sectors.
> >
> > 2. from JiscMail Service Policies (
> > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/)
> >
> > Introduction
> > JiscMail supports communication, collaboration and the free-flowing
> > exchange of ideas through email lists primarily for the benefit of UK
> > further and higher education and research communities.
> >
> > 3. from JiscMail Service Policies, (
> > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/)
> >
> > Role of list owners
> > Each JiscMail list is managed by one or more individuals, referred to as
> > list owners. List owners are volunteers working in UK academic and
> research
> > communities. List owners are expected to manage their lists fairly and
> for
> > the benefit of the majority of list subscribers.
> > List owners are specifically responsible for:
> > • Setting the configuration of the list appropriately, this
> > includes: subscription settings, reply settings, privacy settings and
> > communicating any alterations to subscribers.
> > • Setting the topic for the list and monitoring messages to ensure
> > that they are appropriate and taking action if necessary.
> > • Supporting new or inexperienced subscribers.
> > • Promoting their list and managing subscriptions: adding new
> > subscribers (see Section 3: Ethics) or removing subscribers (on request)
> > and removing invalid emails.
> > • Cascading relevant OWNERS-ANNOUNCE messages from JiscMail to
> > subscribers when needed.
> > • Keeping the list active by regularly posting messages to
> encourage
> > new discussions, or taking the decision to close the list if it is no
> > longer required. New mailing lists are expected to be used within 6
> months
> > of creation.
> > • Notifying JiscMail Helpline if they are no longer able to manage
> > their list.
> > • Responding promptly to requests from subscribers, potential
> > subscribers or helpline using the [log in to unmask] to get
> > in touch with list owners.
> >
> >
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