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Paul,

I was very interested in your post and in Paul van der Lem's response. 
Your comments seem to support the idea that readings must also be seen
in relation to the work project that a student wants to pursue--not just
as a universal "canon" of truth.  Hence, I was glad for Paul van der
Lem's response.

I believe the discussion to date on the bboard has been very useful in
suggesting strategies for reading.  There will not be a "canon" of
design readings that will be universally accepted--and I am very glad
for that.  However, we will likely have a flexible set of readings that
provide something of a common frame of reference for the beginner--and
we are all beginners in some sense as we initiate a new inquiry.

Paul van der Lem's reminder of the distinction between a professional
and a research Ph.D. is very useful, and it accounts for some of the
differences we are discussing in the bboard.  

One of my personal concerns--and the reason for my initial posting on
this matter--is that even the research degree should provide some
background that enables a student to connect his or her work with the
broader design community.  I am troubled by the gradual evolution of the
research degree into "silo" knowledge--deep but unconnected with broader
communities of learning in our field.  In fact, this is a matter of
rising concern in the United States in many fields of scientific
inquiry.  (It is less a concern in the so-called humanities fields, but
still something of a concern there, as well.)

I hope that as we develop the Ph.D. in design, we explore a new model of
doctoral work that overcomes the weakness of the classic research Ph.D.
with some contextual reading and thinking.  This would occur in the
"Preliminary" phase of doctoral education and perhaps some in the
"Comprehensive" phase.  

Even if we do not come up with a specific set of readings, our
discussion of the issue of core readings can be (and has been) very
valuable.

Thanks to Paul van der Lem for his most valuable post!  And thanks to
Paul Gutherson for the honest expression of concern and uncertainty. 
Both are very helpful.

Dick

Richard Buchanan
Professor and Head
School of Design
Carnegie Mellon University 


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