On Tue, 9 May 2000 19:22:32 +0100  Alec Robertson 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

In response to Alec's post (Hi Alec, I hope the fishin' was good) 
I will not address all the points he raises.  I feel sure Ken 
will respond if he wants to.

However, Alec has been explicit about something as follows:

>  My original post 'Picasso was Lucky' was aimed to
>  expose some key issues  and hidden agendas I perceived
>  before the flurry of International  Conferences on the
>  topic in May and June. At the very time the Design
>  Research Society Council has embraced the need  for a
>  wider perspective on 'design & research', I hope the
>  La Clusaz  conference will not send the wrong message
>  to the design community. I hope  that heretical papers
>  have not been burnt at the stake already, and the  few
>  wild cards accepted are not cosmetic. The La Clusaz
>  conference is a strategic political conference in my
>  view,  as have been the posts on this thread. I
>  suspect the hoped-for conclusions  are already written
>  by Ken Friedman. - 'The PhD is for bibliophiles, keep 
[and]
>  for a better future. OK, I acknowledge the limitations
>  of my posts on this topic, and I admire Ken Friedman
>  for his intellect, but I do not think he has got it
>  right, so far.


I hope that Alec is right about La Clusaz being strategic.  It 
has arisen out of the genuine concerns shared by many, myself 
included, about the standards of emerging doctoral programmes.  
Alec will know that many of these concerns are shared by some 
members of DRS Council too.  It is my experience that there are 
many confusions.  We are a field with few folks that have 
supervised PhD candidates to completion, and few with an earned 
PhD in design.  There are still few recent doctoral studies from 
which to draw experience, though I remain doubtful about some I 
have seen in recent times.  As a research director in a School of 
art & design, these are issues that concern me, and indeed my 
colleagues throughout the university, increasingly.  I think we 
have a lot to learn from the experiences of others who have a 
longer tradition of doctoral education in various domains and 
different countries.  The conference in Ohio in 1998 was a good 
starting point for this debate.  La Clusaz is continuing that 
process.

Ken is only one half of the La Clusaz organising team.  I am the 
other.  There are also four chairs of sessions drawn from 
significant design schools with significant experience.  There is 
a truly international committee.  Between them, these folks have 
refereed all the proposals for papers.  Having participated in 
refereeing, the session chairs have a free hand over the order of 
the sessions, how they introduce the sessions and speakers, and 
how they conclude.  The co-chairs are simply providing the means 
to do this.  All the papers at the conference will be published 
for all to see.

If the implication is that somehow Ken has already written all 
the conclusions that will arise from the conference, that is 
plainly incorrect.  

I am not sure what the "wrong message to the design community" 
will be.  If La Clusaz sends a message to the design community I 
hope it is an appropriate one for standards in the doctorate.  If 
it succeeds in clearing some of the confusions I will be happy.  
Many may not like the style of Ken's posts, but he has attempted, 
with a clarity rare in my experience, to articulate the 
background and substance of the Doctorate in Philosophy.  This 
may help us consider how design fits this model.  Yes, we do want 
to have these ideas shared.  Yes we do want to have debate before 
the conference.  And during the conference.  And hopefully after 
the conference too.

Alec does not think that Ken has got it right so far.  I don't 
agree with all that Ken has said either.  But I do believe that 
his oh so clear statements are very helpful in gaining a clearer 
vision of where we might go.  And if we don't agree we can 
articulate our arguments clearly too, can't we?


David
:                                                  ..............
:                       Dr. David Durling,                      :
:              Director, Advanced Research Institute            :
:        School of Art & Design, Staffordshire University       :
:                  Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 2DE, UK                  :
:    vox:+44 (0)1782 294556 (direct)  fax:+44 (0)1782 294873    :
:                   <[log in to unmask]>                    :
..............                                                  :



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