EKSIG 2009: Experiential Knowledge, Method and Methodology
International Conference 2009 of the DRS Special Interest Group on Experiential 
Knowledge

The EKSIG International Conference 2009 will address the theme of “Experiential 
Knowledge, Method and Methodology”. It will be convened by the DRS Special Interest 
Group on Experiential Knowledge (EKSIG), and hosted by London Metropolitan University.

Date: Friday 19 June 2009
Organisers: Linden Reilly, Chris Smith, Kristina Niedderer, Seymour Roworth-Stokes
Venue: London Metropolitan University, London, UK
Conference home page: http://www.experientialknowledge.org
Contact: [log in to unmask]


FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS

For EKSIG 2009, we invite submissions for the theme “Experiential Knowledge, Method 
and Methodology”. With this theme we aim to provide a forum for debate about 
methodology and methods for the inclusion and communication of knowledge in research 
and practice in the creative disciplines.

The need to be more explicit about research methods, frameworks, and methodologies 
has arisen from the increasing use of creative and professional practices as part of the 
practice of research in recent years. While research guidelines and regulations have been 
either generic enough, or were adjusted, to accommodate the use of some creative and 
professional practices under certain conditions, the debate about the nature, aims, 
validity, evaluation, and necessity of such research has continued.

While all research has a method, and disciplines are characteristically driven by debates 
about the best methods for achieving their aims, that which constitutes a research 
method in design and related disciplines is still a matter of debate. The debates about 
research methods in design in many ways echo questions addressed in the design 
methods movement of the 1960s and 1970s, such as: 'What are design methods?' Now 
framed in terms of design research, questions address the conditions under which design 
methods might be used as research methods as well as the nature of discipline specific 
methodologies.

The developing understanding in this debate is that the inclusion of practice in the 
research process or as a research outcome helps to integrate and/or communicate those 
kinds or parts of knowledge that cannot easily be made explicit, such as the tacit part of 
experiential and procedural knowledge, commonly known as tacit knowledge. With this 
conference, we wish to explore the different ways in which tacit knowledge can be 
integrated and communicated within the framework of research.


Questions of interest are, for example:

-       What are design methods and what are design research methods?
-       How is knowledge/knowing created within the process of research?
-       What frameworks are there to guide discipline specific methodologies?
-       How can we integrate and utilize tacit knowledge in the process of research?
-       Why is the use of tacit knowledge important in research?
-       What contribution can the use of practice make to the inclusion of tacit knowledge 
in research?
-       What contribution can the use of design practice make to the development of design 
research?
-       What methods are there for the communication of tacit knowledge within research?
-       Can we talk about the communication of tacit knowledge, or should we talk about a 
transfer?
-       What means and methods do we have to transfer tacit knowledge?

We wish to bring together people from different fields and disciplines with different 
approaches to address these issues. We invite contributions from the design disciplines 
(design, engineering, craft, media etc), philosophy, education, health and knowledge 
management that are concerned with methods and methodology in research and in 
creative and professional practice; with the nature, role, and management of knowledge 
within research; and with the role and use of creative practice (both as process and 
outcome) as a means by which to develop and manage experiential/tacit knowledge 
within research.


SUBMISSIONS

For EKSIG 2009, we invite position papers, which offer challenging new views on the 
subject. Position papers will be selected subject to a double blind review process by an 
international review team. In the first instance we ask for the submission of abstracts. 
Authors of selected abstracts will be asked to submit full papers.

We invite the submission of abstracts of 700-800 words (excluding references) for 
position papers by 1st December 2008. Authors of selected abstracts will subsequently be 
invited to submit full papers (4000-5000w) in early 2009.


TIMETABLE
8 September 2008        Submission of abstracts open
15 November 2008        Submission of abstracts ends
15 December 2008        Notification of accepted abstracts
1 March 2009            Submission of full papers
1 April 2009                    Notification of acceptance of papers
1 May 2009              Submission of revised papers
19 June 2009            Conference


Dr Kristina Niedderer
Reader in Design and Applied Arts
School of Art and Design
University of Wolverhampton
Molineux Street
Wolverhampton WV1 1SB

email: [log in to unmask]
tel: +44 (0)1902 321 550
web: http://www.niedderer.org