Dear Ken,
>What I've seen in most theses of the "artifact-and-exegesis"
>variety do not meet this standard. One reason that many PhD degrees in
>art and design resemble an MFA is that the "artifact-and-exegesis"
>thesis resembles the explanatory essay one sees in an MFA thesis. This
>is quite different to the critical and interpretive exegesis one expects
to see in a PhD thesis.
I think you have elaborated my very brief note while raising the
valid question of what is 'doctoral' in art and design
artifact/exegesis submissions (and from your experience, this is a
problem).
However, the question I was attempting to raise was what if we saw
the 'thesis' in design as something other than 'argument'? It was a
point that was raised by Robyn Barnacle at our paper presentation at
the 2008 QPR conference. We didn't have time to tease the question
out then, but it has stayed with me and it seemed a good time to
raise it in this discussion.
What might the artifact/s look like (textual and other), what are the
relations between them and how can they together demonstrate
candidates' achievement of 'doctoral' standard and standing? Is this
not just an exercise in rhetoric, albeit an informed and scholarly
one, ie. an argument that persuades examiners of the candidate's
level of achievement? Or can it be something else?
Or, can the artifacts separately and together produce evidence of
contribution without being 'argument'? And, what is the 'value' of
each artifact, particularly if in the process of disseminating
research findings that demonstrate impact and significance of the
research, which is one of the examination criteria, each addresses a
different practice (research, design or design research) community,
which might value the knowledge generated by the research
differently? Does this raise a question around the issue of 'value'
that might perhaps move beyond 'argument'? Or, to achieve the
doctorate award, in the end, a candidate only has persuade, or argue
for, the value of the work to the (three, here in Australia)
examiners rather than the communities?
just a thought,
teena
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