Hello everyone,
Hear, hear for participation, awareness of others and their perspectives, and many of the sentiments noted thus far.I have been reading all the comments and am adding my own here.Here goes - this is a long post. Having joined on the list in late 2002 as a PhD. student, I have over the years participated on this list both as a student and now as a professor....lately more in the background, due to administrative duties where I could not thoughtfully react as the posts flew by.
Respect for me has always been understood (as has robust discussion) as respecting the ideas of everyone on this list.Arguments are thus robust, can include referencing ideas with support evidence and arguing for ideas, no matter how heated these arguments might get, but never with intent to to be disrespectful, no matter what the beliefs or ideas. Everyone has ideas, and everyone has the right to express them.
However, this is a PhD list, and from my perspective this has also implied a general willingness to be prepared to submit ideas to the group that are backed up with support arguments, logic and when necessary, evidence. All our ideas in the forum use the written word, thus whatever language we use represents our particular perspective. As a student I learned the various perspectives as these were posted on the list and how good (and poor) arguments were made. I am always respectful and grateful to those who offered on and off-list support and guidance in those early years.
Here are my answers to the four questions Ken asked :
1) Is list culture harsh and discouraging?
No. I have found the the list culture intellectually challenging and robust, while sometimes attitudes on the list are uneven. The subjects and discussions make me think about rhetoric and argument and the various tools we need to understand about knowledge, knowledge-building and design research and have helped me to hone my own skills over the years.
2) Are list debates so intimidating that they discourage people from posting on any topic? Do some people value the debates even though they may not themselves wish to post?The debates can be intimidating. I have been discouraged from posting on some topics and anytime, and in particular when I see people being attacked for their ideas and arguments, or when I have been attacked myself.
3) Should those who post carefully argued, carefully reference posts stop? Is this killing the conversation and damaging the list?
No - If the posts are carefully argued and/or referenced then no, I do not think that they should stop. From my perspective, and having seen academic argument in other domains, I feel this is necessary for design research and for the evolution of the various disciplines that contribute to design knowledges. Carefully argued posts with references allow others to understand the issues - I often have appreciated the referenced posts and ideas and many have triggered my own thinking.
Conversation will always happen and subjects feed conversational interest - when I was a PhD student I was hungry for robust, well argued and referenced posts and enjoyed the conversations. Both helped to situate thinking, no matter the subject. They help students hone argument methods and see how it is done. This was my experience as in my day ( back in 1999-2003) the PhD writing experience was a very lonely one - conversations with others helped to frame thinking but the writing is your own. In my own PhD work, I differentiated between languages such as the visual, narrative and what I developed as conversational meaning-making, which depends on one's stance, background, gender and many other situational qualities, as these are situated in design. These need to be put forth when talking together, and in particular when arguing for a particular design research issue, in part due to the multiplicity of views we all have as members on this list.
4) Should grumpy old (male) professors stop debating on the PhD-Design list? Is it time for older males to leave the conversation to younger folks? Apart from something friendly and wise from time to time, is it time for older males to save our disagreements and debates for another forum?
No....healthy debates from all perspectives are vital for knowledge - making.
Caveat - This is from the perspective of a Canadian woman ( yes, another "Canuck") from an Estonian heritage who is almost as old as the "grumpy old"...with 35 years professional experience and proud PhD holder since 2003. So if my ideas are "too old", let me know. What is old? I am considered a "newer" prof as I went through this process after 15 years of practicing. So while I am have been considered "younger" in the professor world, I am too "old" to be considered young in age/years - what does this mean? I hope that experience and ways of knowing and understanding with experiences count for something and that age is not at issue here.......grumpy is another thing....:)
Regards
Tiiu Poldma, PhD.Full professorSchool of DesignUniversité de MontréalMontréal, Canada
+ acronyms too ......:)
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