Undergraduate Course: Product Design 2B: Designing Social Narratives (DESI08080)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course provides a starting point for critical reflection, by inviting students to reflect on socially-created narratives, how they influence and can be challenged by design using cultural theory to inform design investigations, students will develop projects that uncover and disrupt the dominant narratives that underpin design. |
| Course description |
In this course, students will investigate critical issues that lie behind social practices and norms that are often taken for granted. They will reflect on how design may contribute to support or challenge socially-constructed narratives, and will be introduced to design expressions and movements that look beyond the strictly commercial, including Speculative Design, Critical Design, Design Fictions, Design for Debate, etc. Students are expected to develop their own perspective towards a critical issue, and to design an artefact, intervention or installation that embodies or represents this perspective.
This course will:
1. Encourage students to develop a critical eye towards social conventions and practices that are often taken for granted,
2. Develop student skills in considering the impact of artefacts and systems within broader cultural social, economical, technological and natural contexts,
3. Develop student skills to approach abstract and complex issues through design
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | If this course is core to your programme you will be automatically enrolled. For all other students, including Design students, the course is open on a first come first served basis until the course is full. Where a course depends on some technical proficiency, PTs are encouraged to help students check with the appropriate Course Organiser regarding suitability, e.g. if student has previous external practical experience. The course will be open to enrolments from Wednesday 11th September at 11.00 am. Please sign up for the course through your own School (they will advise if this is done via your PT, SSO or Teaching Office). We do not currently keep a waiting list. |
| Additional Costs | Material costs. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2019/20, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 20 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
| Course Start Date |
13/01/2020 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 8,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 18,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 4,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 5.5,
Formative Assessment Hours 0.5,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
160 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Students are expected to produce a response informed through an iterative making and researching process that is supported by the combination of lectures, seminars and reflective discussions.
At the end of the course students are expected to present two summative outputs which will be assessed through the three Learning Outcomes:
1. A 1500 word document that summarises the critical issue, main insights from the research, design decisions and personal perspective developed during the course. 50%
2. An artefact, installation or design intervention that incorporates the critical perspective above, and demonstrates an understanding of the theoretical aspects of the course through the control of form, materials and functions. This should be submitted through an illustrated documentation that includes a description of the issue addressed by the project, images of the making process, final results and this result in context. 50%
Further information on the portfolio (content, format and dates) are available via Learn /Course handbook)
Relationship between Assessment and Learning Outcomes:
Learning Outcomes will be assessed through the two components of assessment. Documentation will be assessed against LO1 and LO2 and will count towards 50% of the final mark. The final artefact will be assessed against LO3 and will count towards the other 50% of the final mark.
LO1 and LO2 will be weighted at 25% each and LO3 will be weighted at 50%.
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| Feedback |
Formative feedback will be provided in person through tutorial meetings that corresponds to the Learning Outcomes.
Formative assessment will be provided at the mid-semester point, and will include:
a. A presentation of all work to date including:
- research on how one particular subject is approached in various media, and by different groups
- initial prototypes that demonstrate exploration of materials and iteration through ideas and a personal perspective towards a chosen subject and design more broadly
b. Online submission of supporting documents
Oral feedback will be provided following the presentations. Written feedback will be given with indicative grades
Summative feedback will be provided following the portfolio submission in the form of written feedback following assessment. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate ability to critically analyse research material, recognising ways of reinforcing or challenging cultural, social and economical values.
- Demonstrate understanding of the role of design in reinforcing, responding or challenging socially created values, while developing a personal perspective in design.
- Translate critical issues into a designed artefact, installation or intervention that demonstrates understanding of the theoretical aspects of the course and sensibility in the application of materials, development of form and mediation of interactions.
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Reading List
Adam, B. (1995) Timewatch: the Social Analysis of Time. Cambridge, UK, Polity Press.
Bastian, M. (2012) Fatally Confused: Telling the Time in the Midst of Ecological Crises' Journal of Environmental Philosophy, vol 9, no. 1, pp. 23-48.
Bourdieu, P. (1977) Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge University Press, UK. Kelly, K. (2011) Clock in the Mountain.
Clarke A. J. (2010) Design Anthropology: Object Culture in the 21st Century. Springer
Dunne, A. & Raby, F. (2014) Speculative Everything. MIT Press.
Gunn, W. et al. (2013) Design Anthropology: Theory and Practice. Bloomsbury
Anything from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation:
http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/books-and-reports
Pschetz, L. (2015) Isn't it to change the way we think about time? Interactions 22(5).
Rifkin, J. (2011) The third industrial revolution: how lateral power is transforming energy, the economy, and the world. New York, Palgrave Macmillan.
Sharma, S. (2014). In the Meantime: Temporality and Cultural Politics. Duke University Press.
Harvey, D. (1990a) The Condition of Postmodernity. Cambridge: Blackwell. Yelavich, S. & Adam, B. (2014) 'Design as Future-Making'. Bloomsbury. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Enquiry : Understand and apply design principles
Personal Effectiveness : Ability to analyse and critique own work and work of others.
Communication : Convey complex information to a range of audiences and situations. |
| Keywords | Design Narratives,Critical Design,Temporal Design |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Zachary Eastwood-Bloom
Tel: (0131 6)51 5815
Email: zeastwoo@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Georgia Dodsworth
Tel: (0131 6)51 5712
Email: georgia.dodsworth@ed.ac.uk |
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