Summary of the Course:

By examining more general problems about production, consumption, and usage and how these issues fit into a larger conversation about design and culture, this class explores several facets of design. By critically analyzing and visualizing the interactions of gender, power, ethics, status, and racism within design practices and objects, students will evaluate the relationship between design and culture. Students will read theoretical, historical, social, and political works of literature, allowing them to thoroughly examine these complex subjects. In the end, students will be able to understand and express how design studies give us a "critical" perspective on how to investigate and assess how design functions as a cultural, economic, and social form.