Skip to content

Libera Università di Bolzano

Social Studies of Design and Culture

Semestre 1 · 96112 · Corso di laurea magistrale in Design eco-sociale · 6CFU · EN


Based on their interests and focus, students select courses in areas Make & Intervene and Observe, Analyse & Apply, to which the course in Social Studies of Design and Culture belongs.
In Social Studies of Design and Culture students are introduced to the dialogue between social sciences and design. More specifically students are introduced to the ways in which social sciences have tackled design, design practices and designed artifacts, but also, and through it, students are also introduced to the ways designers and design researchers have appropriated social research methods, approaches and theories in order to integrate, support and enhance their practices.
Through this two-sided introduction to the dialogue between social sciences and design, students are then led to reflect, explore and describe the ways in which what they do as designers, as well as the artifacts they design, have a social relevance.
Therefore, the course should be intended as an introduction to social research about design, as well as to how design, and specially design research, can be considered a form of social research.
Within the practice-based and transdisciplinary framework of the Master it is key that the course takes place in a close dialogue with Design Research Related to Project 1 module and the projects students develop, especially those related to Project 1.

Docenti: Ingrid Kofler

Ore didattica frontale: 30
Ore di laboratorio: 0
Obbligo di frequenza: recommended

Argomenti dell'insegnamento
- Mapping - Borders - Action - Social change - Artifacts - Social Networks - Micro/Macro - Practice - Social Capital - Structure - Future studies

Insegnamenti propedeutici
none

Modalità di insegnamento
Most of the classes will consist in frontal lectures, exercises and discussions. The discussion will be based on class exercises, on home assignments, usually readings and experiments. Some classes will be tackled through an interdisciplinary co-presence with other teachers.

Obiettivi formativi
Knowledge and understanding Students will have developed their own individual project practice and will be able to: - understanding the social, cultural, economic and environmental dimensions of projects and contexts - understand the relationships between environment, economy, society and politics - understand conflict situations on the way to greater sustainability and resilience in specific regions and situations - understanding the requirements, conflicts and potentials in specific regions and situations and working productively in that context - understanding social dynamics Applying knowledge and understanding Students will be able to: - respond to the needs and requirements of a given habitat, group or situation, based on observation, listening and dialogue Making judgments Students will be able to: - requirements, needs and potential of an environment, and of a group or community - the effects of a project within an environment, group or community Communication skills Students will be able to: - show how the social, ecological and economic aspects of sustainability interact in their projects Learning skills Students will be able to: - work independently to learn according to different situations and in a personal way through observation, listening and dialogue - work independently to learn according to different situations and in a personal way through reading and studying

Obiettivi formativi e risultati di apprendimento (ulteriori info.)
Students will be able to: - collaborate with other designers and experts in order to develop and implement an integrated project; - take into account the social relevance of their interventions occurring within the tension between global and local dimensions; - take into account the social aspects that characterize a territory, a community and a group of people; - integrate social aspects in project design while considering the tension, which occurs between the local and the global dimensions; - develop an individual and critical way of thinking, leading to critical judgements and self-assessments; - communicate, multilingually in a convincing way, through a variety of modalities (written, oral, visual); - talk to experts about the project; - read experts’ and academic articles, studies and reports related to one’s own project issues and integrate those analyses with one’s own project design; - organize a research project while identifying relevant studies and researches, experts to collaborate with, methods and instruments to adopt; - outline the cultural and social territorial framework where the students will intervene; - set up a field work or an inquiry in order to define the socioeconomic framework, by exchanging ideas with researchers and experts’ students will collaborate with; - understand specialist literature so as to integrate it within their own research project. Knowledge will be acquired in the following fields: - the relations between social sciences and design and the main methods, techniques and tools through which such relations can be carried out, developed and transformed

Modalità d'esame
Written and oral. Students will be assessed considering: - the results of the assignments assigned during the course - participation in class activities and exercises - the ability to integrate course topics and issues into the final presentation and essay of the applied project Guidelines for Non-Attending Students Students who do not regularly attend classes or fail to submit all required assignments during the course period will be considered non-attending. To complete the course, they must independently study a selection of essential readings provided by the instructor. Their final grade will be determined based on a comprehensive written examination. Non-attending students are responsible for managing their studies effectively to ensure thorough preparation for the final exam.

Criteri di valutazione
Evaluation criteria will consider the ability to compare theories among them or with empirical findings and/or observations and/or critical reflections about social phenomena. More in general evaluation criteria consider not only how the assignment brief has been fulfilled but also the capacity to take into account other parts of the course and to make connections among them, as well as with possible personal experiences as design student.

Bibliografia obbligatoria

Berger, P. L. (1999). Invitation to sociology. New York: Anchor Books.

Gidley, J. M. (2017). The future: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.

Kofler, I. (2023). Beyond Disciplinary Constraints: Designing Transdisciplinary Research and Collaboration in Real-World Laboratories. Societies, 13(9), 205.

Lupton, D. (2018). Towards design sociology. Sociology Compass12(1).

Mills, C. Wright (1959). The sociological imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.

V. Houtum, H. (2024). Free the map. From Atlas to Hermes a new cartography of borders and migration. 

 

Further readings will be communicated during the course. 




Scarica come PDF

Obiettivi di sviluppo sostenibile
Questa attività didattica contribuisce al raggiungimento dei seguenti Obiettivi di Sviluppo sostenibile.

10 11 12 16

Richiesta info