Undergraduate - UnitTDN2001 - Sociologies of design

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture
Organisational Unit	Department of Design
Offered	Caulfield First semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Ms Anna Daly

Synopsis

This unit covers a range of sociological and critical theories that inform the analysis and interpretation of designed objects and images. Various perspectives of production, consumption and exchange are considered, including theories of the commodity and the gift. The bodies of thought surveyed include Marxist and structuralist perspectives, and subsequent discourses, as well as parallel streams of critique, and attendant linguistic and semiotic theories. Students will develop an enhanced understanding of the systems of objects and images to which designers contribute.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

understand and discuss key sociological and critical theories of objects and images;
critically discuss the systems of production, consumption and exchange that impact upon design;
understand and articulate the ways in which different theories of production, consumption and exchange reflect the historical and political contexts from which they emerge;
analyse works of design from a particular theoretical perspective, using the correct terminology and appropriate analytic emphasis; and
present critical arguments in an informed and articulate manner, whether spoken or written.