On the one hand, the course will provide students with an overview of social theories used to analyze culture, society and individuals and proper to a material culture approach.  In short, it will give students an introduction to what informs anthropological research.  On the other hand, it will initiate students to research methods and techniques developed by cultural and social anthropology and being applied to design contexts today.  

Parallel to a theoretical approach steeped in social theory, students will be asked to carry out empirical case studies in which they will apply different analytical grids from the social sciences but within a design context.  Students will explore how an anthropological approach helps design be more pertinent, closer to users within contemporary consumer society. 

 Design today has undeniably become a value laden activity for organizations.  However, it is not always perceived and implemented at its best value. The course will explore how design serves to enhance business value in different ways depending on how it is perceived and integrated by the organization.  On the one hand, it will explore design as a creative, problem solving tool that enhances the quality of objects, processes and services.  On the other hand, it will introduce students to design business models to explore how design today can foster innovation that is user-centered and responsible. 

Today, we notice major geological changes that lead many scientists to postulate that we have entered a new era.

We have gone from the Holocene to the Anthropocene.

What does this mean?

So what is the Anthropocene and its consequences? Why this change of era? As designers, how do you see your role in the Anthropocene? How should we position ourselves as designers?

​

Design starts with the understanding of human behaviour.  Anthropology similarly asks:  who are people and why do they act in different manners? A gesture or an attitude are rarely neutral, they rely on values. People are raised in a cultural and social context that gives them references and influences their perceptions of their everyday environment. Societies and cultures transform themselves historically.

The course will approach design from a 19th and early 20th century sociocultural history perspective in order to link design concerns as they arose overtime to a social science approach.  It will look at key moments of the history of design to demonstrate how design as a discipline developed concomitantly with the social sciences as two parallel means to understand and address human needs, wants, and desires.