The Course

Graduate section meetings are Tuesdays, 4:30, 66 Fifth Avenue, Room 402
Contact course administrator Sarah Butler, butls106@newschool.edu

This course is designed to identify the broad issues that are shaping design and art in the 21st century. It focuses on the concept of culture and its dynamics in light of the radical changes brought about by globalization. In a world where people move more often than ever before and technology circulates ideas and goods faster than ever before, this lecture series views the resulting cultural fusions and collisions as source of new understandings, not just as a catalyst for conflict. Beginning with an introduction to cultural theory, the course proceeds to an examination of the ways in which design and art mirror the state of contemporary culture and the ways in which they critique and change culture.

We will become conversant with the dynamics of culture through lectures and readings by anthropologists, environmentalists, sociologists, and philosophers. Then we will see how those dynamics operate in the realm of art and design practice, through a series of case studies presented by an international roster of guest speakers, joined by members of Parsons’ own distinguished faculty. Among the many professional domains included are: fashion, performance art, environmental design, communication and product design, photography, architecture, interiors, and urbanism. Collectively, the lectures will demonstrate the unique potential of designers and artists to serve as both mediators and critics of culture through their studio practices.

Course Objectives

• To understand culture as a variable set of social dynamics.

• To see design and art as both expressions of culture and instruments for changing culture.

• To gain an understanding of the larger social, economic, political, ethical and extra-disciplinary contexts within which design and visual culture function in the current state of globalization.

• To be aware of the consequences of design and art.

• To gain exposure to a variety of modes of thought, disciplinary approaches to solving and setting problems.

• To think critically about design and visual culture.

• To encourage students to view their future professional paths, not in terms of discrete disciplines, but rather as a series of intersections with knowledge and practices parallel to their own.