Design history and the human experience

Abstract

This thesis, Design History and the Human Experience, is a course which offers a new approach to teaching design history by presenting the material through a historical/popular culture lens. The research and content organizing methodology will show how design is part of a larger context reflecting and creating the culture we live in. When design history includes an emphasis on the historical and cultural contexts, the designer's work takes on deeper meaning and relevance. The underlying philosophy of the thesis, Design History and The Human Experience, argues that design does not occur in a vacuum but emerges from many social, cultural and historical influences. This thesis demonstrates the relationship between design and these influences, and offers a methodology for presenting and teaching the material. The course also takes into account the importance of critical mediation and considers at the circumstances surrounding the critical evaluation of the designers' work, for it is through this evaluation process that certain work is given prominence in design history while other designers go unmentioned.