ABOUT THE AREA OF STUDY

Ubiquitous Ingenious: Historical case studies of domestic technologies

‘Ubiquitous Ingenious’ looks into the origins and impacts of designed artefacts that have quietly shaped how we live and work and how we understand our cultural practices. This tutorial introduces students to the ways in which historical narratives are constructed, the sociology of objects, the role of museums and the power of history as a mechanism for rethinking and redesigning our future. There is a focus on Australian histories of design, which will be supported by visits to Museums Victoria’s Science and Technology Collection and Archive. Students will collectively and independently investigate and produce a series of historical case studies. There will be an emphasis on historical methods, writing and positioning the influence of design and its objects in the social, economic and political frame.

Each student will do two historical case studies that will be complied into a book and an exhibition.

KEY LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will build capabilities in: academic writing, research, constructing and communicating understandings from disparate sources. Students will develop: ways of using history as a means of generating ideas for design, theorizing and appreciation of cultural materials.