DES 222: Research Methods and Critical Writing for Design (4)
Seminar—3 hours; independent study. Prerequisite: course 221;
graduate standing in Design or consent of instructor. Focused on
research methods and critical writing related to design topics
including case studies, original and secondary sources, critical
reviews. Expectation of a paper meeting professional standards
suitable for publication from each student at end of course. May
be repeated one time for credit.
This graduate research methods and writing seminar covers
different methods of historical research
(book/journal/review of the literature, archival, and oral
history interviews), as well as quantitative and qualitative
approaches useful for researching contemporary topics. We will
read the writing of others (selections from 20th-century design
history topics) in order to study the methods of research the
authors used to construct their arguments and historical
narratives.
