Design socially engaged

elective seminars
general courses

(in Polish) Student musi znać język angielski na poziomie pozwalającym na swobodne zapoznawanie się w literaturą w tym języku. Wymagana jedynie bierna znajomość języka.

The aim of the class is to introduce students to the issues of contemporary design, understood not only as an aesthetic-artistic activity, but also as solving social problems in practice. During the classes we will discuss how design can be seen as an activity of specific designers, but also how different approaches to design influence the formation of human-object and human-technology relations. In this connection, theories that explore the relationship between people and things (actor-network theory; social constructivism; social materiality studies) will be introduced, but also the axiological consequences of the implementation of specific solutions for social life.

The aim of the classes is to introduce students to the issues of contemporary design, understood not only an aesthetic-artistic activity, but also as solving social problems in practice. The classes will be divided into three main thematic blocks. The first one will deal with issues related to the definition of design and people-things relations from the point of view of building social relations with things and social institutions around things. Then, the influence of society on science and technology will be addressed, as well as the problem of negotiating the meaning and form of objects, both with things and designers. The third will analyse axiological problems associated with specific solutions in the fields of architecture, concrete artifacts, and technology (including digital technology), as well as the broader social and cultural implications of design. It is possible to change the order of readings during the course, and to extend the list below with articles corresponding to the discussion developing during the course.

Filozofia designu, rzeczy i ludzie:

H. Blumenberg. „Naśladowanie natury”. Z prehistorii idei człowieka twórczego.

T. Dant, Kultura materialna w rzeczywistości społecznej, r. 2, 3.

M. Heidegger, Pytanie o technikę; Rzecz.

H. Arendt, Kondycja ludzka: Wytwarzanie (fragmenty)

G. Harman. Traktat o przedmiotach (fragmenty)

M. Foucault, Nadzorować i karać; Techniki siebie

T. Adorno, M. Horkheimer, Dialektyka oświecenia: przemysł kulturalny

M. de Certeau, Wynaleźć codzienność, r. III, IV

Design a aktorzy społeczni:

J. Law, Introduction: monsters, machines and sociotechnical relations.

T. Pinch, W. Bijker, The Social Construction of Facts and Artifacts

B. Latour, Splatając na nowo to, co społeczne (fragmenty)

P-P. Verbeek, What Things Do (fragmenty)

Design a wartości:

L. Winner, Do Artifacts Have Politics?

R. Rosenberger, Multistability and the Agency of Mundane Artifacts: from Speed Bumps to Subway Benches

P-P. Verbeek, Moralizing Technology. Understanding and Designing the Morality of Things, ch. 1, 3, 5.

S. Woolgar, Configuring the User: The Case of Usability Trials.

B. Friedman, Value-Sensitive Design

D. Susser, Transparent Media and the Development of Digital Habits

D.E. Wittkower, Discrimination

Y. Van Den Eede, K. Gabriels, Social Networking: The Dialectics of Sharing

D. Johnson, Ethical Issues in Big Data

P.E. Vermaas, Engineering Design

Y. Saito, Rola estetyki w kształtowaniu świata

Y. Sepänmaa, Human Nature and Aesthetic Ecosystem Services: Nature in the Service of Humankind and Humankind in the Service of Nature

P. Feng, A. Feenberg, Thinking about Design: Critical Theory of Technology and the Design Process

S. Vallor, Technology and the virtues: A philosophical guide to a future worth wanting (fragmenty)

I. de Melo-Martin, Designing People: A Post-Human Future?

Knowledge: Student has knowledge of the key problems of the philosophy of design in its social perspective.

Skills: Student can relate the acquired knowledge to contemporary issues undertaken within the design practices, but also more broadly, in the public debate about ethical consequences of design.

Social competence: Student can see problems in social life and to refer them to philosophical concepts.

Essay or speech during classes

Acceptable number of absences: 2 in a semester