History & Theory in Design Anthropology
HDA651Z
Overview
To enrol in this unit, you must be accepted into a course from the provider.
Read before you start
Warning: Mature Content
This unit contains mature content including Adult Themes, Nudity and Sex / Sexual References and may not be suitable for some students. Any student under the age of 16 who would like to enrol in this unit must first complete a Parental Consent Form.
Level of study: What does Postgraduate mean?
Postgraduate
EFTSL: What does EFTSL mean?
0.125
Delivery Method: What does delivery method mean?
Fully Online
Prerequisites: What are the prerequisites?
No
Duration:
13 weeks
Government loans available:
FEE-HELP FEE-HELP
Domestic student fee:
$2,300.00 (AUD)
International student fee:
$2,525.00 (AUD)
Description
This unit aims to provide you with an understanding of the 'great debates' in the conceptual histories of anthropology and design. The unit starts from today's 'post-colonial' design anthropology and the distinct trajectories of Danish and United States approaches, then investigates the field's historical antecedents in 'colonial' design anthropology in which theories of structuralism and functionalism combined with practices of designing to categorise and control peoples and cultures.
Enrolment Restriction
In order to enrol in this unit, you must be accepted into one of the following courses:
If you wish to seek approval to enrol in this unit without being accepted in a course, please contact OUA regarding the process.
Assessment
- Essay (25%)
- Online Discussion 1 — Weekly Concept Blog (15%)
- Online Discussion 2 — Class Discussion Facilitation (10%)
- Paper — Letter of Self Commitment (25%)
- Presentation — Final Project Presentation (25%)
Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this unit students will be able to:
- articulate the history of design anthropology as a hybrid field between academic anthropology and design practice
- trace the development and evolution of design anthropology in Denmark
- trace the development and evolution of design anthropology in the United States
- explore the ethical responsibilities of designing for and with people and the environment
- map an individual approach to design anthropology
- appreciate the conceptual problems of nature vs. nurture, evolution, internal-external, social facts or emergent properties in design and anthropology.
Topics
This unit addresses the following topics.
| Number | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Early encounters of the design and anthropology fields |
| 2 | Contemporary consumer culture |
| 3 | Evolution of design anthropology in Denmark |
| 4 | Evolution of design anthropology in the USA |
| 5 | Colonial subjects/objects of design and anthropology |
| 6 | Critical perspectives of design anthropology |
Study Resources
This unit is delivered using the following methods and materials:
Instructional Methods
- Blogs
- Chat rooms
- Discussion Forum/Discussion Board
- Embedded Multimedia
- Interactive Games
- Online Quizzes/Tests
- Online assignment submission
- Podcasting/Lecture capture
- Standard Media
- Streaming Multimedia
- Web links
- Wikis
Textbook information for this unit is currently being updated and will be available soon. Please check back regularly for updates. Alternatively, visit the Unibooks website and enter the unit details to search for available textbooks.
Relevant Courses
This unit is a core requirement in the following courses:
This unit may be eligible for credit towards other courses:
- Many undergraduate courses on offer through OUA include 'open elective' where any OUA unit can be credited to the course. You need to check the Award Requirements on the course page for the number of allowed open electives and any level limitations.
- In other cases, the content of this unit might be relevant to a course on offer through OUA or elsewhere. In order to receive credit for this unit in the course you will need to supply the provider institution with a copy of the Unit Profile in the approved format, which you can download here. Note that the Unit Profile is set at the start of the year, and if textbooks change this may not match the Unibooks textbook list.
