Call: Speculative and Critical Design: approaches and influences in education
Call for submissions to IxD&A (Interaction Design and Architecture (s)) Journal
For this special issue of the IxD&A journal we invite contributions that extend knowledge on this domain, for example, submissions addressing how educators are tackling, or aspiring to tackle, these challenges both in the classroom and in professional situations, or which discuss the collation and presentation of resources, methods and perspectives specifically in educational contexts. These can include stories and experiences along with critical reflections on the outcomes, impacts and implications.
- Deadline
- September 9, 2021
- Notification to the authors
- October 14, 2021
- Camera ready paper
- November 11, 2021
- Publication of the special issue
- end of November, 2021
Summary of the call
Speculative and Critical Design approaches and related Design Fiction practices are increasingly finding their place within interaction design and technology design educational programmes. The guest editors of this special issue are partners in the SpeculativeEdu project (Speculative Design – Educational Resource Toolkit), funded by the European Union, to explore novel educational skills and practices for the 21st century, especially those focused on the critical relations between technology and people. The inherently discursive and provocative nature of the Speculative or Critical Design approach makes it potentially useful for both teaching practical design skills and for reflecting on theoretical positions and the implications of introducing designed objects and systems into the world. There are however tensions and unresolved issues, and there is much potential for further development that deserves examination, particularly in the context of education, such as practical questions around; how to develop and share sets of tools, techniques and methods for concept creation, address aspects such as worldbuilding and the communication of narratives, and how best to apply criteria for assessment in educational domains as diverse as product and service design, architecture and urban studies, fashion design, media and communication, human-computer interaction, socio-technical studies and other creative fields. Further fundamental and overarching themes also deserve deeper interrogation, for example around; inclusion, diversity and participation, the influence of global and local cultures, understandings of the past, the present and the future, and the role of primary research in creative, imaginative work. Not least is the question of how to nurture the development of constructive tactics and strategies amongst students who are facing a world where problems seem too complex, too inextricably interwoven and too intractable to begin to address.
Full details and submission information
Topics of Interest
The indicative list of topics of interest for this special issue includes, but is not limited to:
- Teaching and Learning Activities, Methods and Resources
- Reflections and Viewpoints on Critique and Theory
- Assessment Strategies, and Program and Course Development
- Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Working
- Skills Development for Post-education Routes to Employment and Industry
- the Use of Speculative and Critical Design in Industry, and Professional Training and Skills Development
- Perspectives on Globalization and the Specifics of Local Contexts
- Future Directions for the Field
Guest editors
- Ingi Helgason, Edinburgh Napier University, United Kingdom
- Enrique Encinas, Aalborg University, Denmark
- Ivica Mitrovic, Arts Academy, University of Split, Croatia
- Michael Smyth, Edinburgh Napier University, United Kingdom
