Critiquing the (Design) Encyclopaedia Reading Group, Transnational Strand monthly Reading Group. This reading group will aim to explore the complexities of putting together an encyclopaedia of design to engage with the forthcoming University of Brighton edited volume of the Design Encyclopaedia.

An encyclopaedia gathers knowledge in one place and is presented as an overview of all knowledge in that subject area or discipline. While there are many arguments for encyclopaedic collections of knowledge, such as easier access and sharing for all, this can be a negative in that ease of access to knowledge of a particular group or persons limits their control over that knowledge or narrative. It is also the case that no encyclopaedia can contain everything so when an encyclopaedia of design is created, where is the distinction made between what is considered design and included in the boundaries of the project and what excluded? Why does all knowledge need to be accessible to all? If ‘knowledge is power’ then encyclopaedic knowledge is encyclopaedic power.

 

First Tuesday of the month, 6th June in Pavilion Parade 101, 1-2pm.

We will be meeting in Pavilion Parade, Room 101 but there is capacity to join the session through Teams by clicking here.

Experiments in Design Education 

In this month’s reading group we will think think through movements and initiatives that have reformulated learning and education’s spaces that ask us to expand our thinking beyond the Design Encyclopaedia. Some initiatives have centered community, pedagogy, and architecture that have created an atmosphere to shift thinking. We will be looking at a case study that will involve content outside of reading, looking through new learning initiatives that re-envision, making, material culture, and community participation. We invite participants to bring their own experiences and examples of experiments in Design Education.

This month we will be asking participants to look at the school house that is being built by the initiative The Black School.

Please look through the website https://theblack.school/home/ for the reading group and we invite you to bring your own examples of education that pushes boundaries outside the encyclopaedia of design.

 

To register interest in attending and receive a copy of the reading or to suggest future provocations please contact Jo Pilcher (j.pilcher2@brighton.ac.uk) and Kamal Badhey (k.badhey@brighton.ac.uk)