I. Overview, Goals and Objectives
The Doctor of Design (D. Des) is offered through the Interdisciplinary Program at the Interdisciplinary Design Institute, Washington State University Spokane. The D. Des is a unique doctoral degree, on the same level of intellectual rigor as the PhD, but designed expressly for integrating cross-disciplinary research towards design applications.
The D. Des addresses a demonstrated void in design education by specifically bridging education, research, and practice within a philosophical and pedagogical framework of interdisciplinary inquiry and critical synthesis. For the purposes of this degree, “design” is broadly defined as the creative integration of disparate components of knowledge, resources, and experience towards an applied outcome that contributes to socio-cultural well-being.
The D. Des educates students so that they will become more valuable to academic, business, and government organizations that require greater artistic, scientific and investigative skills. It provides candidates with opportunities to develop and deepen their education in three important ways:
- Enhancing research and analytical skills with rigorous methods that are employed within the pedagogy of design-oriented investigation, critical synthesis, and problem-solving;
- Acquiring advanced knowledge specific to their area(s) of inquiry through comprehensive scholarly investigations and distinguishing documentation;
- Developing critical design and synthesis process skills in the context of interdisciplinarity.
The program goals are three fold--interdisciplinary, disciplinary and community. The D. Des contributes to the collaboration and critical assessment of the relationships among the disciplines. Improved understanding of these relationships will support the ability of the design professions to undertake and solve complex and interrelated social and environmental design problems. Interdisciplinarity is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the program--giving candidates a broader knowledge and skill base.
Concurrent to the interdisciplinary focus of the program is the development of specific disciplinary goals designed to deepen knowledge and investigative methodologies inherent in and supportive of each of the design professional fields. Each candidate will apply the appropriate philosophical, technical and/or synthetic focus to their study and will develop critical content to their research contrubuting in innovative and original ways.
The program seeks to educate students so that they can contribute in teaching, design and/or community service. While some of the academic work will be theoretical in nature, the program will emphasize application within the context of the built and natural environments as well as a specific area of concentration.
Contact Us:
Jaime Rice
Academic Coordinator
509.358.7945
jlrice@wsu.edu
