Students will learn through doing and making how to successfully formulate, plan, conduct, and disseminate their design work within various research contexts of their choice. Speculative, critical, participatory, conceptual, ethnographic, and experimental design research methods and perspectives will be covered. In this course we will anchor the discussions of the meaning of design research (which are many) by considering specific communities and venues where design research happens. Course projects have been designed to provide students with opportunities and mentorship in publishing, disseminating, and exhibiting their work in design, art, and research conferences, journals, workshops, catalogs, competitions, and exhibitions. Early in the course, students will learn foundational design research methods and perspectives by working within timely and socially relevant design research domains, such as designing to address fairness, slowness, policy, privacy, or sustainability. Students will also have opportunities to connect their work in this class with their thesis project or other projects they are working on outside of this course. This course is ideal for all students interested in learning more rigorous and inventive methods and developing strong portfolio pieces that reflect expertise in these methods. Additionally, this course will provide particular guidance to students interested in forging entrepreneurial, experimental, or  less-trodden career paths in design after graduation, such as forming a speculative design studio or art collective, teaching design, working as a design researcher in industry, or pursuing additional graduate education. Students from industrial, interactive, graphic, and all other areas of design are encouraged. Students will be able to work within their design discipline(s) and will be encouraged to also work across disciplines.

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