ARC3715H S
Instructor: J.P. King
Meeting Section: L0101
Wednesday, 12:00 - 3:00pm

Focused on the role that human-made objects play in everyday life, students in this course will learn to situate themselves within the field of Material Culture by examining the relationships between objects, environments, and users. Through a carefully guided series of thematic lectures, studio assignments, collective discussions, key readings, and playful activities, students will develop a comprehensive understanding of contemporary material culture as an exciting, interdisciplinary field of study uniquely positioned at the intersections of design, anthropology, psychology, philosophy, and more.

In this course, students will face questions such as: how do we construct our identities through material possessions? What is our relationship with waste? How do certain things define specific environments? When do objects tell stories? How do things shape the mind? And, what are objects without their human operators?

Through a variety of global perspectives, students will investigate a range of subjects including the invention of symbolic meaning, formal and folk approaches to product design, sustainability, and the creation and destruction of value.

This course will support students in developing their own toolkit of methods, practices, and concepts, which will be applied to a series of creative and flexible assignments customized to meet individual academic and professional goals.