Umeå Institute of Design is a department within the Faculty of Science and Technology at Umeå University, and part of the Umeå Arts Campus education and research environment. We conduct education and research in the subject of Industrial Design on an artistic foundation.
Umeå Institute of Design is searching for a PhD student. This is a joint PhD position with Umeå Centre for Gender Studies. This is a time-limited, salaried, position (4 years full time, in practice 5 years with 20% teaching). Last day to apply is 2016-03-14.
The primary objective of our research is to develop the design discipline by extending its existing practices and forming its future foundations. We aim to be at the forefront of addressing how design can, and need to, evolve in response to changes in its social, technical and ecological contexts. We are now looking for a PhD student to join us in this inquiry, integrating perspectives of (post)industrial design and gender studies.
Considering contemporary and historical challenges of design research, a number of issues connect to the concerns of gender studies, and perhaps particularly new feminist materialisms. These include issues of politics and power that are implicated in the flows of resources and influences of which industrial design is a part, ranging from established designer/client/stakeholder relations to matters of participation in collaborative design processes, and fundamentally changing relations between production and consumption. Further, there are many connections between the concerns of gender studies and design research around issues of methods and the articulation of knowledge through material forms, including issues pertaining to new ways of working and knowing, and concerns for engaging with everyday life, in all its diversity.
Most of all, we are concerned with imagining what could become, working with practices of making and design experimentation that can give material form to imaginative, hopeful speculations on diverse design futures.
With this position we aim to strengthen a critical dimension in teaching in the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes, and thus part of this position is also dedicated to participating in teaching in our programmes and courses at UID.
We believe that critical and gender perspectives are necessary components in the development of the conceptual foundations and future practices of industrial design. This PhD position is a key part of our ongoing efforts to contribute to furthering the development of such critical and inclusive perspectives.
More information and application instructions are available at this website.