HSOC-355: Design and the Ordinary

Often, the design process begins from a desire to radically transform the daily lives of its users. What would it look like if instead we prioritized understanding and supporting the everyday as it already exists? This course offers an introduction to anthropologies of everyday life; the study of material culture; and research based creative practices. In addition to engaging relevant texts and projects in a seminar format, students will work on a series of research and creative briefs around these themes in dialogue with their own interests. The course will work in active dialogue with designers, object collections, and the urban life of Los Angeles.