Timelines in design: Where linguistics meets design history. Issue 1 (1st April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Perks, Sue; Whittingham, Nicola
• Is Part Of: Art, design & communication in higher education. Volume 16:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 23
• Page End: 32
• Publication Date: 2017-04-01
• Subjects: Art -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Periodicals; Design -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Periodicals; Creative teaching -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 707.11
• DOI: 10.1386/adch.16.1.23_1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1474-273X

Abstract

This article describes the design of Timelines, a ten-week, two-hour course to introduce international postgraduate students to the stylistic and cultural influences that enrich western graphic design in a relaxed, supportive environment. The course is the result of a collaboration between a linguist and a graphic design lecturer, and was designed to promote confidence and dialogue through a series of language-based activities addressing issues of internationalism by presenting a broad approach to western design history with an emphasis on intercultural knowledge. Students who may not speak English as a first language can experience very different design cultures to those that they are used to as they begin their postgraduate education at University for the Creative Arts. The aim of Timelines is to equip students with a learning and cultural toolkit to help them to navigate through the first semester of their postgraduate course and help them understand and contextualize the references they will encounter. Students also improve English language skills and critical knowledge so they are able to take an active part in dialogue and discussions. By the end of the ten-week course, students should also be able to formulate their own design discourses with confidence.