DI204-30 Living with Materials
Introductory description
Materials are foundational to our very existence, in how we exist, perceive ourselves and others, our environments, our histories and our futures. This module explores approaches to materials through a transdisciplinary lens and an international perspective. It combines theoretical and practical approaches that call on both the sciences and the humanities to consider and interact with materials. Students will be able to pursue a diverse series of routes assessing the lives of materials through their qualities and transformations, and will learn from a range of people who work professionally with materials in their academic and professional careers.
Module aims
To understand the ethical, political, social, economic and cultural aspects of the material world.
To develop methods for the creation of a personal taxonomy of the qualities of materials.
To establish and hone methods of verbal, visual, material and textual communication in relation to ideas about, and qualities of materials.
To evolve diverse methods of research that enable the effective analysis and understanding of materials (whether practical or theoretical).
To appreciate the interconnectedness of diverse disciplinary approaches.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
This 30 credit module is split into two halves with the first term concerning Materials and Us and the second Material Technologies.
The first term will include: original myths, chains of being, the resource model, global resources, ecological perception and economies of matter, materiality vs. materials, flows and surfaces, subject and object, digital materialities and future myths. The second term will include: revisiting resources, theories of making, alchemical practices, transformations, new materials, old materials, future materials, rethinking subject and object, and a materials festival.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Recognise, identify and record the scope and complexity of material worlds.
- Describe and critically assess the interplay of materials with ourselves, our physical, social and psychological worlds.
- Critically analyse and interrogate the complexity of material worlds through multidisciplinary methods.
- Demonstrate awareness of the ethical consideration of materials.
- Develop methods of textual, visual, material and verbal communication about materials.
- Develop effective and diverse research methods appropriate to both the theoretical and practical investigation of materials.
Indicative reading list
Anusas, Mike, and Tim Ingold. “Designing Environmental Relations: From Opacity to Textility.” Design Issues, vol. 29, no. 4, 2013, pp. 58–69., https://doi.org/10.1162/DESI_a_00230. Accessed 5 Jan. 2023.
Anusas, Mike, and Tim Ingold. “The Charge against Electricity.” Cultural Anthropology, vol. 30, no. 4, 2015, pp. 540–554., https://doi.org/10.14506/ca30.4.03. Accessed 5 Jan. 2023.
Banham, Reyner, et al. Wood. Rethinking Material. Vol. 17, JOVIS Verlag GmbH, 2021.
Bergson, Henri, and Arthur Mitchell. Creative Evolution. Digireads.com Publishing, 2011.
Bonsiepe, Gui, et al. Flow of Forms / Forms of Flow: Design Histories between Africa and Europe. Vol. 37, Transcript Verlag, 2018, https://go.exlibris.link/sRrM7TXD, Accessed 4 Jan. 2023.
Canales, Jimena. The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate That Changed Our Understanding of Time. Princeton University Press, 2015.
Candlin, Fiona, and Raiford Guins. The Object Reader. Routledge, 2009.
Davis, Heather. Plastic Matter. Duke University Press, 2022.
Ghosh, Ranjan. The Plastic Turn. Cornell University Press, 2022.
Gibson, James J. The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Routledge, 2015.
Hallam, Elizabeth, and Tim Ingold. Making and Growing: Anthropological Studies of Organisms and Artefacts. Ashgate, 2014.
Ingold, Tim. Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2022.
Ingold, Tim. IMAGINING FOR REAL: Essays on Creation, Attention and Correspondence. Routledge, 2021.
Ingold, Tim. Making: Anthropology, Archaeology, Art and Architecture. Routledge, 2013.
Ingold, Tim. The Perception of the Environment: Essays on Livelihood, Dwelling and Skill. Routledge, 2021.
Ingold, Tim. “The Textility of Making.” Cambridge Journal of Economics, vol. 34, no. 1, 2009, pp. 91–102.
Ingold, Tim. “Toward an Ecology of Materials.” Annual Review of Anthropology, vol. 41, no. 1, 2012, pp. 427–442.
Jaeger, C. Stephen. Enchantment: On Charisma and the Sublime in the Arts of the West. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012.
Janacek, Bruce. Alchemical Belief: Occultism in the Religious Culture of Early Modern England. Penn State University Press, 2021.
Karana, Elvin, et al. Materials Experience 2: Expanding Territories of Materials and Design. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2021.
Karana, Elvin, et al. Materials Experience: Fundamentals of Materials and Design. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2014.
Smith, Kurt. Matter Matters: Metaphysics and Methodology in the Early Modern Period. Oxford University Press, 2010.
Solanki, Seetal. Why Materials Matter: Responsible Design for a Better World. Prestel, 2018.
View reading list on Talis Aspire
Research element
Students will be considering diverse material qualities, relationships and transformations through a range of theoretical and practice research methods. Much of the practice will be experimental and investigative.
Interdisciplinary
Exploring materials comes from such diverse disciplinary positions as literary studies and chemistry. We will be using multidisciplinary tools, texts and methods to investigate materials.
International
We will be engaging with international contexts and materials and hope to work with people who are engaged with material development across the world.
Subject specific skills
Material manipulation skills.
Process mapping skills and vocabulary.
Material based vocabulary.
Transferable skills
The acquisition and assessment of diverse research methods.
Communication using textual, verbal, visual and material methods.
Group working skills.
Collaborative skills.
Curatorial skills.
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Seminars | 20 sessions of 3 hours (20%) |
| Private study | 115 hours (38%) |
| Assessment | 125 hours (42%) |
| Total | 300 hours |
Private study description
There is independent work required both in terms of reading required texts but also in sourcing and working with materials.
Costs
| Category | Description | Funded by | Cost to student |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equipment and project costs |
Materials costs |
Student | £150.00 |
| Field trips, placements and study abroad |
Travel and visiting speaker costs |
Department | £0.00 |
You must pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group A1
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
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| Materials taxonomy | 50% | 50 hours | Yes (extension) |
|
Students will produce their own taxonomies of materials and these should be communicated in a diverse range of ways through theory, making practice and curation (this might be physical or virtual). The word limit does not constitute the sum total of production but merely the textual contribution. Should the student wish to write more and work less visually, they may do so through negotiation with the tutor. |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| Material practice | 30% | 50 hours | Yes (extension) |
|
This assignment can be done as either a largely practical assignment (e.g. the development of new materials or the physical analysis of materials) with a 2000 word write up or as a purely theoretical analysis of the development of a new material, or reuse of an old material or process for 4000 words. This would be an assessment of its usefulness and possible applications, as well as the more academic connotations of the material's transformation, selection or application. |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| Materials Festival | 20% | 25 hours | No |
|
To produce a critical display/exhibition that curates the examination of certain qualities/politics/applications of materials. The physical presentation will be accompanied by a short verbal presentation. |
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Reassessment component |
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| Materials Festival | Yes (extension) | ||
|
A summary of the presentation that the group undertook and a full explanation of its components and the critical argument it was addressing. |
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Feedback on assessment
Formal and informal, class-based, live assessments and written feedback in line with rubric.
Courses
This module is Core optional for:
- Year 2 of UIPA-W201 BASc Design for Sustainable Innovation
- Year 2 of UDIA-H1L8 Undergraduate Design and Global Sustainable Development
- Year 2 of UDIA-H1L9 Undergraduate Design and Global Sustainable Development (with Intercalated Year)
This module is Optional for:
- Year 2 of UIPA-L8A1 Undergraduate Global Sustainable Development
- Year 2 of UIPA-L8A2 Undergraduate Global Sustainable Development (with Intercalated Year)
-
UVCA-LA99 Undergraduate Liberal Arts
- Year 2 of LA99 Liberal Arts
- Year 2 of LA92 Liberal Arts with Classics
- Year 2 of LA73 Liberal Arts with Design Studies
- Year 2 of LA83 Liberal Arts with Economics
- Year 2 of LA82 Liberal Arts with Education
- Year 2 of LA95 Liberal Arts with English
- Year 2 of LA81 Liberal Arts with Film and Television Studies
- Year 2 of LA80 Liberal Arts with Global Sustainable Development
- Year 2 of LA93 Liberal Arts with Global Sustainable Development
- Year 2 of LA97 Liberal Arts with History
- Year 2 of LA71 Liberal Arts with Law
- Year 2 of LA91 Liberal Arts with Life Sciences
- Year 2 of LA75 Liberal Arts with Modern Lanaguages and Cultures
- Year 2 of LA96 Liberal Arts with Philosophy
- Year 2 of LA94 Liberal Arts with Theatre and Performance Studies
-
UVCA-LA98 Undergraduate Liberal Arts with Intercalated Year
- Year 2 of LA85 Liberal Arts with Classics with Intercalated Year
- Year 2 of LA72 Liberal Arts with Design Studies with Intercalated Year
- Year 2 of LA79 Liberal Arts with Economics with Intercalated Year
- Year 2 of LA78 Liberal Arts with Education with Intercalated Year
- Year 2 of LA88 Liberal Arts with English with Intercalated Year
- Year 2 of LA77 Liberal Arts with Film and Television Studies with Intercalated Year
- Year 2 of LA76 Liberal Arts with Global Sustainable Development with Intercalated Year
- Year 2 of LA86 Liberal Arts with Global Sustainable Development with Intercalated Year
- Year 2 of LA90 Liberal Arts with History with Intercalated Year
- Year 2 of LA98 Liberal Arts with Intercalated Year
- Year 2 of LA84 Liberal Arts with Life Sciences with Intercalated Year
- Year 2 of LA74 Liberal Arts with Modern Lanaguages and Cultures with Intercalated Year
- Year 2 of LA89 Liberal Arts with Philosophy with Intercalated Year
- Year 2 of LA87 Liberal Arts with Theatre and Performance Studies with Intercalated Year
- Available to external courses/students