Society News
1 Dec
Design History Futures (CfP)
Call for Papers for Design History Futures – Sustaining What?...More
3 Sep
Writing Design - Call for Papers
The Design History Society Annual Conference 2009, Writing Design: Object, Process, Discourse, Translation, has now opened its call for papers.
...More
22 Aug
DHS Roles Available
The Society is seeking to fill a number of positions on its Executive Committee, including Secretary, Conference Liaison Officer, Communications Officer, Essay Prize Officer and Student Representative....More
Previous Conferences
2008
Networks of Design University College Falmouth, Cornwall, UK.
This conference responded to recent academic interest in the fields of design history, technology and the social sciences in the 'networks' of interactions that inform knowledge formation and design. It was convened by Fiona Hackney, with keynote speakers Bruno Latour, Jeremy Myerson and Jan Konings.
2007
Design/Body/Sense Kingston University London, UK.
This conference explored the histories of bodily and sensual experiences of design. It was convened by Dr Trevor Keeble, and co-convened by Juliette Kristensen.
2006
Design and Evolution Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
The conference explored the possibilities and limitations of the concept of evolution as an explanatory principle for changes in design. It was convened by Timo de Rijk.
2005
Locating Design London Metropolitan University, UK.
This conference explored the relationship between design and place and was convened by Dr Dipti Bhagat.
2004
The Politics of Design School of Art and Design at the University of Ulster at Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Convened by Dr Deborah Sugg Ryan, further details of the conference can be found through following this link.
2003
Sex Object: Desire & Design in a Gendered World Norwich School of Art and Design.
Paper themes deal with issues around gender, sexuality and eroticism and their relationship to the design and experience of the material world. Strands included: Gendering Modernity; Modernism and Decoration; Fashioning Identity; Trans-Cultural Meanings; The Female Consumer; Gendered Territories: Professional Terrains; Erotic Display: Consuming Technology; Gender at Home; Women Designers; and Magazines and Representation. The conference convenor was Dr. Nicholas Maffei.
2002
Situated Knowledges: Consumption, Production and Identity in a Global Context University of Wales, Aberystwyth.
This conference encouraged an interdisciplinary approach that addressed the interface between the industrial and developing worlds and encompass a long historical period. Material culture is an essential aspect of creating distinction and identity and has become an antidote to the homogenising effects of globalisation. How does this compare with times past?. Central to many of the papers are themes of cultural borrowing, global communication and considerations of material culture and design used strategically to create distinction and identity in the past and in the present. The conference was convened by Moira Vincentelli. To see a complete list of abstracts, please click here.
2001
Representing Design Royal College of Art & Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
This interdisciplinary conference was a forum for the investigation of the changing nature of the representation of design in different historical periods. The conference explored the significance of representation for our understanding of the concept of design in the cycle from origination, manufacture, dissemination to consumption.