COOP Design Research Programme

More than any other institution, the Bauhaus-University Weimar Dessau expressed a modern understanding of design that took a sceptical view of antiquated design traditions and substituted these with direct research into materials and the innovative potentials of technology and science. Since then, design has been perceived as a cooperative discipline that synthesises diverse aspects of knowledge. Since autumn 2014 the Bauhaus-University Weimar Dessau Foundation and Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in cooperation with the transdisciplinary Cluster of Excellence "Matters of Activity. Image Space Material" at Humboldt University Berlin offer a Master's programme, which engages with the Bauhaus-University Weimar legacy in design research. The one-year Master's programme COOP Design Research offers an overview of the diversity of academic scholarship in this field and contributes to strengthening a research practice by the means provided by design. The programme strives to integrate design and research as a transdisciplinary field between material studies, social sciences, design anthropology, cultural studies, technology studies, architecture and design history, and theory. Throughout the programme, students obtain the academic knowledge and intellectual competencies to critically engage with the complex challenges designers face in the 21st century. In this respect, students acquire the ability to engage in an academic discourse, to theoretically penetrate phenomena of the material environment and to articulate themselves in writing. The students’ experiences gained in previous studies and professional practice constitute the basis for developing an approach towards a design research led by critical reflection. Comprehensive introductions to methodologies of theory reading, academic writing, field research, and analysis are provided as tools for complementing both theoretical knowledge and practical reflexivity. It is not only about what is studied, but it is also about how it is learned — due to its interdisciplinary and transcultural structure, the programme also promotes inclusion, diversity and critical thinking. The COOP Design Research MSc programme is conducted as a teaching cooperative by Anhalt University of Applied Sciences and the Bauhaus-University Weimar Dessau Foundation in cooperation with Humboldt University Berlin, with coursework taking place both at Gropius Bauhaus-University Weimar in Dessau and — to a lesser degree — at Humboldt University in Berlin. The diversity of the teaching staff with their different academic backgrounds contributes to the multiperspectivity of the programme. The courses are jointly run by professors and lecturers from the associated institutions as well as by international guest lecturers. Drawing from different teaching methods contributed by each of the three aforementioned partner institutions, the core of the MSc programme relies on three thematic building blocks: Design as Research, Design as Education, and Design as Projection. The Master of Science degree opens up professional perspectives in the fields of research and teaching of design, cultural studies, as well as curatorial practice. It can be conceived as either a preparatory step towards doctoral studies or as a theoretical enrichment for applied design research and practice. Moreover, the programme fosters international cultural exchange, personal growth and as such paves the way for a meaningful level of social engagement.