Millstone or milestone: the perceived value of cultural studies for art and design students and teachers

This paper explores the conceptions held by students and teaching staff about the value of cultural studies to art and design courses. Research methods for this study included a phenomenographic analysis of twelve in-depth interviews with academic staff and forty visual representations produced by students in response to a question about the perceived relationship between cultural studies and their main course of study. Both interview transcriptions and visual images were analysed using a phenomenographic approach in order to ascertain the critical differences in the way that the subject was experienced and valued. This paper discusses the categories of description that emerged and considers the implications of these multiple conceptions for the teaching of cultural studies within art and design courses. This article was based on a conference paper of the same name delivered at the Annual Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association Conference, National Media Museum, Bradford 14th-16th January 2009. Other related conference papers that consider the implications for teaching subjects such as visual culture and theory/ cultural studies, which are primarily assessed through writing, within practice-led design courses include: Ryan, N, Eysler, A. & Glavey, P. (2010) ‘Fear of Foucault: Mapping the Anxieties of Art & Design Students in Relation to Critical Theory’, CAPPE: The Politics of Fear; Fear of Politics Conference, University of Brighton, 15-17 September. Ryan, N. (2009) ‘UnderWriting Value: Students’ and teachers’ conceptions of visual culture & theory in relation to design practice’, The Design History Society Annual Conference, ‘Writing Design: Object, Process, Discourse, Translation’, University of Hertfordshire, 3-5 September