PhD Philosophical Context of Design Research | Institute of Design

In 2026, after nearly 90 years, the Institute of Design was folded into Illinois Tech's School of Design & Society.
This website is an archive of the impactful and inspirational work produced by the ID community before that transition.

László Moholy-Nagy opened the New Bauhaus in Chicago in 1937, treating design as a discipline that was teachable, testable, and consequential. Nine decades on, its scope had widened from the things people use to the systems they depend on: hospitals, government agencies, classrooms, supply chains, digital platforms. Along the way, ID community members developed the published research, methods, and frameworks that designers rely on every day.

Chief among them is human-centered design: close attention to how people actually live, and advocacy for what that research reveals. It shaped designers who are comfortable with complexity and ambiguity: curious, rigorous, inclusive, and stubbornly optimistic about design's ability to change the systems that shape our lives.

To every one of them, who taught, studied, built, critiqued, and stayed late in the studio: thank you, and keep designing.

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institute
of desiGn

PhD Philosophical Context of Design Research

Surveys the major philosophies and theories that underpin design research.

Objective & Outcomes

This class surveys the central philosophies and theories underpinning design research through exposure to some of the most significant scholars and public intellectuals in the field of design and related areas. Specifically, the following perspectives and traditions will be discussed: pragmatism, social construction of technology, actor network theory, feminist technoscience, design anthropology and pluriversal design.

Upon completing this course, students will develop their own perspectives on the theoretical approach they may pursue in their individual research.

Typical Schedule

Session 1: Introduction
Session 2: Philosophies of Design
Session 3: Postcapitalism & Economies
Session 4: Innovation in Sociotechnical Systems
Session 5: Design Justice
Session 6: Posthumanism & Care Ethics
Session 7: Pluriversal Design