Abstract
Discussions on the concept of ‘doctorateness’ have been growing during last years in traditional academic disciplines as well as in creative fields. This paper is a brief report from the first stage of a research project which studies how the concept of ‘doctorateness’ could be considered in the field of architecture, design and arts. The project builds upon a series of doctoral courses for architects and designers, and includes the study and evaluation of already accepted doctoral theses. In analyses of assessment assignments, the ‘connoisseurship model’ of Elliot W. Eisner was found to be useful. Eisner’s model of Connoisseurship & Criticism has served as the main tool for the analyses of empirical data, and as a framework for developing the concept of ‘doctorateness’ further. From the first phase of studies in the research project, the importance of particular kinds of awareness can be stressed as crucial for ‘doctorateness’, and here the model of connoisseurship and criticism has been operative. A more elaborate definition of ‘doctorateness’ is presumed to be of use as a pedagogical tool in research education in design fields as well as in dialogues between professionals of design practice and research.
Highlights
Issues of research criteria and quality levels have in several ways been on the international agenda and widely discussed, and there are continually higher expectations with regard to quality of research in the fields of Architecture, Design and Arts
During the years of doctoral apprenticeship, the PhD students learn to master the research craft, and the final trial is the assessment of the doctoral thesis, where a committee decides whether an expected level of ‘doctorateness’ has been achieved
Preparing an empirical base The first phase of the research project, which this paper reports on and which was mentioned in the introductory part of this article, builds upon a series of doctoral courses which we have implemented in research education for architects and designers in Belgium, Norway and Sweden in the years 2008-2011 (Dunin-Woyseth & Nilsson, 2009, 2010, 2011b, 2011c)
Summary
Issues of research criteria and quality levels have in several ways been on the international agenda and widely discussed, and there are continually higher expectations with regard to quality of research in the fields of Architecture, Design and Arts (the ADA fields).
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