About the Program

MA Critical Inquiry Lab
The department of Critical Inquiry Lab is a two-year Master’s program that provides students with an environment to develop a self-directed design practice, driven by transdisciplinary research. We approach design as a mode of inquiry, where exploring research methodology is part of design. The aim of this program is to find new ways to assemble a more considerate, equitable and caring world.

This course description has been (re)written together with us, the current first year students.

The department is rooted in cultural analysis and design theory, questioning the role of design in relation to the structures, systems and relations that undergird our societies. It aims to navigate these waters critically and speculatively, while also striving towards a culture of care, both within the department and beyond.

“Lab” in the (current) department name does not refer to an actual laboratory, but rather seems to pay tribute to a trend in Eindhoven. The “Lab” stands for the spirit of experimentation, and pushing boundaries is encouraged by the department, even (and especially) if they challenge the overall approach of the Design Academy.

Entry points
We welcome diverse inquiries and we’re carefully looking for answers, without jumping to conclusions. While committed to critical reflection, we aim to suspend judgement, in order to search for ways to uncover the unexpected. As a student, you are encouraged to reflect, analyse, and respond to your surroundings, using different tools and methods that stem from art, design and curatorial practices, as well as more theoretical and socio-political fields of knowledge. We explore ways to sense and understand how complex systems and ideologies manifest in everyday life; in our social and material surroundings. The program encourages students to research the past, present and the future of a topic or theme and how their research resonates within communities of various backgrounds, helping the student situate their practice within a wider discourse.

Is this design? Perhaps. Does it have to be design? Being located in a Design Academy does not make it design. According to our creative director Joseph Grima we approach design here as a form of cultural critique. What that means is something we’re finding out. Your design is not my design.

Practices
The development of research methodologies is key to the program. Finding one’s individual voice, skill and tone of research within a collaborative collective, and how to communicate this to an audience, are at the core of the programme. The Critical Inquiry Lab aims to continually broaden the understanding of how doing research through an artistic lens can unfold into different (design) interventions, cultural practices, strategic actions, performances, curatorial methods, publications and editorial positions.

We find it important to be aware of the role of the public in both the process and outcome of the learning practice. For instance by working with an institute and publishing outcomes with an event or podcast. This attitude enables us to understand ourselves and our field of interests, and how this fits into a larger conversation on cultural production.

Curriculum
This is a two-year study program that results in a Master of Arts in Fine Arts and Design. Each year is divided into three trimesters. The first year enables you to get familiar with the academy environment and your working process with open-ended assignments. You will engage in various learning activities such as workshops, museum visits, theory classes as well as individual and group projects to put thoughts into practice. Each trimester has a set of tutors around a specific theme, giving the space to students with a multidisciplinary background to develop their projects according to their desired trajectories. The practice-oriented workshops focus on skills like radio-making, video-making, coding and other research methods.

Not all tutors “teach” in the classical understanding of a class. There will be lots of talking and debating in the beginning, possibly some sessions where the content feels irrelevant at first. The trimester ends with an evaluation, where we present either in a conventional format, or sometimes collectively put together a show. This is followed by a feedback session between tutors and students.

The main focus of the second year is to develop an extensive personal research project, resulting in a written thesis, alongside a work for an exhibition context.

In the second year, we can still enjoy the workshops, lectures and go on “field trips” with the first year students. There will be tutorial sessions on essential topics such as thesis writing and research archiving. It is also likely that we will visit the school less frequently, as we may decide to work on the thesis wherever else the research takes us. Our journey as a student ends at the Graduation Show during the annual Dutch Design Week.

The students
We welcome students from any professional background, what is important is that you want to question yourself and unpack the world around you. This course enables the student to develop a way of making sense of the world, rather than training for a specific job or field. Alumni land in diverse positions, from independent researcher, curator, editor, to roles at institutions or studios. The programme looks for a balance among many approaches, positioning between the general and specific, the abstract and concrete, thinking and doing. We encourage direct feedback and provide open channels of communication between the students and the tutors.

Although the structure of the programme is predetermined, the content is flexible and always open to accommodate our constructive suggestions. During the course, we are invited to reflect on and direct the kind of education we wish to receive.

The tutors
The Critical Inquiry Lab is a transdisciplinary study, which aims to foster in-depth research related to critical studies of race, gender, ecology, and others through artistic and design practices. This aim is reflected by the teaching team’s diverse professional background, knowledge and guidance. This is how we explore alternative roles and responsibilities for society in relation to material and immaterial ecologies that improve our coexistence with each other.

That is the ideal situation, but the reality is a work in progress. Tutors may not always be fully equipped to respond to the cultural backgrounds of all the students. We push the tutors to learn together with us, regardless of the present cultural biases. In the end, the selection of tutors is still bound by the fact that the programme takes place at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, in the Netherlands.

Conditions at DAE
DAE is a small academy that occupies six floors of an old factory building in downtown Eindhoven, a provincial post-industrial city branded as the Brainport of the Netherlands. The layout of the school is inspired by the pedagogy of the Bauhaus. There are no classrooms; all departments of the master programme share an entire floor as one open space, divided by shelves and partition walls. The school was the cradle of the Dutch Design tradition. With this heritage in mind, this department tries to push topics that are on the periphery of the discourse and open up questions relating to knowledge production.

It may get noisy and distracting, but from a more positive perspective, it can help us inspire each other and encourage interdepartmental exchange. The academy’s small size is reflected in its administrative capacities. It’s highly possible that you’ll get frustrated with late responses. However, you’ll learn that the receptionist is DAE’s generous FAQ page.

Acknowledgements
This collaborative course description was initiated by coordinator Gijs de Boer, written as a collaboration between the head of department Saskia van Stein and first year students (2021-2022) of the Critical Inquiry Lab department. Special thanks to students Anas Chao and Eva Mahhov for their contribution.

The department builds on the curriculum and legacy of the heads of its predecessor, Design Curating and Writing (2015-2019), headed by Agata Jaworska and Tamar Shafrir (2018–19), Alice Twemlow (2017–18) and Justin McGuirk (2015–17).

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Critical Inquiry Lab is a two year Masters program at Design Academy Eindhoven that provides students with an environment to develop a design practice driven by artistic research. The department is rooted in cultural analysis and design theory and principally questions the role of design in relation to the structures and systems underpinning our society. Research is not understood as something separate from design, but is design in and of itself. Bound to an artistic position rather than a specific discipline, we understand design and design critique as a cultural signifier and an agent of change.

The program encourages students to foster an inquisitive attitude and question the role of design in relation to the (historical) constructs underpinning contemporary society and how they resonate within local and global contexts. Critical Inquiry Lab holds a broad understanding of how research can translate or resonate into different curatorial practices and cultural methods, strategic actions and editorial positions. Over the course of two years students acquire skills such as writing, editing, curating, podcasting, publishing, performing, coding, mediating and developing strategic actions. The development of (research) methodologies, finding one’s voice, skills and tools in the context for design as research and its materialization, dissemination and publication are key.

“Operating within the complexities of contemporary society requires a fundamental understanding of the designed environment and the codes embedded within them,” explains Saskia Van Stein, Head of Critical Inquiry Lab. “This understanding enables meaningful contribution, agential entry points, and the ability to alter the current status quo. A growing awareness of the complexities of these visible and invisible systems—society’s ethical codes and constructs in language, technology, and power relations—is critical in creating a more equitable and inclusive future.” *

Critical Inquiry Lab welcomes participants from any professional background who want to question and unpack the world around them. Students will embark on both individual and collective learning trajectories. A core part of the course is the student-led organization of (semi-)public events, which contribute to conversations through the lens of design, addressing both the design community and the world beyond. In their second year, students will select a research domain to guide them towards a final project and a thesis, which can take a wide variety of forms. Students are actively encouraged to be experimental in their research, design and approach of making their works public.

Critical Inquiry Lab is a transdisciplinary design course, which aims to foster in-depth critical studies of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, nation, and citizenship. The teaching team’s diversity and guidance reflect this aim.

*Quote taken from interview with Nadine Botha

CIL Graphic Identity by Irene Straccuzzi