Comparison of Pedagogical Status of Design Course in the Bachelor of Handicrafts Discipline at Universities of Iran and the New York University

Contemporary art movements today, especially after the industrial and technological revolutions, have altered approaches and perspectives on the concept of art, and in particular the position and functions of the crafts (handicrafts); that is the subject of this research. In the contemporary culture, the concept of handicrafts no longer holds its traditional connotations and functions and as an artistic medium, includes a variety of functions from purely conceptual to fully functional and design-related issues. Handicrafts is a field in which, in addition to cultural, identity-oriented, and historical factors, design elements such as functional issues, ergonomics and human factors, material recognition, aesthetics, and environmental factors are involved. Lack of a conceptual distinction between the types of "design" and “drawing” in the curriculum of the handicrafts discipline has led students to enter to the general workshops and then specialized workshops without gaining the ability to define and recognize the scientific process of designing a product based on the definition of need, determining the target group, ideation, evaluation, ergonomics, standards, prototyping, and ultimately production. This makes their designs often emotional, empirical, imitative, or suggestive of the designs by instructors and professors rather than themselves.
The purpose of this article is to study and compare the approaches to the issue of design in the curriculum of the handicrafts discipline at the universities of Iran and the New York University, and to answer these basic questions that: A) what is the approach and specificity of each of these educational programs in dealing with the design issue? And B) how can research results be used to improve design education in undergraduate handicrafts discipline at Iranian universities? The results of the research indicate that the handicrafts education at art universities of Iran continues with a traditional approach, aiming to protecting and looking back to its old and rich legacy as well as adhering to teacher-centered and the old approach of master-apprentice methods. Therefore, the importance, quantity and quality of presentation of specialized design courses do not meet the expectations. In comparison, the New York University's craft education approach, is avant-garde, progressive, futuristic, creative, student-centered and based on the problem solving methods; which is evident in the quantity and quality of presentation of design courses in the curriculum. Alongside these factors, formulation and implementation of a general crafts curriculum in Iranian universities, have led to the allocation of much of the educational capacity of the curriculum for general and diverse courses and workshops with different and unrelated goals, limiting the presentation of specialized courses such as design and its fundamentals in the curriculum. At the New York University, a specialized approach and perspective has led to specialized design and problem solving courses, with a particular emphasis on creativity. Due to the relative obsolescence of the present curriculum, the necessity of revising the undergraduate curriculum for handicrafts discipline at Iranian universities is evident. As mentioned in the comprehensive scientific document and road map of the country, it is suggested that in order to improve the level of knowledge and skills of the work forces in accordance with the international standards, to improve the quality of handicrafts higher education, and to meet the needs of society as well as the domestic and international labor markets, a new curriculum and syllabus be drafted and submitted consistent with contemporary and specialized requirements, with consideration and attention to the importance of specialized courses such as design.
The research method used in this article is analytical-comparative. Its analysis method is a combination of the qualitative and quantitative methods and data collection is based on library research and field studies.