Is the Theory Spine for you?
Give your degree structure. Theory Spine.
Theory Spine home | Why at UniSA? | How the Theory Spine works | Courses & electives | Seminars | From undergraduate to postgraduate | From study to work | Resources & facilities | Staff expertise | Find out more
- Want to answer a question?
- The big question
- Shape your degree
- Learn to think and write art, architecture and design
- Not sure? Find out!
Want to answer a question?
Follow the links to find out more about Theory Spine courses and electives on offer:
- What is seeing? (Representing Visual Culture VA and Representing Visual Culture: Design History and Theory)
- Is realism real? (Design Language in the Twentieth Century, Reading Visual Culture 2 and Architecture and Modernity)
- What is a fetish? Is art a fetish? (Indigenous Arts, Cultures and Design and Romanticism: From Impulse to Style)
- Was Duchamp a prophet, a rogue or just a naughty boy? (Reading Visual Culture 2)
- What is modernism and why should we post it? (Contemporary Design Issues and Contemporary Design Theory)
- Why is the hyper-real more real than the real? (Contemporary Design Issues, Contemporary Design Theory and Advanced Theory of Interior Architecture)
- Are art and art-like things the same? (Contemporary Art and Visual Culture and Asia-Pacific Arts)
- Why is the world so full of concrete? (Theory of Interior Architecture)
- How can respect be paid to traditional owners of country through design? (Indigenous Arts, Cultures and Design and Asia-Pacific Arts)
- What is the role of design in the demise of capitalism? (Contemporary Design Issues and Contemporary Design Theory)
- Why does 'sustainability' risk being unsustainable in design? (Advanced Theory of Interior Architecture)
- What are the materials of the future? (Advanced Theory of Interior Architecture)
- What role does 'ritual' play in today's presentations of reality? (Contemporary Design Issues, Contemporary Art and Visual Culture and Asia-Pacific Arts)
- In a world of commodities, is art just another commodity? (Contemporary Design Issues)
- How does the isolated genius in art relate to the public personality in design? (Contemporary Graphics and Illustration)
- Did Pop art lead the way into a postmodern era of subverting mainstream culture? (Design Language in the Twentieth Century and Reading Visual Culture 2)
- Why are corporate spaces so white? (Contemporary Design Issues and Design Language in the Twentieth Century)
- Is there a connection between straight lines and straight thinking? Between colour and happiness? (Kathleen Connellan)
- Do the ghosts of high modernist architecture live on? (Theory of Interior Architecture)
- Are cities just a perpetuation of the colonising process? (Theories and History of Architecture)
- Can design contribute to a more humane world? (Contemporary Design Issues)
- Is conceptual art just navel gazing? Just an excuse to do nothing creatively? (Contemporary Design Issues and Contemporary Art and Visual Culture)
- What is this debate between functionalism and aesthetics? (Kay Lawrence, Pam Zeplin, Esther Ratner and Kathleen Connellan)
- Is it okay to use the word 'beauty'? (Kay Lawrence and Linda Marie Walker)
The big question
- What's the next step? Where to from here? (Answer)
Shape your degree
You can use the Theory Spine to:
- choose and adapt your research ideas and channel your focus
- develop your own research pathway
- identify and enrol in courses that will help you develop a research focus leading to postgraduate study
- develop original research ideas from early in your study
- participate in research and postgraduate seminars
- enjoy the research culture in the School of Art, Architecture and Design.
Learn to think and write art, architecture and design
The Theory Spine will give you an understanding of:
- international modernism in art and design or architecture
- the relevance of the historical and theoretical context of contemporary culture.
As well, you will be able to:
- grasp key terminology and techniques in writing, documentation and the basis of research
- understand the importance of well-informed, independent thinking in developing a written argument
- gain confidence in researching the critical and historical context of art, architecture and design.
Not sure? Find out!
We offer Summer Research Scholarships to 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students so you can find out if research suits you.