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Cultural Diversity and Non‐Western Course Content in Interior Design Education
Author(s) -
Sohoni Ashutosh
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
family and consumer sciences research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.372
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1552-3934
pISSN - 1077-727X
DOI - 10.1177/1077727x08330689
Subject(s) - accreditation , diversity (politics) , interior design , cultural diversity , cultural capital , sociology , pedagogy , design education , engineering ethics , public relations , social science , political science , engineering , civil engineering , visual arts , law , anthropology , art
The Council for Interior Design Accreditation's professional standards for accreditation requires that graduates draw on the experience of diverse cultures as part of the learning processes. Interior design education has failed to address issues of cultural diversity in human population. Dominated by Eurocentric ideas, it has reinforced generalizations that devalue the role of non‐Western social, cultural, aesthetic, and other creative traditions that shape the built environments. This introductory article, based on the author's experience as a designer and educator, draws attention to an understudied area of cultural diversity and interior design pedagogy. It argues that the consequences of not being meaningfully diverse may result, not only in the loss of social and cultural capital but also economic opportunities for current and future designers.