Art & Design Education for the 21st Century, International Conference

This international conference was held as part of the 150th anniversary of the founding of Brighton School of Art, the ancestor of the current Faculty of Arts & Architecture at the University of Brighton.

Conference delegates were invited to a Reception and Private Viewing of the 'From Art School to University: Art & Design at Brighton 1859-2009' exhibition in the adjacent University of Brighton Art Gallery.

The ways in which approaches to art and design education have changed over the past 150 years are a matter of historical record. Although this conference acknowledged the radical changes that have been enacted in the past, its focus was unambiguously forward looking.

The role and significance of art and design education in the future - economically, socially and culturally - as well as the challenges that it will confront, was the focus of this important event.

The selected international speakers are leaders in their fields and will speak from a variety of perspectives.

Professor Sir Christopher Frayling, Rector and Professor of Cultural History at the Royal College of Art, London, is also a writer, historian and broadcaster whose views are further informed by the experience of chairing two major British cultural organisations, the Design Council and the Arts Council.

Anne Burdick, Chair of the graduate Media Design Program at Art Center College of Design in California, a leading US design institution, is dedicated to developing research within graduate level design education in an American context and defining the future of design as both a discipline and a practice. Renowned for her design of complex text-based projects across a variety of media environments, she is one of the most feted transmedia designers in America, having won a wide range of awards including the Leipzig Prize for the Most Beautiful Book in the World and I.D. Magazine's award for interactive design. Her own research addresses the relationship between language, technology, and cultural practices.

Speaking from the context of one of the world’s major emerging design economies is Dr Darlie O Koshy, the Director General of Education and Training Initiatives of the Apparel Export Promotion Council, sponsored by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. He has taken on this role in the context of the huge skill development thrust that is under way in India. Until recently Dr O Koshy was Director of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedebad, India. He also spearheaded the drafting of the National Design Policy approved by the Indian Government in February 2007.

Professor Darren Newbury from Birmingham City University brings a further dimension to discourse relating to design education for the twenty-first century. He has played a significant national role in developing visual research methods and the publication of research training resources for postgraduates in art and design. He is also the editor of the electronic publication Research Issues in Art, Design and Media (RIADM) and of the international journal Visual Studies and has a research background in photography and cultural studies.

Professor Elaine Aston, Professor of Contemporary Performance at Lancaster University, will lend further disciplinary insights. She has published in the fields of feminism, theatre, theory and performance and was a founding member of the Feminist Research Working Group of the International Federation of Theatre Research (IFTR).

The UK Research Councils have exerted a powerful influence on the shape and nature of current art and design education, as well as influencing its future. Professor Bruce Brown, the University of Brighton's Director of Research Development, has fulfilled roles on national and international bodies and has been a key figure in the UK’s 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for which he had major responsibility for overseeing the work of review panels for Art and Design, History of Art, Architecture and Design, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts, Communications, Cultural and Media Studies and Music. He will address the future prospects for art and design.

Sir David Watson, Professor of Higher Education Management at the Institute of Education, University of London, has published extensively in the field of higher education policy and practice and is a regular keynote speaker at national and international conferences. He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Brighton from 1990 to 2005 and was knighted in 1998 for ‘services to higher education’. He was a member of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (Dearing Committee) and he edited 'The Dearing Report: Ten Years On' (Institute of Education 2007), with Michael Amoah. His current professional roles include President of the Society for Research into Higher Education and Advisory Board Member, Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI).