THIS UNIT FOCUSES ON A NUMBER OF CONTEMPORARY CONCEPTS IN ORDER TO EXAMINE THE VARIETY OF MENINGS AND IDENTITIES THAT CAN BE CONSTRUCTED WITHIN WHAT HAS COME TO BE DEFINED AS A CONSUMER SOCIETY, WITH THE EMERGENCE OF A RANGE OF DESIGN PROFESSIONS AT ITS CORE. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR PROVIDES THE CONTEXT BY WHICH A RANGE OF CRITICAL AND THEORETICAL CONSTRUCTS WILL BE EXAMINED. SEEKING TO LOCATE ISSUES OF MODERNITY, POST MODERNITY AND TASTE WITHIN A BROADER DISCUSSION OF SOCIAL CHANGE , THE MODULE EXAMINES THE EVOLUTION OF ''MEANING'' AND ''LIFESTYLE'' WITHIN RECENT DESIGN DISCOURSE, AND DRAWS ON A RANGE OF CONTEMPORARY CRITQUES OF SOCIETY BASED ON THE PROMOTION OF INSATIABLE DESIRE IN ORDER TO CONSIDER POSSIBLE FUTURES FOR DESIGN PRACTICES. A SHORT SERIES OF INTRODUCTIONARY LECTURES WILL SEEK TO OUTLINE THE BASIC TENETS OF ''CONSUMER CULTURE'' AND OFFER A NUMBER OF THEORETICAL AND CONTEXTUAL PARADIGAMS BY WHICH PATTERNS OF CONSUMPTION AND BEHAVIOUR MIGHT BE BETTER UNDERSTOOD. FOLLOWING THIS STUDENTS WILL THEN FURTHUR DEVELOP A NUMBER OF KEY ISSUES THAT CAN BE SEEN TO RELATE CONSUMPTION TO THEIR PARTICULAR PROGRAMME OF STUDY, WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS GIVEN TO THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF DESIGN DECISIONS. WITH THE AID OF ADDITIONAL LECTURES GIVEN OVER TO QUANTITIVE AND QUALITIVE RESEARCH METHODS, INCLUDING THE ROLE OF INTERVIEWS AND QUETIONNAIRES AND USE OF LIBRARY DATABASES '' STUDENTS WILL THEN CARRY OUT AN INDIVIDUAL CASE-STUDY IN ORDER TO FURTHUR EVALUATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF DESIGN AND ITS CONSUMPTION. THIS WILL THEN FORM A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE FINAL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT. ESSENTUAL READING: Lury, Celia (1996). consumer culture london: polity press Miller Daniel . (1987) material culture and mass consuption Oxford : blackwell Slater Don. (1997). consumer culture and medernity london: polity, press assessment criteria: knowledge of: the consuption of meaning within design practices theoretical models and their application understanding throughapplication of: research analysis, deduction, interpretation and evalution. i need to include a case study in my essay which i choose ie it can be comparing were my mother shops and difference in where i shop. and i also need to talk about thorstien veblen