Dr. Melinda Gaughwin has a Bachelor of Arts (Film), a Bachelor of Design (Honours) (Communication Design), and a Ph.D. in Design Studies. Her research investigates Apple’s shaping of contemporary consumer culture by design, through the lens provided by Foucauldian thoughts on power. She is especially interested in the ways in which design politically shapes material and immaterial everyday lives, and how critiques of design can uncover this shaping. Melinda has been involved with university education in design for over a decade. Her experience includes working as an Associate Lecturer and an Academic Fellow in the Design Lab at the School of Architecture, Design, and Planning, The University of Sydney. Here, she coordinated ... Read more
About me
Dr. Melinda Gaughwin has a Bachelor of Arts (Film), a Bachelor of Design (Honours) (Communication Design), and a Ph.D. in Design Studies. Her research investigates Apple’s shaping of contemporary consumer culture by design, through the lens provided by Foucauldian thoughts on power. She is especially interested in the ways in which design politically shapes material and immaterial everyday lives, and how critiques of design can uncover this shaping. Melinda has been involved with university education in design for over a decade. Her experience includes working as an Associate Lecturer and an Academic Fellow in the Design Lab at the School of Architecture, Design, and Planning, The University of Sydney. Here, she coordinated and taught Design for Social Impact, Principles of Design, Design Process and Methods, Design Thinking, and Experience and Service Design. Prior to working in Sydney, Melinda taught undergraduate Communication Design practice, theory, and history and worked as a research assistant and project coordinator at UniSA.
About me
Doctor of Philosophy University of South Australia
Bachelor of Design (Honours) (Visual Communication) University of South Australia
Bachelor of Design (Visual Communication) University of South Australia
Research
Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit Scopus
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
Gaughwin, M. (2023). "The Apple Way": Foucault, Design, Consumerism, and the Shaping of Apple Subjects. Design and Culture, 15(1), 49–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/17547075.2022.2122115
Borthwick, M., Tomitsch, M., & Gaughwin, M. (2022). From human-centred to life-centred design: Considering environmental and ethical concerns in the design of interactive products. Journal of Responsible Technology, 10, 100032. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrt.2022.100032
Gaughwin, M., Ellice-Flint, S. (2021). Social design pedagogy and the UN SDGs: Bridging theory and practice to foster critical agency for sustainable futures. DISCERN: International Journal of Design for Social Change, 2(2), 79-84.
External engagement & recognition
| Organisation | Country |
|---|---|
| University of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
In 2018 Melinda was selected as a finalist by the students for the 2018 UniSA School of Art, Architecture and Design Student Choice Teacher Award and 2018 UniSA Division of Education, Arts and Social Science Student Choice Teacher Award.
Teaching & student supervision
