17 Feb Embodied Reasoning in Architectural Interaction
Keith Murphy (Anthropology, UC Irvine)
Friday, February 17 / 1:30 PM
Education 1205
In this presentation, which stems from an ongoing project with colleagues in Sweden, Murphy will explore the use of analogical reasoning as a means for identifying problems in architectural critique interactions. He will focus in particular on the conversational invocation of specific architectural references as comparative cases intended to expand, clarify, or challenge details in student presentations. These analogical comparisons are not merely asserted by critics, but are interactively achieved as multimodal forms of action that combine talk with other forms of embodied action. Moreover, taking into account the wider goal structures in which the comparisons are embedded, Murphy will argue that in the context of architectural education, reasoning through analogy is a key means for socializing students into certain aspects of professional architecture and testing the limits of architectural knowledge.
In much of his work, Keith Murphy explores the relationship between language, material culture, and politics, with a particular emphasis on how these domains intersect with human experience. As a linguistic anthropologist, his main research interests sit at the intersection of design — as both a cultural category and a social process — and the study of face-to-face interaction, including both verbal and non-verbal language.
Sponsored by the IHC’s LISO RFG.
Website: http://www.liso.ucsb.edu/event.html?e=64