Prerequisite(s): VIST 102; and VIST 105 or VIST 106; and WRIT 105 or HONP 100; students in the SEEDS program can take ENGL 110, ENGL 111, ENGL 114, HUMN 151, HUMN 160, HUMN 288, PHIL 106, or SPAN 242 in place of WRIT 105. The History of Product Design course examines the products of the decorative arts and design from roughly 1700 to the present in Europe, the United States, and globally. Subject matter includes examples of furniture, household objects, textiles, fashion, graphic, and information design, and the built environment, in short, a large portion of “material culture” through which we seek to understand ourselves and the societies of which we are part and with which we increasingly interact. We will place an emphasis upon the raw and synthetic materials used in design, the role that these artifacts played in the lives of the people who designed, manufactured, and used them, and their intimate connection to the political, economic, and social conditions that provide their historical context and meaning. Fulfills the Special Topics requirement for majors. Equivalent course ARHT 272 effective through Summer 2021.