This module is offered as an Elective in the graduate programmes in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design and climate resilience. The purpose of this module is to engage students - across these design disciplines - in negotiating and understanding more deeply their philosophical approach to the role of iterative research practice in the act of developing the thinking that underpins their design work. For students of architecture, this elective responds to the expectation to develop "an adequate knowledge of the history and theories of architecture and the related arts, technologies and human sciences" and "a knowledge of the fine arts as an influence on the quality of architectural design" along with "an understanding of the methods of investigation and preparation of the brief for a design project" (RIAI Standard of Skills and Competencies).

The syllabus is formed from a wide array of texts that showcase a broad variety of research processes from the scholarly to the wildly eccentric. These research processes cross multiple academic disciplines and creative practices. Through the texts on the syllabus, the module analyses the relationship between inquiries into archives, sites and objects and the structures used to organize the results. The syllabus ensures that research is not considered as a mundane or tedious task. The texts on the syllabus highlight the researcher's power to make strange and unpredictable the world of neat certainties. As a result, by working through the material on the syllabus, students are encouraged to understand how we position ourselves in the world, the ways we describe it, and the ways we act within and upon it.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: Discern and analyse different positions within the research field; Address a series of specific study question with reference to selected readings; Employ research to open up a field of imaginative and creative engagement; Develop a portfolio of critical writings interrogating a given text;

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: Present a personal position along with a case study based on assigned and self-selected readings; Lead class discussions and critically engage with input from lecturers and students.

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This elective module is delivered through seminars and case study presentations. Physically, the learning environment is a small classroom, with students seated around a table with the faculty member in a non-hierarchical manner. The learning environment is discursive and highly active. An essential component of the module is for students to participate in verbal discussion of the texts under consideration, and in this way, students develop their critical skills. Smaller classes allow for in-depth interrogation of this subject at an advanced level. Recent research findings drive the nature of the module, and the work generated by students as they investigate their chosen case-study topics through the methodologies established in this elective. Graduate elective modules may have a common brief and may share lecture/tutorial time with undergraduate electives. Compared to undergraduate electives, electives in the graduate programme pursue advanced research-learning, require additional module work, carry higher expectations and are assessed accordingly. Graduate student work requires independent study in addition to extra contact time. Higher-level expectations for graduate work include more in-depth pursuit of advanced technical, theoretical or practice-based concepts. Module work in graduate electives must establish a critical position that advances or challenges current practice. This module fosters students' CURIOSITY as it puts their interests at the fore of how they independently work through the methods explored through the seminars. The module develops an AGILITY in thought, as students respond to a broad range of material, crossing multiple disciplines, that hones their critical skills in an open-minded manner. This module greatly enhances the student's capacity to ARTICULATE their positions on the material being considered in the module and explored independently by each student.