Discipline clans : re-establishing the purpose and value of subject associations in art and design.

The purpose and value of subject associations that populate, profile, serve and shape our art and design community is increasingly important. This paper will discuss the notion of subject associations – or discipline clans – and examine their role and contribution to our learning and teaching communities. We introduce the Graphic Design Educators’ Network (GDEN): a fledgling subject association that has pedagogic practice, research and scholarship at its heart. The rationale and impetus for creating the network – its origins, development, aims and objectives – will be discussed from a number of perspectives: student, staff, institutional and industrial.