Christopher Vann presented his research at the Interior Design Educators Council's regional conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan on October 23, 2019. The presentation titled "What can Phenomenology Do for Historic Design Research?" emerges from a recently completed thesis which examines the influence of French Enlightenment philosophy on the skylight installed by Thomas Jefferson at Poplar Forest. The research reveals a framework of analysis and interpretation other than the concrete causal relationship which tends to emerge from mechanistic theories about design. As scholars, researchers and educators we must not lose sight of the direct influence of thought on the architectural process as historic fact. Phenomenological investigation is a means of discerning the interrelationship of thought and form.