Ramia Mazé appointed Docent (Associate Professor) in Interaction Design
On November 14, Ramia Mazé was officially appointed Docent in Interaction Design after giving her Docent lecture entitled 'Our Common Future? Political Questions for Designing Social Innovation' on October 17 at Malmö University. In the lecture, Ramia focused on the expanding roles of design in society.
Ramia Mazé is a senior design researcher at Interactive Institute Swedish ICT and specializes in participatory and critical approaches to design. Her recent work concerns design for social innovation and socially and politically engaged design roles. The docent title gives her the opportunity to further substantiate her commitment to education and research in design.
“Interaction design is a relatively young but rapidly growing field around the world – there is a pressing need to further develop academic foundations,” says Ramia, “after many years in research, I am eager to be more closely engaged with the development of design education and with formal doctoral supervision. As Docent, I’m in a position to contribute my substantial experience as a researcher, leader and educator to further developing such academic foundations.”
At the Interactive Institute in Sweden since 2001, she has led research teams and published widely through interdisciplinary and international projects in the areas of sustainable development, design activism, smart materials, and interactive spaces. Ramia is a founding faculty member of the MA program in Experience Design at Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design and has developed courses for the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology in the US, Umeå Institute of Design, Gothenburg University and Chalmers University of Technology. She currently teaches in the MA Industrial Design program at Konstfack and in the MSc Sustainable Urban Planning and Design program at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
“My teaching philosophy is premised on interweaving reflection and action,” Ramia explains, “I develop ‘practice-based’ approaches to introducing history and theory and ‘critical’ approaches to creative practice.”
The Docent title
Docent (Senior lecturer, reader /GB/, associate professor /US/) is an academic title mainly used in Europe and equals about four-five years of full-time research post-doctoral level, and gives the right to teach and supervise at all university levels, as well as being part of an examination panel for doctoral theses. In Sweden the docent title is obtained after formal application to a university committee, review by external experts, a docent lecture, and final approval by the university vice-chancellor. Just like a PhD degree, the docent title is not tied to a given employment position.
Watch the docent lecture on Bambuser: http://bambuser.com/v/4018212
Read more about Ramia Mazé: https://www.tii.se/people/ramia-maze
Press image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/interactiveinstitute/10922544613/sizes/l/
Contact: Ramia Mazé, ramia.maze@tii.se, +46 70 594 29 32
