Sustainable Digital Life - Staff Introductions
Our academic staff deliver expertise and enthusiasm to the programme through their inspiring approaches. Read our staff profiles to learn more about who we are.
Markku Turunen, Professor of Interactive Technology
I work in the intersection of computer science, human-computer interaction, and media technologies (auditory and visual technologies such as conversational systems and XR-technology). I am the head of “Sustainable Digital Life (SDL)” programme, and my courses in the SDL programme include “Spoken, Conversational and Auditory Interaction”, “Information Analytics and Visualization”, “Fundamentals of Accessibility“ and “Accessibility in a Digital Society”. I like to work with concrete digital solutions in a project-oriented fashion with the slogan “Making accessibility the new norm - Empowering people” in mind.
Pauliina Baltzar, Project Researcher
I have been handling the program planning process and creating a MOOC course which I highly recommend taking. In addition to SDL programme I'm working with Accessibility in Digital Society study module. For me the most existing part is to work in truly multidisciplinary group and create something completely new. I hope you enjoy your studies as much as I have enjoyed planning them!
Tuomas Harviainen, Associate Professor
I am Associate Professor of Information Practices at Tampere University and a freelance service design and strategy consultant. I am a firm believer in both sustainability and digitalisation, so being a part of the SDL team was self-evident for me.
Sirkku Kotilainen, Professor of Media Education
I am Professor of Media Education at Tampere University. My research areas include Youth/ Users Agency Online, Digital Literacy and Media Education. As educational perspective, especially out-of-school contexts like non-formal and informal education online form the core of my interest. Moreover, I am interested in making action-based and experimental design research for empowering users for making sustainable futures. In the SDL program I am responsible of students projects and thesis and, my teaching covers courses related to Digital Literacies together with Thesis seminar.
Asko Lehmuskallio, Associate Professor
I am interested in the interrelations between seeing and knowing, a relation that is ever more mediated via digital infrastructures and communication technologies. My work is situated at the intersection of visual studies and media studies, informed by media- and sensory-anthropology research, Bildwissenschaft (image science), computer-supported co-operative work, and science and technology studies (STS). In the Sustainable Digital Life programme, I will teach and guide projects on visual cultures and technologies, helping to question and rethink how we and others relate to what we see.
Thomas Olsson, Associate Professor of Human-Technology Interaction
I’m interested in so-called socio-technical systems, social computing, and computer-supported cooperative work. I’m a big fan of critical design of new ICT artefacts, as well as empirical study of the experiential, social and cultural implications of emergent information and communication technology. My agenda in the SDL programme is to educate experts who can both critically analyze and creatively design new digital solutions.
Tarja Rautiainen-Keskustalo, Professor in Music Studies
I have specialized in the research of audio cultures in today’s media environments. Having a background in social anthropology, sociology, and media studies, I examine sonic cultures from a multidisciplinary perspective. I am convinced that sound studies provide a unique perspective to study inclusion and sustainability. In the SDL program, I will teach three courses focusing on sound as a part of human multimodal action. In classes, we will examine how, for example, podcasts, soundscapes, and other audio innovations are part of new accessible and community-based media practices.
Riku Roihankorpi, University Lecturer in Theatre and Drama Research and Media Culture
My research and teaching reflect the areas of performance philosophy as well as intermedial, political and non-anthropocentric performance, along with their ethical challenges. In recent years, I have led the Centre for Practice as Research in Theatre T7 and several international research projects on technological performance and its uses in various social and cultural contexts. In the Sustainable Digital Life, my teaching contributes to project-based thesis studies and the areas of diversity, critical theories of the normal and speculative fiction as a source and mirror of sustainable thinking. I also supervise the project-based thesis studies of the MDP.
Anna Castrén, Education Specialist
I am the study coordinator of Sustainable Digital Life programme. I take care of the programme’s administrative matters in study affairs and give guidance and support to students in their studies. If you have any questions regarding the programme or admissions procedures, please do not hesitate to contact me! sdl.studies.tau [at] tuni.fi (sdl[dot]studies[dot]tau[at]tuni[dot]fi)
Read more about our Master's Degree Programme Sustainable Digital Life