Åsa Harvard Maare

My professional training is that of a visual artist, graduating in the Section of Drawing from Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, late 1980-ies. My research (and creative) interests revolve around visualization of complex ideas, visual narratives, hand drawing. And learning: imitation, observational learning, peer learning. My PhD project, in Cognitive Science, dealt with observational learning/peer learning in groups of children - and how to take the social dimension of learning as a starting point for designing learning activities or games. Lately I have also been active in research on the topic of satirical drawings.
I teach at the School of Art and Communication (K3), Malmö University - a place at the intersection between artistic, creative, critical and reflective. Plus some digital technology (we have a longstanding tradition within interaction design and participatory design). At K3, we also have a small but still highly cherished niche for nutty, explorative and playful research, as exemplified by the K3 Monster Lab where research looks at the monstrous both as a product of human creativity and as an expression of the condition of being vulnerable and imperfect. In this context, we have arranged many workshops on the theme of Monster Writing & Drawing - with the aim to externalize, share and make fun of those critical inner voices that make academic writing such a painful activity for so many academics. For pictures, check instagram: @asaharvard, @mau_monsters