It has been a long journey to reach this milestone. It certainly has been a colourful and not an easy one, but one that I am glad to have taken. Being awarded my doctoral degree was the culmination of a chapter, culminating in my recent attendance at the graduation ceremony.
So, here is a snippet of what my doctoral thesis, Seeing Beyond Sight: Platiality through the lived spatiality of individuals with blindness, is all about, and the link to the full dissertation is here: https://doi.org/10.25916/sut.28478015.v1
I dedicate my doctoral thesis to my grandma.
Thank you for having me, Swinburne University of Technology, School of Design and Architecture.
Thank you, my supervisors, for your guidance, support & mentorship: (late) Prof Mark Taylor (it’s bittersweet with your passing), Associate Prof Carolyn Barnes (thank you for stepping in as interim Principal Supervisor with Mark’s passing), Dr Nanette Carter, Dr Kirsten Day (Nanette, Kirsten, it was a joy to celebrate the graduation with you; thank you for attending).
Thank you, Natasha Layton, PhD, Associate Prof Abdullah Al Mahmud, Prof Marcus White, for your feedback & support during progress reviews. Thank you , the examiners, for your valuable input.
Thank you, Associate Prof Carolyn Barnes, Prof Blair Kuys, for providing a safe space for us students to thrive.
To all research participants, who most chose to be fully identifiable— Melbourne Design Week inclusive design discussion interdiciplinary panellists: Dr Manisha Amin, Prof Jenny Martin, Dr Andrew Martel, Jocelyn Chiew, Leo Feig, Dr Lil Deverell; interview participants with blindness: Prof Georgina Kleege, Martin Stewart, Nicole Willing, Samantha Marsh, Jennifer Parry, Timothy Haggis, Cathy*, Tess Whelan, Robert Fletcher, Susan Thompson, Jason Whiter; LightHouse design collaborators: Chris Downey, AIA, Shane Myrbeck, Yukiko Yoshida & end-user: Frank Welte—Thank you for the generosity of your time & invaluable insights. I sincerely hope to have done them justice. It’s been a grounding privilege.
Thank you, Vision Australia, Blind Citizens Australia, LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, San Francisco, for facilitating the research participation.
Thank you, Dr Timothy Moore, Prof Alan Duffy, Hélène Hofman, Charlotte Coles, Sarah Scales, your support throughout 3-Minute Thesis & beyond was instrumental in helping me understand my research core.
Dave Moolman, Joanna Smith, Karla Hendy of Shaw Contract, thank you for supporting & funding the MDW event’s Auslan Interpreter, Webinar hosting.
Thank you, Dr Roger Kemp, Dr Carolyn Whitzman, Sarah Bridges, Mary Ann Jackson, Michael Thom & Kelly Armstrong, Michael & Susan Fooks, Peter & Sarah Martin for your listening & supporting advice.
Thank you to my friends, family, especially my mom & my fur bestie.
#swinburne
