Dr. Ahmed Ansari has a doctorate in Design Studies (History, Theory, Criticism) from Carnegie Mellon University, a masters in Interaction Design from CMU, and a bachelors in Communication Design from the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture.
His research interests intersect between design studies and history, philosophy of technology, and critical cultural studies, particularly studies of decolonisation and globalization, with an area focus on visual and material culture in the Indian subcontinent. He is also interested more generally in theories of socio-technical change and systemic design, in knowledge production and dissemination through design ethnography, particularly with regards to the ethics and politics of design practice, and in questions of mind, body, and mediation.
He is a founding member of the Decolonising Design platform and the Architecture Design Research Lab in Karachi, and is also engaged in academic consulting focusing on curriculum development at the undergraduate level, having helped design the curricula for programs at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and Habib University in Karachi. He recently helped organize the third North American PhD by Design Symposium in S2020, which brought together educators and scholars from around the world to think about doctorates in design and give doctoral candidates a platform through which to share their work and connect with each other. He has been very active in public education, and often teaches public courses and conducts transnational reading groups like the recent Design Baithak series.
Ahmed Ansari received his doctorate in Design Studies and masters in Interaction Design at Carnegie Mellon University. His research interests intersect between design studies, critical cultural studies, and the philosophy and history of technology, with an area focus on the Indian subcontinent. He is also a founding member of the Decolonizing Design Platform. He has previously taught studio courses in interaction, speculative, and game design, and seminar courses in media studies, the philosophy of technology, and critical cultural studies.
Research Interests: Design studies, critical cultural studies, and the philosophy and history of technology.
