242: Design as Creative Midwifery with Rupsha Mutsuddi
- Diana Varma
- Apr 7
- 3 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Welcome back!
This is a 3-part mini series about new ways of thinking about education, assessments, grading and ungrading with 3 brilliant educators who work and teach in the spaces of communication, design, creativity, art and art therapy.
This episode features designer and PhD candidate, Rupsha Mutsuddi. Rupsha is an emerging researcher, educator, designer, and artist. Her PhD in Global Health thesis focuses on Human-Centred Design to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia in global communities. Her thesis is supported by the Dahdaleh Institute of Global Health Research Scholarship and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. She also teaches at York University’s School of Global Health and Conestoga College's Bachelor of Design Honours Program. Her SSHRC-supported Master of Design thesis focused on building supportive technologies in augmented reality to help people living with dementia with their daily rituals. Rupsha has worked for a diverse array of clients in government, healthcare, non-profit, and clean beauty space, including the Detox Market, Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region, and the Ontario Public Health Association. With an interdisciplinary approach and an empathetic mindset, she develops meaningful solutions and strives to shape a better future through design education, research and practice.
In this episode, you’ll hear about Rupsha’s upbringing in a variety of school systems and the ways it’s led to her current path. You’ll hear about the unique interdisciplinary nature of Rupsha’s cohort and how the program uses grades to support students through a pathway of their choice using a pass/fail model. Rupsha shares how important it is for designers to be able to articulate their value, the benefits of iteration and the importance of staying in the divergent stage of thinking for longer than we think we have to. Finally, you’ll hear ideas about encouraging vs. stifling creativity in the classroom.
Let’s listen in…
Ilipinar, G., Matosas, J. M., Iglesias, O., Kristensen, T., & Johnston, W. (2009, October). Designer as midwife: Towards a new state of mind?. In 3rd annual conference of the International Association of Societies of Design Research, Seoul 2009.
About Our Guest:
Rupsha Mutsuddi is an emerging researcher, educator, designer, and artist. Her PhD in Global Health thesis focuses on Human-Centred Design to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia in global communities. Her thesis is supported by the Dahdaleh Institute of Global Health Research Scholarship and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. She also teaches at York University School of Global Health and Conestoga College's Bachelor of Design Honours Program. Her SSHRC-supported Master of Design thesis focused on building supportive technologies in augmented reality to help people living with dementia with their daily rituals. Rupsha has worked for a diverse array of clients in government, healthcare, non-profit, and clean beauty space, including the Detox Market, Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region, and the Ontario Public Health Association. With an interdisciplinary approach and an empathetic mindset, she develops meaningful solutions and strives to shape a better future through design education, research and practice.
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Music:
A Kwela Fella - John Bartmann licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License
Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle