PhD, University of Waterloo
MA, NTU
BA(Hons.), NTU
Email: sffernandez@uwaterloo.ca
Biography
As a member of the higher education community, I have acquired extensive experience in fostering inclusive teaching and learning environments. Over the years, I taught courses in such diverse areas as rhetoric and communication, digital media studies, disability studies, critical making, and inclusive design. As an educator, I care deeply about my students’ academic development and wellbeing. I am committed to supporting the learning needs of students and promoting an inclusive culture of learning that is accessible to all students, regardless of background, identity, or belief.
Besides my teaching practice, I am also active in research. Working at the intersection of disability studies, digital media studies, and critical design, my research attends to the impact of digital media technologies and design practice on contemporary society and culture. My peer-reviewed work has appeared in Technoculture, The International Journal of Performance Art and Digital Media, The Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, and The International Journal of Inclusive Education, among other venues. As an academic, I serve as a peer reviewer for reputable academic journals in the humanities and social sciences. I also serve on the Editorial Board of Technoculture.
Selected Publications
S. Fernandez and S. L. Seah, "How Mobile Health Technologies Can Transform Social Relationships in a Population-Level Fitness Promotion Campaign," Proceedings of the 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS), Hong Kong, 2022, pp. 1-6, doi: https://doi.org/10.1109/ISTAS55053.2022.10227088
“Making Space in Higher Education: Disability, Digital Technology, and the Inclusive Prospect of Digital Collaborative Making.” International Journal of Inclusive Education Vol.25 No.12 (2021): 1375-1390. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2019.1610806
“Approaching Techno-Dramaturgy and Disability: Prosthetic Bodies and the Cyborg in Intermedial Performance.”, Keynote Lecture, Future Bodies Transhumanism Seminar, Oktoberdans 2020 Festival, 22 – 31 October 2020, Bergen, Norway.
“Ich Bin Ein Schauspieler: Making Crip Performance in Toronto with Theater HORA’s Disabled Theater.” Canadian Journal of Disability Studies Vol.7 No.3 (2018): 1-30. doi: https://doi.org/10.15353/cjds.v7i3.449
“The Mosaic Body: Interpreting Disability in Performance.” The Contemporary Arts as Political Practice in Singapore. Eds. Wernmei Yong Ade and Lim Lee Ching. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. pp.63-80. doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57344-5_5
“Performing ‘Technodrama’: Towards a Technocultural Aesthetic in the Age of Digital Anxiety.” Technoculture: An Online Journal of Technology in Society Vol.1 (2011): n.pag. doi: https://tcjournal.org/vol1/fernandez/
“Digitally Augmented Reality Characters in Live Theatre Performances.” International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media Vol.5 No.1 (2009): 35-49. doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/padm.5.1.35_1
Fellowships and Awards
Blackberry® Inc. Graduate Scholarship (2011)
Current Research
My current research examines the role that the multisensory and techno-somatic capacity of our body plays in shaping our embodied perception of our interactions with various media technologies that we encounter on a daily basis. Combining techniques of critical making with soma-based design methods that involve the designer’s body in the design process, my research investigates the efficacy of a multisensory experience design approach towards improving the multisensory experiences of people with disabilities and elderly persons who interact with digital media technologies. Thinking with the concept of “social futures”, which explores the importance of the social in the conceptualization and creation of diverse futures, I seek to discover new approaches to designing inclusive human-technology interactions by understanding how the development of sensorial and perceptual awareness through techno-somatic experiences can help users become attuned to different experiential modes of interacting with physical devices and digital interfaces.
Research and Teaching Areas
- Disability Studies
- Critical Making and Design
- Inclusive Design and Accessibility
- Digital Media Theory and Intermedial Practice