University of Maryland
Events
Home / Events

BBL: Amanda Lazar


Event Details
  • Date:

This week, our speaker is our own Dr. Amanda Erin Lazar. Dr. Lazar is Assistant Professor in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research is about how technologies designed for health and well-being position and support marginalized populations. She will give a talk titled “Rethinking Technology for Dementia”.

Details:

Time: 5/3 (Thursday) from 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Place: HCIL, Room 2105, Hornbake Building, South Wing
Lunch: Bring your own lunch

Abstract:

As the population ages, research is increasingly focused on conditions associated with growing older, such as cognitive and physical impairment. Technology is often presented as a solution for managing or treating these changes. This framing can position health conditions as problems to address through design and can neglect the complexity and positive aspects of older adulthood. In this talk, I draw on critical perspectives from Human-Computer Interaction and Gerontology. I describe ways in which technology can help us understand and challenge stereotypes around aging as well as cognitive impairment, and my ongoing and future work in this area. I will argue for a view of aging that takes into account the ways that technologies position older individuals and, in turn, the way that this view can inform the design of new technologies to enrich the experience of growing older.

Bio:

Amanda Lazar is an Assistant Professor in the College of Information studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research is in the areas of Human-Computer Interaction and Health Informatics. She studies how technologies designed for health and wellbeing position and support marginalized populations. She received her PhD from the University of Washington in the Biomedical and Health Informatics program and her undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of California, San Diego.