The Aarhus University Anniversary Foundation’s Prize of Honour for Pedagogics 2012

The Aarhus University Anniversary Foundation’s Prize of Honour for Pedagogics of DKK 100,000 is awarded in recognition of outstanding and ground-breaking teaching at Aarhus University.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR LONE KOEFOED HANSEN, AARHUS UNIVERSITY

Lone Kofoed Hansen, an associate professor affiliated with the Digital Design Programme at the Department of Aesthetics and Communication, Aarhus University, is at once a strong and creative teacher and an outstanding team player and leader. She has been awarded the prize in recognition of her innovative teaching, her unique research, and her exceptional ability to combine the two fields.

Associate Professor Hansen was one of the driving forces behind the development of the innovative Digital Design Degree Programme, a humanities programme that combines IT, design and aesthetics. The programme, which operates in the interface between praxis and reflection on praxis, is contributing to the development of entirely new, socially relevant competencies in the digital public sphere. The dimension of social relevance is closely integrated into Dr Hansen’s teaching: she constantly challenges her students with examples from the society and culture we live in.

In her PhD dissertation re:configuring interface culture: digital aesthetics in the age of pervasive computing, Associate Professor Hansen explores IT and aesthetics. Her work has contributed to the development of a specifically humanistic platform for the advancement of IT research, both in Denmark and internationally. Her research has had a significant influence on both the content of her courses and her own teaching practice.

Dr Hansen’s teaching is not only praxis-oriented and research-based; her courses are in fact research-like. Learning from Dr Hansen takes the form of a research project: her students are directly involved in research projects where they engage in both empirical observations and theoretical reflection. Associate Professor Hansen’s teaching thus lives up to the ideal of research- based teaching, whereby students – already at Bachelor’s level – learn to independently acquire, process, analyse and produce original knowledge.

Associate Professor Hansen constantly seeks to improve her pedagogical qualifications. She has
presented her teaching experiences in a number of articles for the benefit of colleagues and other individuals with an interest in the field. In doing so, she has helped to sharpen focus on the field of university teaching development.

LONE KOEFOED HANSEN – CURRICULUM VITAE
Associate Professor, Department of Aesthetics and Communication – Digital Design, Aarhus University

Education and appointments

• 2012- Associate Professor, Department of Aesthetics and Communication, Aarhus University
• 2009-2012 Assistant Professor, Department of Aesthetic Studies, Aarhus University
• 2009 PhD degree, Department of Aesthetic Studies, Aarhus University
• 2002 MA in Multimedia, Department of Information and Media Studies, Aarhus University

Other activities

• Part of the interdisciplinary Participatory Information Technology (PIT) Centre
• Communications Chair of Media Architecture Biennale 2012 and 2014, both held in Aarhus