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Events and public defences

Events and public defences
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    Doctoral Dissertation: Factors Affecting the Career Development of Female Graphic Designers

    4.3.2021 9:00


    Around the world, there are not as many women in the workforce as there are men. This reality also holds true in the field of graphic design (GD). The fact that women usually excel in their studies but are not equally well represented in the job market has drawn particular attention. MA Yue Zhao explores the lower status of female graphic designers in the workforce as compared with males and the possible reasons for this situation.

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    Dissertation: Sámi game design is a cultural trait that evolves when given space

    27.1.2021 14:00


    Throughout history, Indigenous peoples have played, gamed and created their own games. Games and gaming are in fact an integral part of Sámi culture, but there are, nevertheless, only a handful of digital games around. In her dissertation Outi Laiti, BE, MEd, explores the possibilities offered by game development events for the cultural self-expression of Sámi people. What kind of a picture of Sámi culture, then, do digital games convey – who draws it, for whom and on whose terms?

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    Doctoral Dissertation: Instructors’ views, experiences and expectations of continuing professional development activities in Turkish schools of foreign language contexts, adopting European Commission frameworks

    26.1.2021 9:00


    Continuing professional development (CPD) of teachers has gained attention in the field of education, more specifically in English Language Teaching (ELT). In her doctoral research M.A. Arzu Eryılmaz points out that CPD requires significant investments beyond the traditional ways of providing several resources such as time, delivery, participation and funding. It is essential to have a planned and defined policy or set of strategies that will serve as the backbone for CPD programs to meet the recognized standards.

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    Doctoral Dissertation: Emotional skills for service designers in co-creation practices

    28.12.2020 11:00


    Service designers often act as facilitators in co-creation workshops, and they need specific skills to ensure a positive participant experience. The facilitator needs to be capable of creating a sense of togetherness and optimizing interaction in order to allow the flow of collective creation. The study by Mariluz Soto, MA, aims to broaden our understanding of emotions in service design processes and presents three essential skills that help facilitators in their work.

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    Doctoral Dissertation: Connecting Couples in Long-Distance Relationships – Towards Unconventional Computer-Mediated Emotional Communication Systems

    1.12.2020 11:00


    The number of couples who find themselves in a long-distance relationship is increasing for a wide range of reasons. For example, the current outbreak of COVID-19 has kept numerous loved ones apart. M.Des. Hong Li argues that there is a gap between research-based knowledge of the needs of long-distance relationship couples and the practical solutions actually available for them. Her study contributes to bridging this gap by mediating emotional communication through unconventional user interfaces that use interaction solutions outside of the scope of their conventional use.

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    Doctoral Dissertation: Drones Challenge Aviation Safety Rules

    20.11.2020 9:00


    Unmanned aircrafts – drones – have brought about a significant change in civil aviation. They present a number of problems, in particular when viewed from the perspective of aviation safety and security law. In his doctoral dissertation, LL.M. Mikko T. Huttunen examines the problematic of drones and the legislative approaches addressing it.

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    Doctoral Dissertation: Constructing child and family social work’s discursive practices in Lithuania

    18.11.2020 14:00


    MSW Roberta Motiečienė’s dissertation is based on the stories of child and family social workers in Lithuania. The country has been independent for only thirty years, which has significantly influenced the development of social work practices. Lithuanian society, following a neoliberal model and stressing individualism and efficiency, has high expectations of family social workers while advocating the rights of children and families. Family social workers are facing difficulties caused by structural problems in society and they are expected to abide by work ethics while lacking external resources.

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    Doctoral defense: Addiction within families – The impact of substance use disorder on the family system

    12.10.2020 8:30


    Jóna Margrét Ólafsdóttir´s doctoral thesis points out that the family members of a person with a substance use disorder (SUD) experience its effect in different ways in terms of their mental health, psychosocial state, and the family system as a whole. Family members living with an individual afflicted with SUD can experience increased depression, anxiety, and stress. Furthermore, they experience decreased family cohesion and communication between family members compared to members of families not affected by SUD.

  • Doctoral Dissertation: The Experience of Displacement and Social Engineering in Kola Saami Oral Histories

    5.10.2020 15:04


    M.A. Lukas Allemann examines in his thesis people’s experiences of Soviet-time, state-initiated displacement and (re)emplacement on the Kola Peninsula as well as the consequences of these developments. Sources show that Saami communities bore the brunt of these processes. The work seeks to draw – for the first time – a holistic picture of the social transformation among the Kola Saami, while nevertheless respecting the reality of mixed and multiple ethnic belongings as well as other categories of identity in the region.

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    Doctoral Dissertation: The defence relationship of Iceland and the United States and the closure of Keflavík base

    2.9.2020 12:00


    M.A. Gustav Pétursson’s doctoral thesis identifies the key elements of the defence relationship between Iceland and the United States. The research results suggest that defence relationships between asymmetrical powers in the international system are not only shaped by developments of the security environment, but also by economic factors and perceptions of decision makers responsible for shaping a nation’s defence policy.