STAFF PROFILE
Dr Seth Keen
New Media, Educator, Researcher and Designer
Dr Seth Keen is a new media educator, researcher, and designer in the School of Media and Communication, RMIT University. Seth brings together media and co-design practices to engage with contemporary wicked problems.
His track record of expertise is in the design of audiovisual media and image-based platforms. He has worked on collaborative projects with academic and industry research partners in the areas of development aid, cultural geography, social services and disaster resilience.
Seth is a winner of a prestigious Good Design Australia Award in Social Impact, 2018.
- Ph.D. Communication, RMIT University, 2014
- MA (by Research), Media Arts, University of Technology, Sydney, 2005
Transdisciplinary collaborations include codesigning image-making frameworks and digital platforms within the areas of disaster resilience, Indigenous self-determination, cultural geography, community services and development aid.
Selected projects include:
- Research for the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), to scope the use of photos and videos by Forest Fire and Management Victoria staff to collaboratively share knowledge on planning burning training, operations and community engagement.
- Researching and codesigning with RMIT Visual Communication design colleagues, UX designers and the Wiradjuri people a digital platform for Indigenous nation building in Australia that includes the use of photos and videos to share knowledge.
- Consultant work on a University of Melbourne, ARC Discovery project codesigning with a cultural geographer, ethnographic image-making methods to document water narratives in Timor Leste for distribution on an online archive.
- Working with World Vision Australia and UX designers on the codesign of a digital platform that utilised video to provide donors with information about a development aid program In Bogota, Columbia
- Keen, S. 2018, 'The documentary designer: A list of propositions for
interactive documentary practice online', in *Digital Media and Documentary*,
Springer, Switzerland, pp. 49-67 ISBN: 9783319686431 - Akama, Y. Evans, D. Keen, S. McMillan, F. McMillan, M. and West, P. 2017,
'Designing digital and creative scaffolds to strengthen Indigenous nations:
being Wiradjuri by practicing sovereignty', in *Digital Creativity*,
Routledge, United Kingdom, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 58-72 ISSN: 1462-6268 - Akama, Y. Keen, S. and West, P. 2016, 'Speculative design and heterogeneity
in indigenous nation building', in *Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference
on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS 2016)*, Association for Computing
Machinery, New York, United States, pp. 895-899 - Keen, S. 2015, 'Sampling Swallows', MINA International Mobile Innovation
Screening 2015, New Zealand Film Archive, Wellington, New Zealand - Keen, S. 2014, 'Dead TV: Cancel Delete', Mobile Innovation Network Aotearoa
(MINA) - peer review panel, The New Zealand Film Archive, Nga- Taonga Sound
& Vision, Te Anakura Whitiahua, Wellington, New Zealand - Miles, A. Proctor, J. O'Donnell, K. Soar, M. Keen, S. and Luers, W. 2013,
'Quickened - A Video iBook', Axon: Creative Explorations, University of
Canberra, Canberra, Australia - Keen, S. 2013, 'Ramblings of a post-industrial media maker', Mobile
Innovation Network Aotearoa (MINA) - peer review panel, The New Zealand
Film Archive, Te Anakura Whitiahua, Wellington, New Zealand - Keen, S. 2010, 'Purrumbete Verandah', The Stony Rises Project, RMIT
Gallery, Melbourne, Australia - Palmer, L. and Keen, S. 2010, 'Wai Lia Bere', Community Screening, Darasula
Community Hall, Darasula Village, Baucau District, East Timor - Keen, S. Deverell, K. and Wolf, D. 2009, 'Bogota Colombia', Virtual Tour:
Bogota, Colombia, World Vision Australia, Melbourne, Australia
1 PhD Completions1 PhD Current Supervisions
- Customary Approaches to Healing in Timor-Leste (administered by University of Melbourne). Funded by: ARC Discovery Projects 2019 from (2020 to 2021)
- Hola Wani: Courting bees in a divided land (administered by University of Melbourne). Funded by: ARC Discovery Projects via other University Grant 2016 from (2018 to 2019)
- Fire in the Lens: Using mobile phone image-making to improve the safety of planned burning. Funded by: Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning - Contract from (2017 to 2018)
- Designing for Indigenous cultural sustainability. Funded by: Australia Council University Art and Design Schools Grant 2016 from (2016 to 2017)
- Stony rises. Funded by: Creative Victoria Grant pre-2014 from (2010 to 2011)