Dr. Rusaila Bazlamit
Details
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Department: School of Design
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Campus: City Campus Australia
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rusaila.bazlamit@rmit.edu.au
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ORCID:
0000-0002-5399-0437
Open to
- Masters Research or PhD student supervision
- Collaborative projects
- Industry Projects
- Join a web conference as a panellist or speaker
- Membership of an advisory committee
- Mentoring (short-term)
About
Dr. Rusaila Bazlamit is a digital designer, researcher, and educator working at the intersection of design activism, immersive technologies, and media representation. She is currently a lecturer in Digital Design at RMIT University, with teaching experience across architecture, design, and digital media disciplines in both Jordan and Australia. Her research explores how digital and interactive media, especially XR and game design technologies, can be used to create meaningful spatial and virtual experiences. She is particularly interested in how creative practice can foster inclusive environments, challenge dominant narratives, and support the representation of under-represented and displaced communities.
Alongside her academic work, Rusaila leads Lab Tajribi | Experimental Expressions, a creative practice exploring storytelling through interactive installations, video, and spatial media. Drawing on her Palestinian and Macedonian heritage and lived experience as a migrant to Naarm (Melbourne), her practice is grounded in decolonial frameworks, spatial justice, and the aesthetics of resistance. She works across digital heritage, affective immersion, and experimental museology to reimagine how stories of place, identity, and memory can be shared. Her practice-led research continues to evolve through deep experimentation with tools, platforms, and modes of expression that centre critical pedagogy and cultural survival.
Research fields
- 430204 Digital heritage
- 3605 Screen and digital media
- 460708 Virtual and mixed reality
- 460706 Serious games
- 430202 Critical heritage, museum and archive studies
UN sustainable development goals
- 4 Quality Education
- 10 Reduced Inequalities
- 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
- 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
- 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Academic positions
- Subject Coordinator | Teaching Associate
- University of Melbourne
- School of Media and Communication
- Melbourne, Australia
- 18 Feb 2022 – 11 Feb 2024
- Sessional Academic
- University of Melbourne
- School of Media and Cultures
- Melbourne, Australia
- 19 Jul 2020 – 31 Dec 2021
- Sessional Academic
- Curtin University
- The School of Design and the Built Environment
- Perth, Australia
- 6 Aug 2018 – 31 May 2019
- Sessional Academic
- Curtin University
- The School of Design and Art
- Perth, Australia
- 7 Jul 2014 – 31 Dec 2014
- Lecturer
- German Jordanian University
- The School of Architecture and Built Environment
- Amman, Jordan
- 8 Sep 2008 – 17 Jan 2011
- Lecturer
- University of Jordan
- The Faculty of Arts and Design
- Amman, Jordan
- 11 Sep 2006 – 5 Sep 2008
- Teaching Assistant
- University of Jordan
- The Faculty of Arts and Design
- Amman, Jordan
- 6 Sep 2004 – 31 Aug 2005
Non-academic positions
- Art Curator
- Casula Powerhouse Art Centre
- Sydney, Australia
- 14 Mar 2011 – 20 Aug 2012
Teaching interests
As an educator, and researcher, my teaching practice is grounded in critical pedagogy, interdisciplinary experimentation, and a deep commitment to inclusive and socially engaged design. I teach across digital media, spatial storytelling, media cultures, and immersive technologies, often weaving theory with creative practice to empower students to think critically and act ethically. My approach draws on my long-standing work with underrepresented communities, aiming to create learning spaces where care, cultural knowledge, decolanial frameworks, and political awareness are centred. Whether supervising hounors projects and postgraduate theses, leading design studios, or guiding students through media and communication theory, I invite students to reflect on the power of desig, not just as a tool for production, but as an activist practice of resistance, world-building, and belonging.
Research interests
Design activism, digital heritage, affective expereinces, immersive technology, gaming technology, politics and ethics of representation, media cultures, media theories, decolonisation frameworks.
