Naureen Mumtaz is an Assistant Professor of Information Design in the Faculty of Business and Communication Studies at Mount Royal University, Calgary. She holds an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Design Studies and Education and a Master of Design in Visual Communication Design.
Dr. Mumtaz's research areas are at the intersection of design for social justice, critical design studies and teaching and learning practice in higher education. She utilizes design-based participatory research methods to develop community-responsive design outcomes, addressing complex social justice issues like intercultural understanding and cultural pedagogies in higher education and health and wellbeing initiatives. With expertise in contextual sense-making, she designs customized projects driving social transformation in culturally diverse contexts. Dr. Mumtaz actively engages in collaborative and participatory design research, involving local community organizations, academia, and students in co-creation processes using systems thinking and design thinking approaches. Her work focuses on humanizing and decolonizing information communication and research-creation to make it relevant and inclusive for diverse individuals and communities. Her interdisciplinary scholarly endeavours target "wicked design issues" such as equity-centred design, innovation in health and well-being, and designing for inclusive futures.