
Susanna Helen Trnka: The many ways in which people make medical technologies work for them; how to approach building multifaceted medical apps; what’s next for a student of anthropology
04/16/18 • 38 min
Susanna Helena Trnka holds a PhD from Princeton University in social anthropology and has studied the body, citizenship and subjectivity. Her specific interests include (amongst others) illness experience; new medical technologies and patient-doctor communication. She has studied extensively the politics of childhood asthma in New Zealand and the Czech Republic out of which came the published book = The Blue Child. She is currently doing research on the intersections between bodies, technologies, and temporalities.
One facet of this research examines how digital healthcare technologies are reshaping patient-doctor communication as well as patient-to-patient communication through the creation of virtual communities of care. She is currently an associate professor at the University of Auckland New Zealand.
In this episode we talk to Susanna about the complex social world surrounding the use of medical apps. Through stories from her fieldwork Susanna shares how people make the app and the designated features fit their world; how people engage with other people through the app and the complex world of digital etiquette. We talk about ethics and regulation of medical technology and about how to take your next step as a student of anthropology.
Mentioned in Podcast:
Susanna’s book is available on amazon;
"One Blue Child"
https://www.amazon.com/One-Blue-Child-Responsibility-Anthropology/dp/1503602451
Another book mentioned in the podcast – The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting over New Media by Ilana Gershon
Susanna’s work:
TRNKA, S.H. and A.M. ORTIZ. “Reshaping the Landscape of Care: Health Apps and the Ethics of Self-responsibility and Care for the Other.”
Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies. 14(2): 103-122. http://dx.doi.org/10.11157/sites-vol14iss2id3762017
Trnka, S. H. (2016). Digital Care: Agency and Temporality in Young People’s Use of Health Apps. Engaging Science, Technology, and Society, 2, 248-248.
http://www.4sonline.org/blog/post/talking_digital_care_with_susanna_trnka_new_research_in_est
#medicalanthropology #medicalapps #intersociality #health #technology #anthrocareer
Susanna Helena Trnka holds a PhD from Princeton University in social anthropology and has studied the body, citizenship and subjectivity. Her specific interests include (amongst others) illness experience; new medical technologies and patient-doctor communication. She has studied extensively the politics of childhood asthma in New Zealand and the Czech Republic out of which came the published book = The Blue Child. She is currently doing research on the intersections between bodies, technologies, and temporalities.
One facet of this research examines how digital healthcare technologies are reshaping patient-doctor communication as well as patient-to-patient communication through the creation of virtual communities of care. She is currently an associate professor at the University of Auckland New Zealand.
In this episode we talk to Susanna about the complex social world surrounding the use of medical apps. Through stories from her fieldwork Susanna shares how people make the app and the designated features fit their world; how people engage with other people through the app and the complex world of digital etiquette. We talk about ethics and regulation of medical technology and about how to take your next step as a student of anthropology.
Mentioned in Podcast:
Susanna’s book is available on amazon;
"One Blue Child"
https://www.amazon.com/One-Blue-Child-Responsibility-Anthropology/dp/1503602451
Another book mentioned in the podcast – The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting over New Media by Ilana Gershon
Susanna’s work:
TRNKA, S.H. and A.M. ORTIZ. “Reshaping the Landscape of Care: Health Apps and the Ethics of Self-responsibility and Care for the Other.”
Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies. 14(2): 103-122. http://dx.doi.org/10.11157/sites-vol14iss2id3762017
Trnka, S. H. (2016). Digital Care: Agency and Temporality in Young People’s Use of Health Apps. Engaging Science, Technology, and Society, 2, 248-248.
http://www.4sonline.org/blog/post/talking_digital_care_with_susanna_trnka_new_research_in_est
#medicalanthropology #medicalapps #intersociality #health #technology #anthrocareer
Previous Episode

Nimmi Rangaswamy: Stories from India on mobile internet & Facebook use of slum youth; technology as a force for good; the access & (corporate) ethics of technology
Nimmi Rangaswamy has an extensive experience in the technology space that spans both academia and the business sector. She is currently an Associate Professor at the Kohli Centre on Intelligent Systems, Indian Institute of Information Technology, IIIT, Hyderabad. She is also an Adjunct Professor at the Indian institute of Technology, IIT, Hyderabad where she teaches courses at the intersections of society and technology.
Formerly, she worked as a senior research scientist and lead the Human Interactions research area at the Xerox Research Center India. She was also part of Microsoft Research running studies of patterns of technology adoption in various social contexts and spaces in India, ranging from middle-class consumption of domestic media, the business models of cyber cafés and the use of mobile internet and Facebook among urban slum youth.
In this episode we talk to Nimmi about why some people consider technology “evil” and she doesn’t and how people make mobile and social media technologies their own. We will also be talking about topics such as access to technology in India as well as the corporate ethics of working with technology. Nimmi will also share her experience of working in the corporate sector and what is the value of anthropology to advance technological knowledge.
Nimmi’s work:
You can visit Nimmi’s profile at the sites below:
https://sites.google.com/a/iith.ac.in/dr-nimmi-rangaswamy/
https://www.iiit.ac.in/people/faculty/nimmi.rangaswamy/
Nimmi Rangaswamy, Sumitra Nair (2010) “The Mobile Phone Store Ecology in a Mumbai Slum Community: Hybrid Networks for Enterprise” in ITD, volume 6, Issue 3, Fall, Special Issue IFIP.
(Full article available here: http://itidjournal.org/itid/article/view/563)
Nimmi Rangaswamy, Edward Cutrell (2013) “Anthropology, Development, and ICTs: Slums, Youth, and the Mobile Internet in Urban India” in ITD, volume 9, Issue 2, ICTD2012 Special Issue.
(Full article available here: http://itidjournal.org/index.php/itid/article/view/1052)
#mobile internet #applied anthropology #access #ethics #technology
Next Episode

Amy Sheppard, Xero: What is an insight, how to build great design teams & what she looks for in a researcher role
Amy Sheppard has an extensive experience in the design space, having been in leadership positions in design across companies such as Deloitte Digital, Australia Post and Johnson & Johnson. She is currently the Head of Design for Xero (beautiful accounting software) and is based in Melbourne, Australia. She is also a certified instructor for LUMA Institute, a US-based company that teaches design-thinking worldwide to help businesses leverage human-centred design methods to drive innovation.
She enjoys teaching and has been a guest lecturer at the Design & Business program at RMIT University School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, and at the interaction design undergraduate program within the Faculty of Architecture, Design & Planning at the University of Sydney.
Amy Sheppard Social Links:
#interactiondesign #innovation #insight #team #technology #productdesign
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