John McCarthy

I was appointed Professor of Applied Psychology in 2013 and Head of School until 2020. I was also Vice-Head for Teaching and Learning in the College of Arts, Celtic Studies, and Social Sciences from 2014 to 2018 and before that Chair of the College Academic Development Committee. I am a graduate of UCC where I obtained a BA in Applied Psychology, PhD, and MATLHE. I was a Post-Doctoral Researcher in University of York, UK, and Lecturer in University of Limerick before returning to UCC in 1992. I have held visiting roles in Universities of Limerick, York, Newcastle, and Sodertorn. For most of my time in UCC, I have also been a Programme Board Member, and Human Sciences Lead, of the Open Education (DCU) Distance Education Oscail IT programme, which provides distance education to students who, for practical reasons, would have difficulty studying for a conventional degree. I have served as a member of the Mental Health Commission Research Committee and the Government Data Forum. I am currently on the Board of Enable Ireland. My research is concerned with understanding the influence of emerging social, personal, and work technologies on people’s lived experience, and using that understanding to inform design of usable and enriching technologies. Using the experience-centred design that I developed with Peter Wight (Open Lab, Newcastle), my research has contributed research to the design of technologies and services for and with people with dementia and their carers, people with health-related difficulties, and those in Urban and Island communities. My current focus on understanding Responsible Software Engineering as a social, experiential, and political concern is funded by Lero SFI Centre on Software, in which I am a Co-PI.