Bio:

I am a philosopher of cognitive science, fascinated by how we think, work, play—basically, live and love—together. For understanding this better, I’ve developed the theory of subjectivity and intersubjectivity called participatory sense-making.

Participatory sense-making is a framework for investigating our social lives. It build conceptual bridges between the different disciplines working on intersubjectivity. I also study and develop novel empirical methods. These concepts and methods are being applied to real life issues such as autism, therapeutic practices, learning and teaching, intimacy, development. In turn, the applications inform the further construction of the theory.

I believe that interdisciplinarity and open-mindedness are essential for this, and I collaborate with researchers and practitioners from many different fields: psychologists, psychiatrists, neuroscientists, sociologists, physical therapists, systemic therapists, movement experts, autistic people.

I have been educated at Sussex University (D.Phil. 2007), the Free University of Brussels (Licentiate 2001), and through continuing life and work experience. I have been employed in three Marie-Skłodowska Curie projects (one individual grant and 2 training networks), and have worked, among other places, at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Hertfordshire, the Sussex Autistic Society, the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Heidelberg, and the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of British Columbia.

I am associate professor in the Department of Philosophy, and the IAS-Research Centre for Life, Mind, and Society, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU. I am Associate Editor for Frontiers in Psychology, Cognitive Science.

I am co-director of Dialogica UK, a majority autistic-led social enterprise out of Sheffield, UK. We facilitate dialogues and provide coaching for autistic people, family members and friends, as well as academic researchers, with the aim of improving well-being for autistic people and counteracting structural injustice. At Dialogica, we are the creators and first generation facilitators of the Autism Dialogue Approach®, a powerful, equity-based model for developing understanding, increasing acceptance, improving conditions for autistic people and supporting better action for autism and neurodiversity.

I tweet (not very often) @participha, and you can find some impressions of my work, including videos, and all my publications here on my website: hannedejaegher.net