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Oswald Balandis

Oswald Balandis studied Social Science with the subjects Sociology, Social and Cultural Psychology, Statistics and Methods (focus on qualitative methods) as well as History and Politics, Economy, Society (PWG) at the Ruhr-University Bochum. He completed his Master of Arts degree at the Faculty of Social Sciences in the study program 'Culture and Person' with a focus on social, cultural psychology and methods. In his master's thesis, he addressed theoretical and methodological issues of social and cultural psychological approaches to practices of self-measurement and self-optimization (self-tracking). He worked as a student assistant in the tutorial program of the Faculty of Social Sciences and as a research assistant at the Department of Social Theory and Social Psychology. He also worked as a volunteer and freelancer in various historical and political education projects during his studies.

Currently, Oswald Balandis is a research assistant at the Chair of Social Theory and Social Psychology of Prof. Dr. Jürgen Straub and is working on an empirical dissertation on meaning-making in human-computer interactions and cognitive strategies in self-tracking practices. Self-tracking is understood here as a technologized way of life and interactive socio-technical constellation. Empirically, self-tracking is studied as a psychosocial tool for enhancing and expanding experiential and action potentials as well as subjectively meaningful implementations of behavioral changes (self-optimization).

Moreover, since October 2021 he is a member of the research group "Affective Sociality" of the Hans Kilian and Lotte Köhler Center, which deals with sociological, social psychological, cultural psychological and psychoanalytical perspectives on the relationship between society and affectivity.

His research and interests focus on social and cultural psychology, sociology of technology, human-computer interaction (HCI), practices of self-optimization and self-measurement, sociotechnical imaginaries, micro-sociology and social theory of digital society, qualitative methods of psychology and social research, intercultural communication and competence.

Publications and Lectures

A list of publications by Oswald Balandis can be found here.

A list of lectures by Oswald Balandis can be found here.

Contact

Oswald Balandis, M.A.
Ruhr-University Bochum
Faculty of Social Science
Chair of Social Theory and Social Psychology
Universitätsstr. 150
Chair GD, Raum E1/225
D-44801 Bochum
Tel.: +49 (0)234 32 - 19692
E-Mail: oswald.balandis@rub.de