Dr Magnus Ramage

Biography

I have worked at the OU since 2000, always as a lecturer (and in the same office) but in a changing set of departments and faculties due to successive reorganisations. Some of the reorganisations made sense and created interesting new collaborations. I have been blessed to work with some brilliant colleagues and in an institution with a real commitment to high-quality learning and social inclusion. It is this sense of mission that makes the OU special. I hold a PhD from Lancaster University in Information Systems. I am presently an elected member of Senate, and Equality & Diversity lead for the School of Computing & Communications.

Research Interest

I carry out research on the nature of information, and the history of cybernetics and systems thinking. I co-chairs The Difference that Makes a Difference (DTMD), a series of workshops held since 2007 on the way different academic disciplines understand of information, which has drawn in scholars from social science, technology, physical science, philosophy and art, and has led to a number of edited publications and an increasingly active research group. I am co-author of Systems Thinkers (2009, with Karen Shipp), and co-editor of Perspective on Information (2011, with David Chapman). I have been editor-in-chief since 2012 of Kybernetes: the international journal of cybernetics, systems and management sciences.