Scholarly Interests

Kurt Thumlert is an associate professor in York University’s Faculty of Education, an executive member of IRDL (Institute for Research on Digital Literacies), and research associate at the TMU RE/Lab (Responsive Ecologies Lab) where he works with/on modular synths and new sound-making tools, and co-emerging sound/music making communities and sites of informal learning and practice. 

This current work focuses on EDI (equity, diversity, and inclusion) and explores new relations to sound making tools and practices, as well as related pedagogies stemming from these from explorations. He is a co-lead of the Toronto node of CAMIN (the Canadian Accessible Music Instrument Network) and is currently leading a York CIRC (Catalyzing Interdisciplinary Research Clusters) project, Designing Sound Futures: Inclusive design and transdisciplinary STEAM learning (DSF). https://www.designingsoundfutures.org 

Check out the BAMMsynth. https://www.designingsoundfutures.org/bammsynth-analog-semi-modular-synthesizer/

He is also part of the Building Access in Music Making (BAMM) initiative (https://accessmusic.ca), a Canada-based international research network that brings together not-for-profit organizations alongside academics who work across the disciplines of music, education, technology, and disability studies to increase and improve access to music making by following a community/disability-led approach.

Research and teaching focus on technology, production pedagogies and new media; the arts and multimodal literacies, and informal learning; the opportunities of digital media, game-based learning and learning through game design. His courses invite students to critically co-explore the sociotechnical resources and participative opportunities of emerging media ecologies, as well as authentic production-based learning environments. 

Chapters in Books

Thumlert, K., Nolan, J., McBride, M.. Chan, H. (2024). Strange play: Parametric design and modular learning. In A. Kitzman, C. Thorén, E. Engström and E. Teboul (Eds.) Patch Up!: Exploring synthetic sound and modular thought, New York: Routledge.

Alonso-Yanez, G., Thumlert, K., de Castell, S. (2022). Re-Mapping integrative conservation: (Dis)Coordinate participation in a biosphere reserve in Mexico.  In A. E. Clarke, R. Washburn, C. Friese (Eds.), Situational analysis in practice: Mapping relationalities across disciplines. Routledge.

Alonso-Yanez, G., de Castell, S., & Thumlert, K. (2022). Reflections on re-mapping integrative conservation. In A. E. Clarke, R. Washburn, C. Friese (Eds.), Situational analysis in practice: Mapping relationalities across disciplines. Routledge.

Abikar*, A., Aden*, A., Thumlert, K., Dahya, N., & Jenson, J. (2021). Refugees respond: Using digital tools, networks and ‘production pedagogies’ to envision possible futures. In W. Giles & L. Miller (Eds.), Borderless Higher Education for Refugees.  London, UK: Bloomsbury.

 

Thumlert, K., & Nolan, J. (2020). Angry noise: Recomposing music pedagogies in indisciplinary modes. In P. Trifonas (Ed.), The International Handbook of Cultural Studies and Education Reader. New York, NY: Springer

 

Alonso-Yáñez, G., Thumlert, K., de Castell, S., & Jenson J. (2019). Toward a production pedagogy model for critical science and technology interventions. In P. Sengupta, M.-C. Shanahan, & K. Baumie (Eds.), Critical, Transdisciplinary and Embodied Approaches in STEM Education. New York, NY: Springer.

 

Thumlert, K., de Castell, S., & Jenson, J. (2018). Learning through game design: A production pedagogy. In M. Ciussi (Ed.), European Conference on Games Based Learning. Sonning Common, UK: Academic Conferences and Publishing International.  

 

Thumlert, K., de Castell, S., & Jenson, J. (2017). Short cuts & extended techniques: Rethinking relations between technology and educational theory. In T. Fenwick & R. Edwards (Eds.), Revisiting Actor Network Theory in Education. London: Routledge.

 

Articles in Journals

 

Kitzmann, A., Thumlert, K., Nolan, J., McBride, M., Melin, D. (2026). From signal to Noise: Re-situating maker pedagogies ‘from the sound up’, Journal of Music, Technology, and Education. Online First Article (June 2026), 1-26. https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/jmte_00077_1

Marsella, R., Thumlert, Nolan, J., Williams, O., & Chan, H. (2026). From ‘How to Play Your World’ to the CMST Synth Club: A Story of community/academic collaborations in sound. Canadian Music Educators Journal (CMEJ), 67(3), 14-22.  
https://www.designingsoundfutures.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/synth-club.pdf

McBride, M., Thumlert, K, and Nolan, J. (2025), ‘Hands-off’ learning: The artifice of education in an algorithmic age, Digital Culture and Education, 16(1). https://www.digitalcultureandeducation.com/volume-161-papers/hands-off-learning-the-artifice-of-educating-in-an-algorithmic-age

Thumlert, K., Nolan, J., & Honisch, S.S. (2024). The disconnected keyboard: Inclusive learning and musicking practice with modular synthesis. Journal of Popular Music Education, 7(3). https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/jpme_00128_1  

 

Lotherington, H., Pegrum, M., Thumlert, K., Tomin,* B., & Boreland,* T. (2024). Exploring opportunities for language immersion in the posthuman spectrum: Lessons learned from digital agents. Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 22 (4): 525–547.

Thumlert, K., McBride, M., Tomin*, B., Nolan, J., Lotherington, H., & Boreland*, T. (2022). Algorithmic literacies: Identifying educational models and heuristics for engaging the challenge of algorithmic culture. Digital Culture and Education, 14(4), 18-45.

 

Boreland, T., Lotherington, H., Tomin, B., & Thumlert, K. (2022). The use of digital tools in French as a Second Language teacher education in Ontario. TESL Canada Journal, 39(2), 34-91.

 

Hébert, C., Thumlert, K., & Jenson, J. (2022). #Digital parents: Intergenerational learning through a digital literacy workshop. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 54(1), 1-58.

 

Lotherington, H., Thumlert, K., *Tomin, B., & *Boreland, T. (2021). Redesigning for mobile plurilingual futures. OLBI Journal Special Issue: Multiliteracies and Plurilingual Pedagogies in the 21st century: Critical Responses to the New London Group’s ‘A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies’.

Thumlert, K., Nolan, J., & *Chan & H. Kitzmann, A. (2021). ‘Together, Apart: Modular sound communities in the age of COVID-19’. The Journal of Music, Health, and Wellbeing.

Thumlert, K., Harley, D. & Nolan, J. (2020). Sound beginnings: Learning, communicating and make sense with sound. Music Educators Journal 107(2).

Thumlert, K., Smith, B., Hébert, C., & *Tomin. B.  (2020). Space is the place: Pre-service teachers re/map cartographic landscapes. Digital Culture & Education 12(1), 52-71.

 

Epstein, I., Baljko, M., Thumlert, K., Smith, J. A., Su, Y., Kelly, E.. &  Zaki-Azat, J. (2020). ‘A Video of Myself Helps Me Learn’: A Scoping review of the evidence of video making for situated learning. The International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

 Alonso-Yáñez, G., Thumlert, K., de Castell, S., & Jenson, J. (2019). Pathways to sustainable futures: A ‘production pedagogy’ model for STEM education. Futures: The Journal of Policy, Planning and Futures Studies, 108(April), 27-36. 

 

Thumlert, K., Owston, R., & *Mulhotra, T. (2018). Transforming school culture through inquiry driven leaning and iPads. The Journal of Professional Capital and Community, 3(2), 79-96. 

 

de Castell, S., Jenson, J. Thumlert, K., & Muehrer, R. (2016). Assessing assessment: An exploratory study of game-based, multimodal learning. Epidemic. Digital Culture & Education 8(1), April 2016.

 

Alonso, G., Thumlert, K., & de Castell, S. (2016). Re-Mapping integrative conservation: (Dis)Coordinate participation in a biosphere reserve in Mexico. Conservation and Society, 14(2), 134-145.

 

Thumlert, K. (2015). Affordances of equality: Ranciere, emerging media & the new ‘Amateurs’. Studies in Art Education, 56(2), 114-126.

 

Thumlert, K., de Castell, S. & Jenson, J. (2015). Short cuts & extended techniques: Rethinking relations between technology and educational theory. Educational Philosophy & Theory, 47(8), 786-803.

 

de Castell, S., Jenson, J. & Thumlert, K. (2014). From Simulation to imitation: Controllers, corporeality, and mimetic play. Simulation and Gaming, 45(3), 322-355.

 

de Castell, S., Taylor, N., Jenson, J., & Thumlert, K. (2014). Rethinking foundations: Theoretical and methodological challenges (and opportunities) in virtual worlds research. Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds, 6(1), 3-20

Courses Taught

• Digital Games and Learning (GS/EDUC 5863)
• Multimodal Literacies (GS/EDUC 5385)
• New Media Literacies and Culture (ED/EDIS 3610)
• New Media Literacies and Culture (ED/EDUC 3610)