Deal All,

The next Critical Computing Seminar is on March 21. Please find details below.

Best Regards,

Ishtiaque

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Dr. Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed

Associate Professor

Department of Computer Science

The University of Toronto

Ph: +1 647 220 3482 (mobile)

Bahen Centre for Information Technology, Room 5262

Saint George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2E4, Canada

Website https://www.ishtiaque.net/%20 || Google Calendar https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/embed?src=ishtiaque.uoft@gmail.com&ctz=America/Toronto&mode=WEEK || ORCID ID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2452-0687 || Semantic Web https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/Syed-Ishtiaque-Ahmed/145867840

==

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Priyank Chandra priyank.chandra@utoronto.ca Date: Mon, Mar 17, 2025 at 3:06 PM Subject: Critical Computing Seminar (March 21): "Reconfiguring for Impact: Reflections on Community-based Design" by Aakash Gautam To: faculty-all@ischool.utoronto.ca faculty-all@ischool.utoronto.ca, technoscienceunit-internal@googlegroups.com < technoscienceunit-internal@googlegroups.com> Cc: Shion Guha shion.guha@utoronto.ca, Ishtiaque Ahmed < ishtiaque@cs.toronto.edu>, Robert Soden robert.soden@utoronto.ca, Ashique Thuppilikkat ashique.thuppilikkat@mail.utoronto.ca, Siddhant Shinde < sid.shinde@mail.utoronto.ca>

Dear All,

We are pleased to invite you to the Critical Computing Seminar on March 21, 2025, at 11:00 AM. Prof. Aakash Gautam from the University of Pittsburgh, will deliver a talk, “Reconfiguring for Impact: Reflections on Community-based Design."

The seminar will take place in the Learning Hub, 4th Floor, Bissell Building. Please register at: https://bit.ly/4iD40SM, to help us plan for refreshments.

*Abstract:* In this talk, Prof. Aakash Gautam will reflect on two participatory technology design projects --- one in Nepal and one in the U.S. --- that engage with and support marginalized communities. The first project involved co-designing computing resources with an anti-sex trafficking organization and survivors living in a shelter home. The second, an ongoing multi-site effort, is a collaboration with nonprofit organizations that assist formerly incarcerated individuals (returning citizens) in their re- entry journey. While the contexts differ, commonalities exist around the prevalence of stigma, structural challenges, and the optimism as well as limits of technology in changing the condition. These projects have yielded insights on assets-based design and methodological considerations to promote agency and power in complex social contexts. Prof. Gautam will then take a critical turn to examine two fundamental questions: What is the right thing to do? and Have we done it? Questions around the tangible impact of these projects and whether the academic contributions meaningfully translate into public good remain open. Through this reflection, Prof. Gautam hopes to prompt a discussion on the values that guide community-based design and explore ways to bridge the gap between academic output and community-driven change.

*Bio:* Prof. Aakash Gautam is an assistant professor with dual appointments in the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Information Culture and Data Stewardship. He completed his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in 2021 for which he received the SIGCHI Outstanding Dissertation award. He is interested in designing socio-technical approaches to supporting dignity, well-being, and the collective capacity of marginalized communities. Learn more about him and his work at https://aakash.xyz/.

*Time:* 21 March 2025, 11AM - 1PM

*Location:* Learning Hub, 4th Floor, Claude T. Bissell Building, 140 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 3G6 *Registration:* https://bit.ly/4iD40SM

Regards

Priyank Chandra

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information

Director, STREET Lab http://www.streetlab.tech/

University of Toronto

http://www.priyankc.com

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