Hi all, Nimmi Rangawamy is visiting UW on May 19th. Nimmi has done fascinating work in examining digital practices of low-income, low-literate youth in urban India. She will give a talk (details below) at 2:30 in CSE 503. Please consider attending it. Also, please sign-up here <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wk6GLf8wpTjraSt9DoGGsOzis9f9KLlx7e5j6bc28Go/edit?usp=sharing> if you would like to meet with her.
*Title:* The Surplus Self at the Digital Margins: Case Studies of Digital Life from Urban India *Date:* May 19 (Friday) 2:30pm *Place:* CSE 503, Paul G Allen Center *Abstract:* In this talk, I will briefly outline my journey as a social anthropologist in the field of HCI and ICTD and working beside software Industry specialists , techies and currently among AI scientists. Through my research projects, I will trace the evolution of the anthropological lens in understanding and broadening technology adoption in the context of developing nations. Having spent the last decade doing ethnographic fieldwork on the use of new information technologies in emerging markets, I’ve encountered time and again a host of media practices that flagrantly defied stereotypical understanding and framing of ICT use in the global south displaying rich, informed and focused use of mobile and internet technologies Some of the questions I try to unpack in this talk are the following: As even the less-privileged in developing countries become ambient broadcasters to stay connected, how will these digital broadcasting behaviors seep through to impact other lived spheres of life, lifestyles and opportunities? Will the social dimension of the surplus digital self play out, how and where? Is it an artifice to draw boundaries between the digital and other dimensions of the social when we discuss impact, outcomes, empowerment and social mobility? *Short Bio:* Nimmi Rangaswamy works at the interface of Digital HCI and Anthropology. She recently joined as Professor at the the Kohli Centre on Intelligent Systems, Indian Institute of Information Technology, IIIT, Hyderabad. Formerly, she was a Senior Researcher and Area Manager of Human Interactions research at the Xerox Research Centre India, Bangalore. Nimmi is also currently Adjunct Professor at the Indian institute of Technology, Hyderabad teaching several courses on HCI and the Social Sciences. Best, Aditya
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