Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto
Designing technologies for marginalized communities often needs a deeper understanding of cultural practices and values and appreciating the values through design. In this talk, Rifat will speak about his ethnographic research on designing technologies for marginalized communities.
Particularly, he will speak about his research with recycler communities, religious institutions, and waste picker communities. Rifat will discuss the issues of materiality, infrastructure, and policy that often play significant roles in developing technologies for sustainable development in the Global South.
Bio: Mohammad Rashidujjaman Rifat is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto (UofT), where he is a part of Third Space research group and Dynamic Graphics Project (DGP) lab. Before joining UofT, Rifat has held research and teaching positions at the University of Colorado at Boulder, New York University Abu Dhabi, and University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.
Rifat’s research interests include Human-Computer Interaction for Development (HCI4D), Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD), and Sustainable Design. He conducts ethnography, and designs and develops technologies for marginalized communities. To do so, he draws on theories from sociology, anthropology, information science, and computer science. He has published his research at CHI, CSCW, ICTD, ITID, and DIS.