Stacy Branham
Professor of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine

Feb 26, 2026
12:00 p.m. Lunch (while supplies last); 12:30 p.m. talk starts
Location: Hodges Room, 3rd floor, Centergy One building in Technology Square

Abstract: As systems of domination increasingly grip the academy with anti-intellectual, anti-democratic, and uncaring force, professors like me despair: what can we do? I have found a way to hope again through research praxis rooted in the testimony of the historically and multiply-minoritized. In dialogue with bell hooks, I will share my story as a western, white, wealthy woman with a disability who constructs Accessible Computing research in mutually-caring relationship with the community. In doing so, I extend bell hooks’s critical pedagogy to research and show how adding “ableist” to hooks’s refrain “imperialist, white-supremacist, capitalist, patriarchy” can expand our capacity to care. When we do research that cultivates a multicultural and multiability community; when we dare to share our lived truth and vulnerability with the other; when we theory our lives and live our theories–then research is the practice of freedom.

Bio: Stacy Branham is an Associate Professor of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. Branham’s research investigates interdependence and technology in multiability social settings where one or more people is disabled, yielding actionable design guidance and proof of concept prototypes. Branham has authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications at top venues, earning 5 best paper awards and 6 honorable mentions. Her work has been supported by over $24 million from Jacobs Foundation, Toyota, Intel, and the NSF. She currently serves as an Associate Editor of TOCHI journal and Program Co-Chair for ASSETS 2026. In 2021, she received the NSF CAREER Award and was named one of the “Brilliant 10” rising STEM researchers by Popular Science. She earned her Ph.D. in 2014 and her B.S. in 2007, both from Virginia Tech’s Department of Computer Science. www.stacybranham.com.

Haoqi Zhang
Associate Professor in Computer Science and Design at Northwestern University

Feb 12, 2026
12:00 p.m. Lunch (while supplies last); 12:30 p.m. talk starts
Location: Hodges Room, 3rd floor, Centergy One building in Technology Square

Abstract: Despite decades of computing advances, some human problems and core human values have remained difficult to solve or promote at scale. Instead of advancing individual technologies, I focus our attention on making major leaps in system-level thinking and orchestration. Specifically, I describe my efforts to design, build, and study computational ecosystems that interweave effective practices, interactional structures, and intelligent systems to form new, integrative solutions. Computational ecosystems emphasize (1) combining wedges of human and machine intelligence to make effective practices feasible; and (2) creating processes, interactions, and communities that sustain and deepen practice. In the first half of my talk, I will share examples of computational ecosystems we built over the last decade that transform how we plan, coordinate, connect, learn, and innovate. The second half of my talk will share our more recent efforts to support human practices and human experiences computationally. I will close with a few thoughts on why we need computational ecosystems, especially if we intend to not only meet our consequentialist aims but to deepen our engagement in intrinsically valuable human activities.

Bio: Haoqi Zhang is an associate professor in Computer Science and Design at Northwestern University. His work advances the design of integrated socio-technical models that solve complex problems and advance human values. His research work bridges across Computer Science, Design, Learning Science, Psychology, and Philosophy, and is generously supported by the National Science Foundation. Haoqi received his PhD in Computer Science and BA in Computer Science and Economics from Harvard University. At Northwestern he founded and directs the Design, Technology, and Research (DTR) program, which provides an original model for learning and growing through research for over 180 students (read the DTR annual letters, available at dtr.northwestern.edu/letters; and watch the DTR documentary, Forward, at http://forward.movie). With Matt Easterday, Liz Gerber, and Nell O’Rourke, Haoqi co-directs the Delta Lab, an interdisciplinary research lab and design studio across computer science, learning science, and design.

Susan Wyche
Associate Professor, Department of Media and Information, Michigan State University

Feb 5, 2026
12:00 p.m. Lunch (while supplies last); 12:30 p.m. talk starts
Location: Hodges Room, 3rd floor, Centergy One building in Technology Square

Abstract: In this talk, I will describe how the idea of accompaniment, which emerges from liberation theology and global health, can strengthen human-centered design (HCD) practices in the Information and Communication Technology and Development (ICTD) field. Drawing on my research in Kenya, I will present two projects that show how accompaniment offers another way of approaching design, one that prioritizes listening, mutual understanding, and long-term impact over problem solving and the development of novel technologies. The first project uses an HCD approach to develop an intervention that supports Kenyan youth with Type 1 diabetes in managing their condition. Although our original goal was to create a mobile health (mHealth) application, by relinquishing control of this intention we made space for unexpected outcomes to emerge, including a paper-based logbook and stronger community connections among participants. The second project is a Michigan State University course that connects students with peers at Kenya’s Egerton University to collaborate on design projects. The course activities turn the gaze on us; that is, MSU students became participants of inquiry themselves, reflecting on their own assumptions rather than designing interventions to address perceived problems in Kenya. I conclude by emphasizing the importance of adopting design processes that acknowledge both the possibilities and limits of design, and that support more reciprocal and just collaborations between the Global North and South.

Bio: Dr. Susan Wyche is an Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University and a faculty affiliate of the university’s African Studies Center. Her research focuses on Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) and Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD). For nearly two decades, her research program has sought to: 1) understand how people in Africa use ICTs and design technologies that reflect their contexts; 2) critically examine whether ICTs support socioeconomic development; and 3) increase African participation in technology design and research. To achieve these goals, she has conducted extensive fieldwork in Kenya since 2007 and collaborates with local partners to co-design interventions and develop educational programs that promote more inclusive and globally informed approaches to computing. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, USAID, and the Mozilla Foundation. 

Betsy DiSalvo, Ph.D.
Professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech

Jan 29, 2026
12:00 p.m. Lunch (while supplies last); 12:30 p.m. talk starts
Location: Hodges Room, 3rd floor, Centergy One building in Technology Square

Abstract: GT DataWorks recruits and trains employees with little technical background to execute data projects for clients. Over five years, we built this participatory research platform with employees, focusing on critical data literacy, career development, and the role of data in generative AI training.  Data skills are essential across a growing range of professions, driving demand for data-centric curricula in formal and informal learning environments. Yet most educational programs fail to meet the needs of the largest group affected by this change: working adults with limited technical backgrounds. To bridge this gap and create a platform for studying data education and the data-driven workplace, we developed GT DataWorks—a data services provider embedded at Georgia Tech that executes data projects for external and internal clients. Our work explores how real-world data practices influence the preparation of datasets that fuel generative AI systems and highlights the ethical implications of such work. This talk will provide an overview of this hybrid outreach and research platform, emphasizing how employees transitioned from research subjects to active research contributors, shaping our understanding of data's role in everyday workplaces and AI training.

Bio: Dr. Betsy DiSalvo is a professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on learning sciences, participatory design, and human-centered computing. DiSalvo leads the Culture and Technology Lab (CAT Lab), where she advises students studying the intersection of culture and technology in learning, workplaces, family life, and emerging research on the production of generative AI. This research focus has resulted in award-winning educational games and two workplace environments that served as research platforms: DataWorks, a self-sustaining cost center providing data work and a way to examine technology workplaces, and Glitch Game Testers, a job program for high school students testing video games and learning foundational CS skills. Dr. DiSalvo serves on the editorial board of Transactions on Computing Education, is a member of the Computing Research Association's Widening Participation Board, and has held leadership roles in ACM and other research organizations. She has contributed to numerous art and museum projects for organizations such as the Carnegie Science Museum, the Children's Museum of Atlanta, and the Walker Art Center. Dr. DiSalvo earned her Ph.D. in Human-Centered Computing from Georgia Tech in 2012. 

Anthony Robinson, Ph.D.
E. Willard & Ruby S. Miller Professor of Geography, Director of Online Geospatial Education Programs, and Director of the GeoGraphics Lab at Penn State University

Jan 15, 2026
12:00 p.m. Lunch (while supplies last); 12:30 p.m. talk starts
Location: Hodges Room, 3rd floor, Centergy One building in Technology Square

Abstract: At its heart, making maps involves simplifying reality to help us navigate and to explain our world. Cartographers are trained in the art and science of shaping spatial data to support a wide range of user needs. The rise of AI begs us to consider how the process of designing geovisualizations should change. AI also offers the potential to serve as an interactive assistant to help people understand what they see in a geographic visualization. In this talk, I highlights results from recent efforts to envision how cartographers might use AI, as well as ongoing work to leverage AI approaches for improving map accessibility for people who are blind or visually-impaired. I conclude with reflections on why automating cartographic design is hard, and why I think it might remain that way despite the promises of AI.

Bio: Dr. Anthony Robinson is E. Willard & Ruby S. Miller Professor of Geography, Director of Online Geospatial Education Programs, and Director of the GeoGraphics Lab at Penn State. His research focuses broadly on designing and evaluating geovisualization tools to improve geographic information utility and usability. Using methods that draw upon Human-Computer Interaction studies, his research has focused on contexts like epidemiology, crisis management, higher education, and ecology. Dr. Robinson is the current Chair of the American Association of Geographers Cartography & Mapping Specialty Group, a past-President of the North American Cartographic Information Society, and vice-Chair of the International Cartographic Association Commission on Geovisualization.