I am Professor of Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University, where I am also the “Professor-in-Charge” of the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) faculty group. Previously, I was Professor of Informatics at Indiana University School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering and a core faculty member in the HCID (Human Computer Interaction Design) program. Originally trained in Comparative Literature, I approach Human Computer Interaction (HCI) in ways that reflect my humanist background, situating my work in the intersection of HCI, Gender Studies, Science and Technology Studies, and Internet and Media Studies.

I was the Vice President at Large (2019-2021) and the Executive Vice President on the ACM SIGCHI Executive Committee (2021-2022).

My primary research foci have included interdisciplinary studies on feminist social science epistemology and methods; IT’s relationship to emancipation and participation; social justice informatics, care ethics and utopian futuring; environmental justice; sustainable agriculture; women’s health (menstruation, sexuality, menopause); urban informatics; research through design and critical design; craft, making, and DIY in contemporary interaction; and bottom-up IT innovation. Methodologically, I leverage cross-disciplinary theories and methods that include social science (especially qualitative research methods such as ethnography and interviewing), feminist social science (e.g., feminist action research, feminist narrative inquiry), and the humanities and the arts, e.g., criticism, critical discourse analysis, close reading, etc.

Between my graduate studies and returning to academic life in HCI, I worked for several years in digital media production and management, during which times I also published some books on Web development with Macromedia Press.

I was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan and came to the U.S. in the 1990s to pursue graduate education. In my free time, I sashiko, play with boro mending, and do imaginary interior design for my equally imaginary Eichler home.