From the Margins to the Centre: Defining New Mission and Vision for HCI Researchers in South Asia

The goal of this workshop is to bring together the community of HCI researchers, designers, and technology makers at CHI 2021 virtually who are interested in research including and beyond development in South Asia.

Together, we aim to break the stereotypes and re-imagine the future of HCI research in the South Asian region, celebrating the diversity, inclusion, and chaos that comes with it.

Over the years, the global Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) community has witnessed a plethora of work from South Asia. The focus of the HCI work in the region has been primarily on the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and its developmental implications on users, including those pertaining to the socio-cultural norms, lack of resources, literacy, and income. Some of the conducted research has been initiated and conducted by or in collaboration with researchers from the Global North, focusing primarily on challenges of the under-served user groups. However, the South Asian region has more to offer and needs to be looked at more than merely as a site for marginalized user groups. To benefit from the richness and diversity, results of continuous interaction among cultures and openness for dialogue, embedded in the living experience, social-structures and cultural-narratives, it is vital that the South Asian HCI community sets a strong agenda to be united to share a vision of HCI that goes beyond the ad-hoc system or service developments from the Global North.

The goal of this workshop is to bring together the community of HCI researchers, designers, and technology makers at CHI 2021 virtually who are interested in research including and beyond development in South Asia. Together, we aim to break the stereotypes and re-imagine the future of HCI research in the South Asian region, celebrating the diversity, inclusion, and chaos that comes with it.