Alex Jiahong Lu
鲁 家宏

I am a sociotechnical scholar. My work is grounded in cscw (computer-supported cooperative work), hci (human-computer interaction), and sts (science and technology studies), and. I adopt arts-based and community-based participatory research approaches and ethnographic inquiries in my current work.

I’m an assistant professor at rutgers university school of communication and information. I hold a phd in information science and a master of social work from the university of michigan.

[01]
CRITICAL
INQUIRY

Social and Cultural Implications of Sociotechnical Infrastructures
My work looks into the implications of sociotechnical infrastructures in varied domains in both the U.S. and China. Through ethnographic and participatory research approaches, I am particularly interested in how these infrastructures come into being, how institutional and social actors make sense and negotiate with them, and how they mediate and inform particular forms of socialties (while foreclosing the others).

[02]
Design-based
Inquiry

Decentering through Community-Based Participatory Research and Design
I am committed to centering communities in knowledge coproduction and dissemination. By employing existing and developing Community-Based Participatory Research approaches to the study of critical infrastructures and emerging technologies with my community partners, my work seeks opportunities to extend community members’ expertise and wisdom to the processes of tech and policy design and deployment.

[03]
Photography

All About Living
All About Living is my photographic project that looks beyond bias and stereotype to mutual understanding, as well as documenting voices, vulnerabilities, and agencies of everyday people and communities, such as North Korea, Cuba, and Mexico. Through the lens of my camera, I hope to depict oft-derided figures in a “foreign” place as what I see: generous and earnest, worthy of respect and empathy.