Banks+Methodological+empirical+conceptual+and+p

This study will be based on collaborative work done in three projects. 1) A condom vending machine designed in collaboration with healthcare professionals in Kumasi, Ghana and student designers at RPI. The project is meant to teach undergraduates about designing in non-American contexts while still producing a “kit of parts” that allow Ghanaians to build vending machines for their own small/side business. This project will offer insights into how an international design team can divide work and organize their data. 2) A WiFi mesh network in North Central Troy built and designed in consultation with local experts, North America-based open-source coders, and local residents. Critical making, participatory action research, and critical technical practice are not only utilized, but reflexively analyzed as tools for activist academics. Might also use standard paper questionnaires to collect basic Internet usage data. 3) A public outdoors performing arts space made from found objects is being designed with community input. Will be conducting a participant observation study
 * Methodological**

This study will contribute to the empirical record of ways relatively powerful actors attempt to remediate perceived problems. It will also provide data on the construction of technological artifacts and the politics embedded in them. The work is divided into three project sites. 1) A condom vending machine designed in collaboration with healthcare professionals in Kumasi, Ghana and student designers at RPI. Here I will attempt to answer: //How do global supply chains, local knowledge, and Western engineering pedagogy resist and accommodate one-another?// This will require extensive notes, project documentation, and some interviews that chart the production processes and the material construction of condoms and vending technologies. 2) The community wifi network requires knowledge of Internet use practices and habits North Central Troy residents. It also requires understanding the technical as well as the proprietary “tricks” of the open source Commotion Wireless mesh software. I will be conducting interviews with key developers based out of the Open Technology Institute. 3) The Freedom Square project involves lots of planning meetings and participatory design events. Here I will be collecting data on perceived users, the discourse of yet-to-be-built space, and differing perceptions of what makes good public space.
 * Empirical**

This study will introduce and subsequently defend, challenge and clarify the term “technologies of public space.” The term sits in relationship to popular technology, appropriated technologies, and feminist technology. The term is meant to define an intention or a “character” and not necessarily a function. There is no single sufficient criterion for making something a “technology of public space.”
 * Conceptual/Theoretical**

Produce a “field guide” of sorts to help activist academics do good, ethical, and effective work in their backyard and internationally.
 * Practical**


 * Addition to "Practical"**

I aim to use this project as a springboard for starting a new kind of research institution. I believe that truly groundbreaking research into new modes of work organization and technological innovation require equally unique institutions of critical engagement and sustained research. Social scientists have never had so many potential tools and resources at their disposal. With the advent of crowd-sourced funding (e.g. Indiegogo, Kickstarter) and new tools for collaboration across large geographic boundaries, academics have the opportunity to redefine their work environments and the metrics for success. I aim to start a federation of small project-oriented organizations that work with their host communities to solve long-standing, systemic socio-economic problems.