Firaz Peer

I am an Assistant Professor of Information Communication Technology in the University of Kentucky’s School of Information Science. My research is situated at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Science and Technology Studies (STS), and design, with a focus on community information infrastructures. I examine how information and communication infrastructures are designed, organized, and experienced, and how they might be reimagined to advance the equity and justice-oriented goals of marginalized communities. My work approaches these infrastructures not simply as technological systems, but as sociotechnical arrangements shaped by relationships, institutions, cultural practices, and power.

Methodologically, I draw on qualitative and participatory approaches, including ethnography, participant observation, interviews, focus groups, and design workshops. I am particularly interested in bringing rigorous theoretical inquiry into conversation with participatory, community-centered research that produces tangible outcomes and contributes to meaningful social change.

My scholarship appears across interdisciplinary venues in HCI, design, information science, and the social studies of science and technology, including ACM’s Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW), Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), and Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS); iConference; the Participatory Design Conference (PDC); Design Issues; and the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S).