Catherine D'Ignazio

Catherine D’Ignazio, a.k.a. kanarinka, is a scholar, artist/designer and software developer whose work focuses on data literacy and feminist technology. Her research at the intersection of technology, design & the humanities has been published in the Journal of Peer Production, the Journal of Community Informatics, and the proceedings of Human Factors in Computing Systems (ACM SIGCHI).

D’Ignazio has co-developed a suite of tools for data literacy (DataBasic.io), developed custom software to geolocate news articles and designed an application, Terra Incognita, to promote global news discovery. She is currently writing about Feminist Data Visualization, working with the Public Lab to explore the possibilities for journalistic storytelling with DIY environmental sensors and planning the next version of the “Make the Breastpump Not Suck” Hackathon at the MIT Media Lab.

Her art and design projects have won awards from the Tanne Foundation, Turbulence.org, the LEF Foundation, and Dream It, Code It, Win It. In 2009, she was a finalist for the Foster Prize at the ICA Boston. Her work has been exhibited at the Eyebeam Center for Art & Technology, Museo d’Antiochia of Medellin, and the Venice Biennial.

Professor D’Ignazio is currently a Faculty Director at the Emerson Engagement Lab, a Research Affiliate at the MIT Center for Civic Media and the MIT Media Lab and an organizer with the Public Laboratory for Technology and Science. Prior to joining Emerson College, she was a Lecturer in the Digital Media Graduate Program at RISD for seven years. She is one of the many Directors of the Institute for Infinitely Small Things. She graduated Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Tufts University with a BA in International Relations and holds an MFA from the Maine College of Art and an MS from the MIT Media Lab (where she had that upside-down baby depicted in the photo).

Get in touch with Catherine: @kanarinka or dignazio@mit.edu.