Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information

University of Toronto

I recently started as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto.

I am passionate about ethical research that can help us understand the sociotechnical practices of marginalized communities. My research is interdisciplinary, influenced by research drawn from HCI/CSCW, and theories and concepts from STS, sociology, development studies, and institutional analysis.

I am always looking for students and researchers to collaborate with. Please contact me if you are interested in any of the following:

designing with communities at the margins
informality
technology and development

I used to be a postdoctoral fellow at the Thirdspace research group at University of Toronto’s Computer Science Department. In May 2019, I completed my Ph.D. from the School of Information at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor where I was adviced by Prof. Joyojeet Pal. I hold a MS in Economics and a BE in Electronics Engineering with prior experience in education research and data analytics.

Amongst other stuff, I love the following in no specific order - mythology, cataloguing music, Carl Sagan, evolution, technology, dragons, Wong Kar-Wai, football (used to be an Arsenal fan, currently neutral, but leaning Southampton), and Douglas Adams.

Interests

HCI/UX
Socio-technical Research
Informality
ICTD

Education

PhD in Information

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
MS in Economics

Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi, India
BE in Electronics & Communications

VTU, India

Recent News

[December 22, 2020] Paper “Parsing the ‘Me’ in #MeToo: Sexual Harassment, Social Media, and Justice Infrastructures” accepted with minor revisions to CSCW 2021.

[October 11, 2020] Paper “Piracy and the Impaired Cyborg: Assistive Technologies, Accessibility, and Access” awarded a Best Paper Award and recognized for its contribution to diversity and inclusion at CSCW 2020.

[August 3, 2020] Paper “Piracy and the Impaired Cyborg: Assistive Technologies, Accessibility, and Access” accepted with minor revisions to CSCW 2020.

Projects

Transnational HCI & Marginality

Studying the infrastructures supporting informal transnational networks

Informality and HCI

The role of informality in the adoption, consumption, and reproduction of technology

Social Media and Development

The adoption and use of social media with a focus on how it relates to misinformation, stigma, and discourses of development

Publications

Aparna Moitra, Megh Marathe, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, Priyank Chandra (2021). Negotiating Intersectional Non-Normative Queer Identities in India. Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Extended Abstracts.

Yasaman Rohanifar, Priyank Chandra, Ataur Rahman, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed (2021). Money Whispers: Informality, International Politics, and Immigration in Transnational Finance. Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Aparna Moitra, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, Priyank Chandra (2021). Parsing the Me in #MeToo: Sexual Harassment, Social Media, and Justice Infrastructures. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction.

Priyank Chandra (2020). Piracy and the Impaired Cyborg: Assistive Technologies, Accessibility, and Access. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction.

Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen, Tanjina Tamanna, Swapnil Nandy, M. A. Manazir Ahsan, Priyank Chandra, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed (2020). We Don't Give a Second Thought Before Providing Our Information: Understanding Users' Perceptions of Information Collection by Apps in Urban Bangladesh. Proceedings of the 3rd ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies.

Megh Marathe, Priyank Chandra (2020). Officers Never Type: Examining the Persistence of Paper in e-Governance. Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Abdul Kawsar Tushar, Iffat Jahan Antara, Dipto Das, Priyank Chandra, Tanjir Rashid Soron, Md Munirul Haque, Sheikh Iqbal Ahamed, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed (2020). We Need More Power to Stand Up: Designing to Combat Stigmatization of the Caregivers of Children with Autism in Urban Bangladesh. Proceedings of the 2020 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development.

S. M. Taiabul Haque, Md Romael Haque, Swapnil Nandy, Priyank Chandra, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen, Shion Guha, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed (2020). Privacy Vulnerabilities in Public Digital Service Centers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Proceedings of the 2020 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development.

Priyank Chandra, Joyojeet Pal (2019). Rumors and Collective Sensemaking: Managing Ambiguity in an Informal Marketplace. Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Priyank Chandra, Jay Chen (2019). Taming the Amazon: The Domestication of Online Shopping in Bangalore, India. Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development.

A’ndre Gonawela, Joyojeet Pal, Udit Thawani, Elmer van der Vlugt, Wim Out, Priyank Chandra (2018). Speaking their Mind: Populist Style and Antagonistic Messaging in the Tweets of Donald Trump, Narendra Modi, Nigel Farage, and Geert Wilders. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW).

Sunandan Chakraborty, Joyojeet Pal, Priyank Chandra, Daniel M. Romero (2018). Political Tweets and Mainstream News Impact in India: A Mixed Methods Investigation into Political Outreach. Proceedings of the 1st ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies.

Joyojeet Pal, Priyank Chandra, Vaishnav Kameswaran, Aakanksha Parameshwar, Sneha Joshi, Aditya Johri (2018). Digital Payment and Its Discontents: Street Shops and the Indian Government's Push for Cashless Transactions. Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Joyojeet Pal, Anandhi Viswanathan, Priyank Chandra, Anisha Nazareth, Vaishnav Kameswaran, Hariharan Subramonyam, Aditya Johri, Mark S. Ackerman, Sile O'Modhrain (2017). Agency in Assistive Technology Adoption: Visual Impairment and Smartphone Use in Bangalore. Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Priyank Chandra (2017). Informality and Invisibility: Traditional Technologies as Tools for Collaboration in an Informal Market. Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Joyojeet Pal, Priyank Chandra, Padma Chirumamilla, Vaishnav Kameswaran, Andre Gonawela, Udit Thawani, Pritika Dasgupta (2017). Innuendo as Outreach: @narendramodi and the Use of Political Irony on Twitter. International Journal of Communication (19328036).

Priyank Chandra, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, Joyojeet Pal (2017). Market Practices and the Bazaar: Technology Consumption in ICT Markets in the Global South. Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Joyojeet Pal, Priyank Chandra, Terence O'Neill, Maura Youngman, Jasmine Jones, Ji Hye Song, William Strayer, Ludmila Ferrari (2016). An Accessibility Infrastructure for the Global South. Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development.

Meghana Marathe, Priyank Chandra, Vaishnav Kameswaran, Tsuyoshi Kano, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed (2016). In Search of Missing Pieces: A Re-Examination of Trends in ICTD Research. Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development.

Priyank Chandra (2016). Order in the Warez Scene: Explaining an Underground Virtual Community with the CPR Framework. Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Joyojeet Pal, Priyank Chandra, VG Vinod Vydiswaran (2016). Twitter and the rebranding of Narendra Modi. Economic & Political Weekly.

Priyank Chandra, Jasmine Jones (2015). Assistive Technologies and Autonomy in a Cyborg World. Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development.

Joyojeet Pal, Maura Youngman, Terence O'Neill, Priyank Chandra, Cyprien Semushi (2015). Gender and Accessibility in Rwanda and Malawi. Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development.