Carl DiSalvo

ISTC-Social DIrector

Car DiSalvo is an Assistant Professor in the Digital Media Program in the School of Literature, Communication, and Culture at the Georgia Institute of Technology. At Georgia Tech he established The Public Design Workshop, which is a research studio that investigates the role of design in shaping and enabling public discourse and action.

In 2006 he received a Ph.D. in Design from Carnegie Mellon University. From 2006 – 2007 he was a post-doctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University with joint appointments in the Studio for Creative Inquiry and the Center for the Arts in Society, where he conducted research into the use of robotics and sensing technologies in community contexts.

He studies the products and processes of interaction design. His research draws together the humanities, science and technology studies, and design to increase public engagement with technology and analyze the social and political uses of digital media. Recently, he has become interested in exploring how to design infrastructures to support social innovation. Much of his current work is focused on small-scale agriculture and food cultures.

He publishes regularly in design and human-computer interaction journals and conference proceedings. His first book, Adversarial Design, is part of the Design Thinking, Design Theory series at MIT Press. He also designs and produces experimental media and public events, which have been exhibited and supported by the ZKM (Center for Art & Media), Warhol Museum, Grey Area Foundation for the Arts, Times Square Arts Alliance, Science Gallery Dublin, and the Walker Arts Center.