Meet the 2025 Keynote Speakers
Dr. Jennifer Rode
Opening Keynote Address
About Dr. Jennifer Rode
Dr. Jennifer Rode (she/they) is an associate professor at University College London. Her research is focused on critical computing, where she uses ethnographic methods to understand marginalized populations and creates both theory and tools to improve their quality of life. She focuses on technologies such as telepresence, e-textiles, and generative AI.Dr. Rode received her PhD from the University of California, Irvine, advised by Paul Dourish, and Genevieve Bell. She holds a Master of Human-Computer Interaction, as well as a BS in Anthropology, both from Carnegie Mellon University. She has over ten years of experience in the HCI industry beyond her formal studies as a usability engineer, ethnographer, and consultant, working on product design and evaluation at TiVo, Symantec, IBM, and Intel, amongst others. She has identified as disabled since high school. Rode was awarded a best paper award at Ubicomp, and multiple CHI best paper nominees. Rode is a Distinguished Member of the Association of Computer Machinery (ACM), via the Scientist Route, and an ACM Distinguished Speaker.
Abstract
Title: Adapt and Resist: Spoons, Unicorns and Rainbows
Abstract: We live in a time when ideologies that are dear to our hearts are being challenged. We live in a time where important words that give us visibility are banned by executive order. This talk responds to that, how do we continue to fight the good fight when we cannot talk about ourselves, which in turn limits our ability to fund our research? We adapt and resist. One strategy is to look critically (and we can still say that) at policy and follow the letter but not the spirit of the law. There were omissions–we can still talk about neurodivergence, ableism, intersectionality, First People, Black people, Brown people and Queer people. Just as we borrow foreign terms like dasein, vorhanden, zuhanden in our critical theory, we can borrow terms like Behinderung or LSBTTIQ. We can use metaphors like spoons and unicorns, and speak of a rainbow coalition. This talk is not just about words, it is about strategy. How do we continue to fight for our principles and do good research when the political establishment is curtailing our free speech? This talk will discuss the historical strategies of other protest movements and scientific communities that have come under political threat. It will distill those lessons for our community. Just as this talk’s abstract engages in doublespeak and obfuscation to talk about the issues at hand while following governmental policy, we will learn other strategies—we will overcome.
Ron Padrón
Closing Keynote Address
About Ron Padrón
Ron Padrón (he/him) is a queer, disabled activist who has worked in higher education for nearly two decades. Having spent much of his career working with at-risk student populations he now serves as the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the College of Information at the University of Maryland. His work centers justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in course and curriculum development, to student services and shared governance. He has presented and published on inclusion, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and disability justice, in venues such as The Political Librarian, Including Disability, NACADA, and the UMN Global Accessibility Awareness Day conference. He serves as Co-Chair on the UMD President’s Commission for LGBTQ+ Issues; Director of Academic Involvement for the Including Disability Global Summit; Associate Editor for the Including Disability journal; and as an advocate and educator in the Maryland Initiative for Digital Accessibility.
Abstract
Title: What is the middle ground between a curb cut and eugenics?
Abstract: Contemporary political systems are built around the “fallacy of the middle ground” which posits that the best outcome inherently rests at the middle of two opposites. But when the opposites are having the resources you need to thrive and being erased from public life entirely, what is the compromise? This is the reality that disabled and chronically ill communities have navigated within neo-liberal politics since at least the mid-20th century, very often for much longer. In response to the increasing threats to our communities and reliance on “the middle” by our leaders, we must return to the same response that our forebears relied on to navigate their own unprecedented times: community building.