February 2012 - change - Mailing Lists

CFP:Panel on technology and democracy
by Yaw Anokwa 01 Feb '12

01 Feb '12

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Tapan Parikh <tparikh(a)gmail.com> Date: Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 13:52 Call for Papers: South Asia by the Bay Graduate Student Conference at Stanford University on May 9-11, 2012 As South Asia experiences rapid and unprecedented transformation, both scholarly and public interest in the region has grown dramatically in recent years. A large new generation of graduate students working on South Asia in the humanities and social sciences is in the process of rethinking approaches to the study of South Asian culture, society, politics, economics, law, history, literature, and the arts. South Asia by the Bay is a brand new initiative based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It aims to establish an annual forum where graduate students from across disciplines and institutions in North America, who work on South Asia, can meet to discuss their work with each other, and with South Asia affiliated faculty from the organizing institutions (Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Davis, University of California, Santa Cruz). In addition to thematic panels, the conference will feature four keynote lectures by senior South Asia scholars, an interactive session with faculty on the international job market in South Asian studies, film screenings, art exhibitions, and social events for conference participants. We invite papers and submissions under, but not limited to, the following themes: Visual Culture and Public Aesthetics Urban Life and Urban Process Technology and Democracy Minorities and the Quest for Political Recognition. Social Marginality and New Forms of Capitalism Origins and Legacies: History and the Present Religious Life and Ritual Forms Other panel submissions on related themes and individual paper submissions are also welcome. South Asia by the Bay will cover costs of accommodation and conference meals for conference participants. Students who are interested in participating in the conference should submit a one-page (300 word) proposal and one page CV to Bernadette White (bmwhite(a)stanford.edu) by March 9, 2012. Deadlines: For panels: Feb 15, 2012 Individual abstracts: March 9, 2012 Final papers: April 20, 2012 We will be updating with more information as the conference approaches. Please see southasia.stanford.edu --++**==--++**==--++**==--++**==--++**==--++**==--++**== southasia mailing list southasia(a)lists.stanford.edu https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/southasia

1 0

TASCHA Talk -- TOMORROW -- Perceptions of libraries as development partners: preliminary research results
by Karen Hirst 01 Feb '12

01 Feb '12

TASCHA TALK Perceptions<http://tascha.uw.edu/2011/11/december-1-developing-a-framework-for-digitall…> of libraries as development partners: preliminary research results Chris Coward & Michelle Fellows Tomorrow -- February 2, from 3:45 to 4:45 pm Roosevelt Commons Building, Multi Purpose Room Or via Adobe Connect<http://uwconnect.adobeconnect.com/tascha/> Public libraries play vastly different roles in providing Internet access and information services around the world. In some countries they are active players and have adopted new technologies to help people meet their information needs. In other countries, libraries are routinely overlooked when new information access initiatives are deployed. TASCHA's new perceptions of libraries as development partners study aims to understand the opportunities and challenges for libraries to become more prominent actors in ICT and development initiatives. The research involves stakeholder interviews with library leaders, ministry officials with library oversight, ministry officials with ICT and/or digital inclusion oversight, representatives of national public access initiatives, and representatives of international development organizations. The sample is comprised of 12 countries at differing levels of development and public library penetration. In this talk, we will share the research design and results of the first set of interviews. About the presenters Chris is co-founder, Principal Research Scientist, and Director of the Technology & Social Change Group. Chris specializes in designing research programs that improve policy and practice. His work focuses on examining the social and economic impacts of information and communication technologies (ICTs), with particular attention to the role of libraries and nonprofit organizations in developing countries. Michelle is a Research Analyst at TASCHA. She holds degrees in Public Administration (MPA) and Library and Information Science (MLIS) from the University of Washington and Geography (BA) from the University of California, Berkeley. TASCHA Talks are bi-weekly sessions to share, discuss, and advance new ideas around topics related to technology and social change. Learn more at tascha.uw.edu/taschatalks<http://tascha.uw.edu/2012/01/what-we-do/tascha-talks/>. .

1 0

Brian DeRenzi on how mobile devices can improve health worker performance.
by Nicola Dell 01 Feb '12

01 Feb '12

This Thursday at Change Brian DeRenzi will talk about how mobile devices can improve health worker performance. For rural populations living in low-income settings, community health workers (CHWs) are in the best position to provide health information, encourage healthy practices, and be the most accessible point of entry into the national health system. However, CHW programs are difficult to run because of the logistics of supervising a large number of distributed workers. Mobile phones can be used to strengthen community health programs by providing support for improved monitoring and supervision of CHWs. In this talk, we explore how mobile devices can improve health worker performance. We present a system that provides escalating reminders (proactive SMS, reactive SMS, and phone calls from supervisors) to CHWs about upcoming and overdue visits in order to increase the timeliness of visits. The system augments existing CHW programs where the CHWs are using a mobile device to capture and send data from routine home visits. We present an 80-day randomized controlled study showing an 86% decrease in the number of days visits are overdue. In a follow up study lasting 180 days, we show that removing the phone call from the supervisors significantly decreases performance, demonstrating the importance of the escalating step of the reminder system. Through these three studies, we present specific evidence of the ability of mobile devices to improve workforce performance in CHW programs. Brian DeRenzi is a Postdoc in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. He just finished his Ph.D. in December from the same department. His B.S. was in Computer Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Brian's dissertation work was focused on building mobile technology to support health workers in East Africa, with a primary focus on community health workers in Tanzania. *What:* Brian DeRenzi on how mobile devices can improve health worker performance. *When:* Thursday, February 2nd at Noon *Where:* Paul Allen Center, Room 203

1 0

Opening for Member of Technical Staff, at Gram Vaani Community Media
by Aaditeshwar Seth 01 Feb '12

01 Feb '12

1 0