I am an assistant professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Tennessee. Broadly my research philosophy and teaching practices bring in a deeper understanding of the users and their social and cultural contexts into LIS education. Specifically my work has focused on community informatics or the use of information and communication technologies to enable and empower communities to meet their needs and goals. This has involved creating awareness of social justice and social equity in the information professions for representing the needs of minority, disenfranchised, and international populations. For example, click on a summary table of my involvement in various research projects documenting the effects of technology on different ethnic and "marginalized" cultures of "difference."

My growing up experiences in India created an awareness and acceptance of human diversity in its multiple forms of expression, thought, and action. My training as an architect at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, made me visually literate and sensitive towards human factors in design. In India, I worked in the vernacular spirit of architecture where I developed a respect for "local" traditions and cultural practices. Graduate education in the United States in the disciplines of Landscape Architecture and in South and Middle Eastern Studies helped me recognize the importance of cultural and behavioral factors in architecture and design, the role of public participation in the historic preservation-planning process, issues in community building and community development, and the need for participatory design in the creation of relevant social spaces.