Aditya Deshbandhu and Archana Rao Katta, doctoral students from the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad, have been nominated to attend the University of Tampere Summer School in Tampere, Finland, between August 8 and 19, as part of the India-Finland collaboration on “Technical, Social and Cultural Perspectives on the Digitization of Learning”. The 3-year collaboration involves the University of Tampere and four Indian institutions, including the University of Hyderabad, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Guwahati and MICA-Ahmedabad, and will explore joint research and teaching projects in a range of areas involving digital technologies, human-computer interface, and ICT-led development.
The eleven day programme offers a host of short courses which will be quite useful for research students as they will offer key insights and exposure to new schools of thought. Attending an event like this will also enable a confluence of ideas from around the world.
“I am honoured and can hardly wait to attend both my courses, namely; Introduction to game research and Information Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D). The former will directly feed into my doctoral study which looks at Video games whereas the latter course will help me achieve a nuanced understanding of both the internet as a medium and its potential to bring about change” says a visibly excited Aditya.
Archana an experienced social change evaluator, whose work concentrates on understanding the use of media for the mobilization of the transgender community and other sexual minorities adds. “I think I will be able to contribute my experience of working with male sex workers and transgender people in the AIDS prevention programmes in India to a very western system of evaluation. Also it will be a great experience to see how social change initiatives for sexual minorities have worked in Europe as well as the West.”