Alex Lu

Alex
Lu

Assistant Professor of Library and Information Science

Faculty

Office:
Alexander Library 408B
EMAIL:
ajh.lu@rutgers.edu
WEB LINKS:
Google Scholar Personal Website
Download CV

Alex Jiahong Lu is a sociotechnical scholar with a background in social work. His research interests include critical computing, critical and participatory design, and community-based participatory research in human-computer interaction (HCI), computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), and science and technology studies (STS). Lu’s work examines the social and cultural implications of emerging sociotechnical systems and infrastructures, such as policing surveillance technologies, on historically marginalized communities. Lu employs and develops community-based participatory research methods to center impacted communities’ voices in technology design, policy-making, and knowledge co-production and dissemination processes.

ORCiD

Education

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
PhD, Information Science

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
MSI, Information Science

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
MSW, Social Work

Nanyang Technological University
BE, Information Engineering and Media

Research

Lu’s interdisciplinary research is grounded in qualitative methods and community-based participatory research approaches.

His research focuses on:

  • Everyday labor and sociotechnical practices of navigating, resisting, and negotiating with sociotechnical and technopolitical infrastructures
  • Community-based participatory research and arts-based research methods in computing
  • Critical and more-than-human design, participatory design, speculative design
  • Intergenerational and cross-cultural collaboration and solidarity
  • Statecraft and governance in China

Research Groups

Funded Projects

Voices of Parkside: Disseminating Findings of Videovoice on Safety and Surveillance in Public Housing Community. 2023-2024. Funder: Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research Promoting Academic and Community Engagement (PACE) Dissemination Grant (PI, $5,000)

Emancipating Community Futures: Co-Designing Children’s Books Across Generations in Eastside Detroit. 2023-2024. Funder: University of Michigan Anti-Racism Graduate Research Grants (PI, $5,000)

Speculating Community Resilience and Safety through Intergenerationally Co-Designing Children’s Books in Eastside Detroit. 2023-2024. Funder: Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center (PI, $5,000)

Operationalizing Videovoice to Capture and Communicate Lived Experiences of Safety and Surveillance among Eastside Detroiters. 2022-2023. Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center (PI, $5,000)

Selected Publications

Lu, A.J., Wikstrom, E., Dillahunt, T.R. (2024). Contamination, otherness, and negotiating bottom-up sociotechnical imaginaries in participatory speculative design. In Proceedings of the 2024 Participatory Design Conference - Volume 1. ACM, New York, NY, USA. (PDC 2024)

Lu, A.J., Moy, C., Ackerman, M.S., Morenoff, J., Dillahunt, T.R. (2024). Perceptions of policing surveillance technologies in Detroit: Moving beyond “better than nothing”. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency. ACM, New York, NY, USA. (FAccT 2024)

Lu, A.J., Sannon, S., Moy, C., Brewer, S., Green, J., Jackson, K.N., Reeder, D., Wafer, C., Ackerman, M.S., Dillahunt, T.R. (2023). Shifting from surveillance-as-safety to safety-through-noticing: A photovoice study with Eastside Detroit residents. In Proceedings of ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, New York, NY, USA. (CHI 2023)

Lu, A.J., Sannon, S., Moy, C., Brewer, S., Green, J., Jackson, K.N., Reeder, D., Wafer, C., Ackerman, M.S., Dillahunt, T.R. (2023). Participatory noticing: Engaging arts- and community-based approaches in design research. In Proceedings of Designing Interactive Systems. ACM, New York, NY, USA. (DIS 2023) Best Paper Award

Chen, Y., Lu, A.J., Wu, A.X. (2023) ‘China’ as a ‘Black Box’? Re-thinking Methods through a sociotechnical perspective. In Information, Communication & Society.

Awards & Recognitions

2024 Spirit of Detroit Award, which recognizes “exceptional achievement, outstanding leadership, and dedication to improving the quality of life.” City Council of Detroit, Michigan

2024 Volunteer Appreciation Award, which recognizes the “outstanding dedication and tireless efforts in supporting the Parkside community.” Friends of Parkside, Detroit, Michigan

2023 Best Paper Award, ACM Design Interactive System Conference (DIS)

2022 Best Paper Honorable Mention Award, ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)

2022 Best Paper Honorable Mention Award, ACM Design Interactive System Conference (DIS)

Research Keywords