Greetings! This is an invite to attend my thesis defense, which is a public, hybrid-friendly event. This event will not be recorded.

Details

April 29th at 12pm noon

In person (NSH 4305) as well as on zoom (zoom info in calendar link below).

There will, of course, be refreshments and snacks at the event. Please feel free to invite others whom you believe might be interested in attending.

You may add this event to your calendar using this link.

The talk is expected to be 45-50 minutes, followed by anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes of questions. We will likely start a couple minutes after the hour (turns out many wizards are, in fact, often late). You’re welcome to attend any part of the event that interests you.

My thesis is titled, “Tool-making as an intervention on the accessibility of interactive data experiences” and focuses on my research studying tools at the intersection of data visualization and accessibility.

My committee

Dominik Moritz, Chair, Assistant Professor at CMU HCII Patrick Carrington, Co-chair, Assistant Professor at CMU HCII Kenneth Holstein, Assistant Professor at CMU HCII Jennifer Mankoff, Professor at University of Washington Tamara Munzner, Professor at University of British Columbia

Dissertation Document

The dissertation draft is stored at this link.

What is a “thesis defense?”

This is a mystical event where a council of wizards decide if I am worthy of ascending to wizardhood myself. The process is relatively simple: I give an oral defense (a talk) regarding the contents of my dissertation, which is a document that represents the research journey I have taken during my PhD. At the end, the council (my “committee”) interrogates me with some questions, and then we open the floor for questions from anyone in attendance. After that, the public part of the event concludes (everyone is kicked out, including me) and the council makes their final decision. At the end, they let me know what they’ve decided. If they decide that I pass my defense, this is generally considered the point where I complete my PhD and become Dr. Frank, the Wizard 🎉 (we technically still have paperwork to do, but that is for the mystical bureaucracy).

What is the thesis about?

My core argument (the “thesis statement” at the heart of the dissertation) is this: “This dissertation argues that the tools practitioners use to build interactive data experiences are themselves sites where accessibility barriers are produced, prevented, or alleviated for both end users and authors. This work contributes five tools—Chartability, Data Navigator, Softerware, Cross-perception, and Skeleton—that collectively center accessibility work on the empowerment of disabled and non-disabled practitioners across the full arc of evaluation, development, personalization, non-visual analysis, and design.” My work is interesting primarily because I argue that the work practitioners do is a rich site for research. I don’t just make a proverbial “hammer” but study what sort of hammers we need, whether hammers really work, and then how people actually use them.

Should you attend?

Hah! Have you been to one before? It’s a proper, ancient ritual. It can be neat to see a thesis defense at least once in your life. Will I get fried by a high level spell? Which magic will I choose to defend myself with? You won’t know unless you attend! But if you’ve been to several thesis defenses before, or you have no interest in the business of wizards, then you’re absolutely welcome to skip.