Alumni Lecture Series: Chapter 4 (Sandeep Mertia)

Abstract

The fourth chapter of the Alumni Lecture Series tells you how interdisciplinary learning can open up new career possibilities.

Sandeep Mertia is a 2014 alumnus, currently a PhD Candidate at the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication and Urban Doctoral Fellow at New York University. He is an ICT engineer by training, and former Research Associate at The Sarai Programme, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi. He is the Editor of “Lives of Data: Essays of Computational Cultures from India” (Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam 2020; open access).

In this lecture, Sandeep reflected upon his experience of interdisciplinary education at DA-IICT and his subsequent research work, including a recently published edited volume, “Lives of Data” (2020). This book maps the historical and emergent dynamics of big data, computing, and society in India. It brings together fifteen interdisciplinary scholars and practitioners to set up a collaborative research agenda on computational cultures. Thinking through the wide-ranging relationalities of data, this lecture opened up critical vantage points for engineers to begin to look at big data and artificial intelligence in context-sensitive ways.

DA-IICT’s unique interdisciplinary curriculum offers remarkable ways to explore different dimensions of technology through the humanities and social sciences, which can expand your world-view and also give your career a new direction. Courses such as the core seminar on Science & Technology Studies (STS) shaped Sandeep’s research interests in socio-technical studies of computing and digital media technologies. He also benefited from learning with his peers in various student-run bodies such as the Press Club, Debate Club, and Sambhav.

Profile

Sandeep Mertia is a 2014 DA-IICT alumnus, and currently pursuing his PhD at the Department of Media, Culture and Communication and is an Urban Doctoral Fellow at New York University. He is an ICT engineer by training, and former Research Associate at The Sarai Programme, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi. He is also the Editor of “Lives of Data: Essays of Computational Cultures from India” (Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam 2020; open access).