Alexandrina Agloro

Biography

Education: PhD Communication University of Southern California 2015; MA Communication University of Southern California 2013; MA Ethnic Studies San Francisco State University 2010; BA Brown University 2005. Alexandrina Agloro is a game designer, community-based researcher, and media artist who believes in the possibilities of the decolonial imaginary using digital media as an emancipatory tool. Before joining WPI, she earned her Ph.D. from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California and an M.A. from the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University. Alexandrina blends her knowledge of the digital with an aesthetic sense of tactile design; some of her past work includes The Resisters, a participatory design alternate reality game (ARG) about social movement history in Providence, Rhode Island and collection of dresses made entirely from recycled goods as a benefit for a cancer wellness nonprofit. Professor Agloro utilizes principles of self-determination and relevant education in her teaching and research. She teaches at university and high school levels, and specializes in digital media skill building with young people of color. She is currently a co-chair of the Critical Race and Ethnic Studies Committee of FemTechNet, a multi-university collaborative feminist technology organization. She is the Futurist for the Latinx Pacific Archive and is working on developing a line of ovulation-tracking jewelry that is both affordable and flawlessly stylish. As a community-based researcher and participatory designer, her speculative work is still anchored in lived experience. Professor Agloro is currently faculty with the Bard College-supported Worcester Clemente Course in the Humanities. Previously, she has served on the National Advisory Board of Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life and as the scholar-in-residence at New Urban Arts, a youth art studio and imagination incubator. She uses critical pedagogy and community-based research as platforms to work with institutions, community organizations, researchers, and artists. Her research has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-John E. Sawyer Seminars, the Teagle Foundation, the Rhode Island Council of the Humanities, and the Voqal Fund.

Research Interest

Game designer, community-based researcher, and media artist who believes in the possibilities of the decolonial imaginary using digital media as an emancipatory tool.