‘Participatory Design’ and Its Discontents: Inclusion and the Deferral of Indigenous Sovereignty in Taiwan

Aaron is a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology with additional certificates in the history of science and gender and sexuality studies. His dissertation traces how experimental design movements — calling for the participation of elderly, rural, Indigenous, and otherwise marginalized communities in the making of new technologies — are transforming fields as far-flung as healthcare, environmental remediation, and Indigenous politics across Taiwan and China. His research has been supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Fulbright-Hays Program, the Association for Asian Studies/Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation, and the American Ethnological Society among others. Prior to his doctoral work, Aaron earned a B.A. in anthropology from Columbia University, for which he conducted an ethnographic project in Shanghai.