Catherine D'Ignazio (also known as kanarinka) is an American professor, artist, and software developer who focuses on

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and data literacy. She is the director of the Data + Feminism lab at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

. D'Ignazio is best known for her

hackathon A hackathon (also known as a hack day, hackfest, datathon or codefest; a portmanteau of '' hacking'' and ''marathon'') is an event where people engage in rapid and collaborative engineering over a relatively short period of time such as 24 or 48 h ...

s, such as "Make the Breast Pump Not Suck", and for her book ''Data Feminism'', co-authored with Lauren Klein.

Early life and education

D'Ignazio was born in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States census, making Chapel Hill the List of municipa ...

and grew up in North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, and Michigan. Her father,

Fred D'Ignazio Fred D'Ignazio (born January 6, 1949) is an American author, educator, and television commentator. He was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and is considered to be one of the world's leading pioneers in multimedia-based education. From 1972 to 197 ...

, is an American author, educator, and television commentator. D'Ignazio received her Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in international relations from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

. She went on to receive a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in studio art, design and theory from

Maine College of Art Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D) is a Private college, private art school in Portland, Maine. Founded in 1882, Maine College of Art & Design is the oldest arts educational institution in Maine. Roughly 32% of MECA&D students are from Maine. ...

and a Master of Science (M.S.) in media arts and sciences from

in 2014.

Career

D'Ignazio works as an assistant professor at

and has published several works in her field of study as well as an acclaimed book, ''Data Feminism''. She has organized several women's health hackathons, including "Make the Breast Pump Not Suck," which has now been featured in the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

's exhibition, ''Designs for Different Futures''. She has also worked on news recommendation systems, and different types of data visualization. D'Ignazio started to work in software development and taught for seven years in the Digital + Media graduate program at

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

. She then moved on to work in the Journalism Department at

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...

, as an Assistant Professor of Data Visualization and Civic Media. Having years of experience as a professor, she then became an Assistant Professor of Urban Science and Planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at

. D'Ignazio maintains this role today, and also acts as the Director of the Data + Feminism Lab.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Ignazio, Catherine Date of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American non-fiction writers American feminist writers American software engineers People from Chapel Hill, North Carolina Tufts University alumni Maine College of Art & Design alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni MIT School of Architecture and Planning faculty Rhode Island School of Design faculty Emerson College faculty Year of birth missing (living people)