Audience Tools

Specializations

  • Critical Computing
  • Postsecondary Computing Culture and Identity
  • Neurodivergence in Computing

Research Areas

Courses

  • INFO 102 - Gender And Information Technology
  • INFO 442 - Cooperative Software Development

Biography

Mara Kirdani-Ryan seeks to create cultural shifts to move computing from a force that magnifies societal oppression to a force for collective liberation. To this end, they apply techniques from sociology and social work to surface, deconstruct, and challenge dominant cultural norms. They predominately seek to translate their own experiences of reconciliation into collective engagements, and drawing from their work in “prestigious” tech internships, they have utilized scholarship to address computing's career prestige-centricity and narrow legitimization of neurodivergence as well as scaffold this deconstruction for others. Pedagogically, Kirdani-Ryan views every educational endeavor as an opportunity for self-discovery, and looks to go beyond socio-technical integrations to engage students in developing their impetus for action. Kirdani-Ryan identifies as white, non-binary, transgender, queer, and autistic and holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science & Engineering from the University of Washington and a master's and bachelor's in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Education

  • Ph D, Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington, 2024
  • MS, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 2017
  • BS, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

Awards

  • ECE Department Outstanding Teaching Assistant - Carnegie Mellon University, 2017

Publications and Contributions

  • Journal Article, Professional Journal
    "Taught to be Automata": Examining the Departmental Role in Shaping Initial Career Choices of Computing Students (2023)
    Computer Science Education Author: Mara Kirdani-Ryan
  • Book, Chapter in Scholarly Book-New
    Operating Systems (2023)
    Critically Conscious Computing: Methods for Secondary Education Authors: Amy J. Ko, Mara Kirdani-Ryan
  • Journal Article, Professional Journal
    The House of Computing: Integrating Counternarratives into Computer Systems Education (2022)
    Proceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, pp. 279-285 Authors: Mara Kirdani-Ryan, Amy J. Ko
  • Magazine/Trade Publication
    It's time for more Critical CS Education (2020)
    Communications of the ACM, pp. 31 - 33 Authors: Amy J. Ko, Alannah Oleson, Mara Kirdani-Ryan, Yim Register, Benjamin Xie, Mina Tari, Matthew Davidson, Stefania Druga, Dastyni Loksa