Nitin Sawhney is Assistant Professor of Media Studies in the Department of Media Studies and Film at the New School. His research, teaching and creative practice engages the critical role of technology, artistic interventions and DIY cultures among communities in contested spaces. He previously taught at the MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT) and conducted research at MIT on networked collaboration for sustainable product design, ubiquitous and wearable computing, speech/auditory interfaces, and responsive media in urban community spaces. At the MIT Center for Civic Media, Nitin co-founded the Department of Play to design participatory mobile video (the Aago Project) and pedagogical tools to support creative expression and civic agency among marginalized youth. He is currently working on a feature-length documentary film, Flying Paper, about the participatory culture of kite making and flying among children in the Gaza Strip. The film was awarded a seed grant from the National Geographic All Roads Film Project. He recently began a pilot research study in the West Bank and Gaza on the role of participatory media for resilience and civic agency among youth living in conditions of conflict and crisis.