lynette.kvasny

associate professor

research.interests

Lynette Kvasny received her Ph.D. in Computer Information Systems from the Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University. Her research focuses on how and why historically underserved groups appropriate information and communication technologies (ICT). She has designed, implemented and assessed community computing projects in economically challenged neighborhoods in Atlanta, GA and West Philadelphia and Harrisburg, PA. Her current research examines the performance of racial and ethnic identities in virtual communities, ICT education and workforce participation in the African Diaspora, and the influence of racial, class and gender identities on health information seeking and content creation. Kvasny holds herself accountable to praxis, and uses research knowledge to facilitate social justice, and increase political and economic empowerment.

Kvasny's research contributes to two discourse communities: 1) socio-technical policy interventions for redressing digital inequality, and 2) critical and feminist perspectives on the intersection of gender, race and class in shaping digital inequality.

Her research has been published in The Information Society, Information Systems Journal, Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, New Media and Society and Information, Communication and Society. Her work has also been published in the proceedings of leading information systems and communications conferences including the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), the Association of Computer Machinery Special Interest Group on Management Information Systems (ACM SIGMIS), the International Federation of Information Processing Conference Working Group 8.2 (IFIP 8.2) and Working Group 9.4 (IFIP 9.4), Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC), the Hawaiian International Conference on Systems Science (HICSS), and the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS). She has also published numerous peer reviewed book chapters and encyclopedia articles.

Kvasny's research is supported by the National Science Foundation, the Oracle Help Us Help Foundation, and the Africana Research Center and Children, Youth and Family Consortium at the Pennsylvania State University.

education

Doctor of Philosophy (2002)
Computer Information Systems, Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
Dissertation: Problematizing the Digital Divide: Cultural and Social Reproduction in a Community Technology Initiative [ download ]

Master of Science (1996)
Computer Information Systems, Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA

Bachelor of Science (1988)
Computer Information Systems, Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, NY

academic.appointments

August 2011-August 2013
Research Fellow
Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois

July 2008 - present
Associate Professor
College of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University

May 2006
Visiting Professor
Information Sciences Institute, University of Salford, Salford, United Kingdom

March 2002 - June 2008
Assistant Professor
College of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University

August 2001 - February 2002
Instructor
College of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University

September 1996 - August 2001
Research Assistant
Computer Information Systems, Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA

September 1997- August 2001
Teaching Assistant
Computer Information Systems, Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA

industry.appointments

1998 - 2000
Product Life Cycle Manager
Avaya Communications, Business Communication Systems, Norcross, GA
- Managed call center software products and services from project inception through retirement.
- Developed business cases for new product and service offers.
- Developed methods and procedures for business processes, and designed service contracts for customers.

1995 - 1998
Member of Technical Staff
Lucent Technologies, Network Engineering Systems, Atlanta, GA
- Provided turnkey and custom call center software solutions for external clients.
- Negotiated statements of work and pricing, gathered user requirements, developed and installed call center software.
- Provided training for custom computer-telephony integrated solutions for major call centers including Prudential Insurance, CNN, Standard & Poors, and First USA.

1988 - 1995
Software Developer
AT & T, Network Services Division, White Plains, NY and Atlanta, GA
- Designed, developed, and maintained computer information systems to support the planning and provisioning of telephony equipment used in the long distance network.
- Participated on software development projects to support the industry shift from analog to digital telecommunications systems.