Anita Say Chan, associate professor in the iSchool and the Department of Media and Cinema Studies, will share her expertise with campus as the Provost Fellow for International Affairs and Global Strategies for the 2020-2021 academic year. The Provost Fellows Program provides selected Illinois faculty with academic leadership experience in key campus administrative roles. Fellows participate in mentoring and learning opportunities, collaborate with colleagues in the Provost’s and Chancellor's Offices and across campus, and assume leadership roles on critical campus strategic initiatives and projects.
Chan's research and teaching interests include globalization and digital cultures, innovation networks and the "periphery," science and technology studies in global contexts, and feminist and decolonial approaches to technology. As a Provost Fellow, Chan will work closely with Vice Provost for International Affairs and Global Strategies Reitu Mabokela and the Illinois International Advisory committee to develop a campus global strategic plan, in alignment with The Next 150 Strategic Plan. She has participated in various campus-level committees, sharing insights into "how knowledge institutions and cultures can advance inclusive innovation economies."
"There is no question that UIUC is one of the most globally distinctive campuses in the U.S.," said Chan. "We have been ranked as the top public university for international students; one in four of our campus community members are internationally identified; and our students, faculty, and staff hail from over 106 different nations around the world. We should be proud of such achievements, built over more than 120 years of global exchange and developments at UIUC. I’m excited to join the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs and Global Strategies in this next stage of energizing these commitments."
At Illinois, Chan directs the interdisciplinary Community Data Clinic at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and co-leads the Just Infrastructures Initiative with faculty in the Grainger College of Engineering. She is a Fiddler Innovation Faculty Fellow at the NCSA and a 2020-2021 Faculty Affiliate at the Data & Society Research Institute in New York City. She received her PhD from MIT in the history and anthropology of science and technology studies.