The Department of Communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is proud to announce that Payal Arora, PhD, professor of Inclusive AI Cultures at Utrecht University, will deliver the UMass Amherst Communication Annual Lecture on Monday, March 31 at noon. The event will take place in the Communication Hub on the third floor of the Integrative Learning Center.
This year’s lecture, titled “Designing Inclusive Tech: Building Hopeful AI Futures with the Global Majority” will highlight Arora’s groundbreaking work in digital anthropology and inclusive AI design. With over two decades of experience exploring user experiences with digital technologies in low-income communities in the Global South, Arora brings a critical global perspective to AI innovation and digital media studies.
"The Communication Annual Lecture at UMass Amherst welcomes distinguished scholars from across the nation and around the world to engage in meaningful discussions with the campus and the Western Massachusetts community. These scholars share their exceptional research and contributions to the field of communication, particularly in analyzing contemporary social issues,” Communication Department Chair Claudio Moreira said.
The lecture is sponsored by the Cardinal O’Leary fund, and speakers are nominated and selected by faculty members and graduate students of the Department of Communication.
Payal Arora is a leading digital anthropologist with two decades of user experiences in the Global South to help shape inclusive AI enabled designs and policies. She is the author of 100+ journal articles and award-winning books including “The Next Billion Users” with Harvard Press. Forbes named her the ‘next billion champion’ and the ‘right kind of person to reform tech.’ She has also been listed in the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics 2025 and won the 2025 Women in AI Benelux Award for her work on Diversifying AI.
She is a Harvard University, Columbia University, and Rockefeller Bellagio Resident Fellow alumni, and currently lives in Amsterdam. Her new book with MIT Press “From Pessimism to Promise: Lessons from the Global South on Designing Inclusive Tech” has been longlisted for the 2024 Porchlight Business Book Awards. 200+ international media outlets have covered her work including the Financial Times, Fast Company, Wired, BBC, The Economist, and TechCrunch. She has consulted for the public and the private sector including UNHCR, Spotify, KPMG, Adobe, IDEO, Google, and GE and sits on several boards including for UN EGOV, and LIRNE-Asia. She has given 350+ keynotes and invited talks in 85 countries for events such as ACM FAcct, Copenhagen Tech Festival, re:publica, COP26, World Economic Forum, and the Swedish Internet Foundation, and TEDx talks on the future of the internet and innovation.
The questions and approaches that Arora explores and sponsors in her work are of interest to department faculty and graduate students working on critical internet studies, global digital media, feminist media futures, and engaged scholarship in communication. Arora’s work brings a global perspective that makes important provocations and disruptions in tech studies, including concepts advanced by previous annual lecture guests Safiya U. Noble and Charlton McIlwain.
“We are honored to host Dr. Payal Arora, a renowned digital media anthropologist whose research over the past two decades has focused on user experiences with digital technologies in low-income communities worldwide,” said Moreira.
Those interested in attending the free event should RSVP here.
For more information about the Department of Communication Annual Lecture or Arora’s visit to UMass, please email Martha Fuentes-Bautista at mfuentes@umass.edu.
About the UMass Amherst Department of Communication:
The Department of Communication at UMass Amherst engages in critical scholarship and creative practice to address contemporary social issues. The department fosters inclusive dialogue and collaboration through research, teaching, and community partnerships, preparing students to become thoughtful communicators and global citizens.
Communication Annual Lecture Features Renowned Digital Anthropologist Payal Arora
