Samar Sabie

Samar Sabie is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology (ICCIT) at the University of Toronto, where she also serves as Program Director for the Technology, Coding, and Society (TCS) program. She holds a graduate appointment at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Design, and Landscape, reflecting her interdisciplinary work bridging technology, design, and social justice. She leads the Open Design Collaboratory, a research space focused on critical and community-centered design practices.

Education:

• Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Information Science, Cornell University/Cornell Tech, 2022
• Master of Science, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, 2017
• Master of Architecture, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, University of Toronto, 2015
• Honors Bachelor of Science (Architecture and Computer Science), University of Toronto, 2011

Her research investigates design as a socio-material practice that fosters community adaptive capacity toward sustainable change. Drawing from architecture, software engineering, ethnography, and philosophy, she explores participatory design, unmaking, and design for social justice. Her work critically engages with how communities resist, adapt, and reimagine technology in contexts of displacement, scarcity, and inequality.

Her recent publications, appearing in top venues like CHI, CSCW, and DIS, reveal a strong thematic focus on unmaking as a design strategy for emancipation and agonism, mobility justice, e-waste practices, and cultural memory through design. These works collectively emphasize community agency, ethical ambiguity, and the political dimensions of design.

Scientific Contributions:

• Director, Open Design Collaboratory
• Program Director, Technology, Coding, and Society (TCS)
• Graduate Faculty, Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Design, and Landscape
• Current Courses: CCT204 Design Thinking I, CCT477 Understanding Users

Samar Sabie actively mentors students and collaborates on research focused on humanitarian technology, critical making, and design education. Her projects often involve community engagement, participatory methods, and interdisciplinary teams. She has collaborated with and advised early-career researchers such as Dina Sabie, Awais Hameed Khan, and Taneea Agrawal on topics ranging from IDP shelter dynamics to mobility justice advocacy.

Her research is supported by her deep engagement with socio-technical challenges in marginalized contexts, and she continues to push the boundaries of how design can serve as a tool for equity, care, and resistance. Future work appears to be evolving toward deeper philosophical inquiries into destruction, care, and the limits of technology.