Aisha Oglivie & I are interested in teens on the internet: how do they build identity? How, if at all, do they become activists? What are the downfalls of tech for teens, and what are the positives? How do we use tech to instill a sense of agency, urgency and justice in teens, and how are they doing that themselves already?

SESSION NOTES

First, let me say thanks to those who have already submitted such provocative session proposals! I’m excited to workshop many of these. My offering comes out of an ongoing Mellon-funded project I’m part of as an Associate of the Five College Women’s Studies Research Center. Under the rubric of The Role of Digital Humanities in Gender Studies: From Research to the Classroom, we’re discussing and developing curricula and online resources that address feminist approaches to teaching new media, technology, and science studies.

Some of the most interesting conversations around this theme have asked: what are feminist methods? What critical literacies do we want to equip students with and how do we teach them? This includes defining key problematics around gender and technology that can be incorporated into courses — digital divides, intersectional exclusions, knowledge production and information literacy, cyber-bullying, identity/anonymity, privacy issues, labor issues, etc. But it also encompasses questions about feminist approaches (not just feminist topics) — how can we integrate teaching epistemological, ideological, theoretical skills alongside technical skills? In Laura Briggs’s words, “What would a feminist online literacy look like?” I believe this political dimension has not been as present as it needs to be in privileged and well-funded initiatives around “digital media and learning.”

It would be wonderful to hear about folks’ ideas and experiences surrounding feminist digital pedagogies in school and university classrooms and other learning contexts, and to begin identifying some central strategies and interventions. I’d also like to survey existing online resources for digital feminisms as part of this session, and talk about what they’re helpful for and what remains to contribute.

SESSION NOTES

From Mia Zamora, Kean University:

I would like to propose a “Best Practices and Advice” discussion, or “What I Wish I Had Known Earlier in the Development Process” to support anyone who might be embarking on their first DH project. (Especially a DH Project which has an explicit activist component meant to engage the public in societal change.) When taking the big leap and developing a new DH resource, how can we best foster the practical principles of -information design, -collaboration, -access to sources, -analytic and visualization tools, -user interface, -community-building, -reader contributions, -methodology, and -critical apparatus that are so important to the success of a digital humanities project? I would like to hear from those who have been down this road and gained certain experience developing a long-term DH project. What have you learned along the way? …What has worked, what has not, etc.? (i.e. What have been your best resources? Most supportive professional learning communities? Advice on project timelines? Advice on securing grant support for development phases?). Also, I would love to hear thoughts on the simultaneous juggle of developing a new DH project (i.e. “making something”) and formally writing about that process. Advice on particular editorial/scholarly writing venues that can be considered when planning to write about project development?

SESSION NOTES