EVENT: Jackson State University Black Digital Humanities Speaker Series

The Diversity Working Group (DWG) at the University of Toronto and the Department of Arts and Theatre at Jackson State University are hosting the Black Digital Humanities Speaker Series in March and April. As the landing page describes,

In a recently published special issue of Digital Humanities Quarterly on Black Digital Humanities, editors Alanna Prince and Cara Marta Messi state that working in the intersection of Black Studies and Digital Humanities allow us to “forge new paths [and] examine, construct, and reimagine innovative communities and people.” Situated in the intersection of Black Studies and Digital Humanities, Black Digital Humanities can, as Kim Gallon states, “help unmask racialized systems of power at work,” be “site[s]” of resistance and liberation,” and “places where joy and pleasure of Black life can be found.” But what exactly is Black Digital Humanities? And how does a prospective Black Digital Humanist begin engaging with this work?

This speaker series aims to alleviate some of these uncertainties by both highlighting projects already working within this space and providing prospective Black Digital Humanists with the concrete skills they need to execute their own projects.

All talks are online and free of cost. The upcoming events are:

March 28: Shamika Klassen (CU Boulder), “The Negro Motorist Green Book, Black Twitter, & Futures of Black Gathering.”

March 30: Bri-Anna Lewis (Opportune Design Co.), “College to Corporate: Entering the World of UX.”

April 3: Angela Stewart, Alissa Rae Funderbunk, R. Garrard Lee (all Margaret Walker Centre), and Charmaine Gooden (Black Fashion Canada Database), “Black Digital Archives Panel Discussion.”

April 17: Lisa D. Dance (ServiceEase), “How Do UX Professionals Identify Harmful Technology Before It Launches?”

April 20: Ramond Walker (WalkerCo), “Convergence UX Designers and the Power of Personal Branding.”

Author: Caitlin Christian-Lamb

Caitlin is a PhD candidate and instructor of record at the University of Maryland’s iSchool, where she is affiliated with the Ethics and Values in Design Lab (EViD) and the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS).