DTC 101

DTC 101 Introduction to Digital Technology and Culture – Spring 2023

Course description:

This is a collaborative-driven introductory seminar to digital technology and culture. The class will converse around three topics of great importance in understanding how the digital turn is reframing the ways in which we produce, disseminate, and consume information. Part of this shift is also indicative of new ways in which we relate to other people––different than us––, and conversely, how the digital also presents new challenges in building inclusive spaces where we feel safe, heard, and respected. The first module of this class will be focuses on human-centered design, the second will investigate how data collection/extraction, and algorithmic media affects our social engagement, and the third will venture into digital archeology to question the use of archives and the construction of history.

Course work:
The course consists of 3 modules, each of which includes assigned weekly readings, in-class exercises, and one module project.

Module 1: Design
Module 2: Data analysis and machine learning systems
Module 3: Digital Archeology

Class logistics:
In addition to conversations, and occasional lectures. this course is centered around two main components: 1) in-class exercises, and 2) module projects. All of them will be developed collectively––in teams, formed at the beginning of the semester. Refer to “module project guidelines” for detailed instructions for each assignment. Instructions for in-class exercises will only be provided in class.

Evaluation criteria:
Grading of In-class exercises and module projects will be based on your ability to develop projects that reflect an understanding of the concepts discussed in class, and the ideas presented in the readings. Participation will be assessed based on your contributions to the class. Full credit for class participation will only be given to those students who are in class regularly and participate in classroom activities and discussions.

Assignments:
Module 1 Design
Exercise 1: Interrogating design
Exercise 2: Subverting design
Module project 1: Designing for social justice
Module 2 Data Analysis
Exercise 3: Data tracking
Exercise 4: Algorithmic Analysis
Exercise 5: Data mapping and visualization
Module project 2: Visualizing data
Module 3 Digital Archaeology
Exercise 6: Experimenting with archives
Exercise 7: Digital curation
Module project 3: Digital humanities

Course bibliography:
- Galton, Francis. “The Composite Portraits”
- Davies, Sally. “Algorithms associating appearance and criminality have a dark pass.” AEON.
- McFadden, Syreeta. “Teaching The Camera To See My Skin.” Buzzfeed.
- Lupton, Ellen, and Leslie Xia. “There Is No Such Thing As Neutral Graphic Design.” Eye on Design.
- Holmes, Kat. “What We’re Leaving Out of the Discussion Around Inclusive Design.”
- Holmes, Kat. “How Bad Design Perpetuates Harmful Stereotypes.”
- Tunstall, Dori. “Decolonizing Design Means Dismantling the Tech Biases in the European Modernist Project” in Decolonizing Design: A Cultural Justice Handbook.
- Pomerantz, Jeffrey. “Introduction.” Metadata. MIT Press.
- Klein, Lauren, Posner, Miriam. “Data” in Keywords in American Cultural Studies.
- O’Neil, Cathy. “Bomb Parts: What is a model?” in Weapons of Math Destruction.
- Broussard, Meredith. “When Binary Code Won't Accommodate Nonbinary People: The next frontier in gender rights is inside databases.” Slate.
- boyd, danah. “Toward Accountability. Data, Fairness, Algorithms….” Medium.
- Latanya Sweeney. “Discrimination in Online Ad Delivery.” Association of Computing Machinery.
- D'Ignazio, Catherine. “What would feminist data visualization look like?” Medium.
- Secaira, Manola. “Abigail Echo-Hawk on the art and science of 'decolonizing data’” Crosscut.
- Weber, Jasmine. “How W.E.B. Du Bois Meticulously Visualized 20th-century Black America.” Hyperallergic.
- Mattern, Shannon. “Deep Mapping the Media City.”
- Talla Mafotsing, Line Sidonie. “How Photos Tell the Story of a Migrant Farm Community to a New Generation.” Atlas Obscura.
- Caswell, Michelle. “SAADA and the Community-Based Archives Model: What Is a Community-Based Archive Anyway?” SAADA.
- Melissa Adams-Campbell, Ashley Glassburn Falzetti, and Courtney Rivard (2015) “Introduction: Indigeneity and the work of settler archives” in Settler Colonial Studies.
- Rankin, Joy Lisi. "How Minnesota Teachers Invented a Proto-Internet More Centered on Community than Commerce.”
- Jesuthasan, Meerabelle. “What We Can Learn About Activism Today in the Archives of Queer History.” The Nation.
- Dibennedetto, Chase. “Faced with limited resources, Indigenous communities built their own internet. Here's how.” Mashable.

Class schedule:

Module 1 Design

Introduction to the class
1.1 (1/10)
Intro to class, syllabus, and introductions
Objectives and goals of class
1.2 (1/12)
Reimagining technology. What is the future of digital technology and how to be assessing its impact?

The biases of technologies for visual representation
2.1 (1/17) Lecture
Discuss Étienne-Jules Marey's The Chronophotographic Gun, Resolution calibration charts for military purposes as discussed by Hito Steyerl in "How Not to Be Seen," and lecture excerpted from The Democratic Lens at CENTER Advancing the Photographic Arts with Dr. Kymberly Pinder - "What can’t be unseen: photography and Activism".
2.2 (1/19) Class conversation
Readings:
- Galton, Francis. “The Composite Portraits”.
- Davies, Sally. “Algorithms associating appearance and criminality have a dark pass.” AEON.
- McFadden, Syreeta. “Teaching The Camera To See My Skin.” Buzzfeed.

Social shaping of mainstream design
3.1 (1/24) Class conversation
Readings:
- Lupton, Ellen, and Leslie Xia. “There Is No Such Thing As Neutral Graphic Design.” Eye on Design.
- Holmes, Kat. “How Bad Design Perpetuates Harmful Stereotypes.”
3.2 (1/26) In-class exercise
In-class exercise 1: Interrogating design.

Designing for inclusion
4.1 (1/31) Class conversation
Readings:
- Holmes, Kat. “What We’re Leaving Out of the Discussion Around Inclusive Design.”
- Tunstall, Dori. “Decolonizing Design Means Dismantling the Tech Biases in the European Modernist Project” in Decolonizing Design: A Cultural Justice Handbook. Pp. 39 - 53
4.2 (2/2) In-class exercise
In-class exercise 2: Subverting design

Module project 1: Designing for social justice
5.1 (2/7)
Working on module project 1
5.2 (2/9)
Working on module project 1

Class presentations: module project 1
6.1 (2/14)
6.2 (2/16)

Module 2 Data analysis and machine learning systems

Data and algorithms
7.1 (2/21) Class conversation
Readings:
- Pomerantz, Jeffrey. “Introduction.” Metadata. MIT Press.
- Klein, Lauren, Posner, Miriam. “Data” in Keywords in American Cultural Studies.
- O’Neil, Cathy. “Bomb Parts: What is a model?” in Weapons of Math Destruction.
7.2 (2/23) In-class exercise 3
In-class exercise 3: Data tracking and Algorithmic analysis.

Encoding and decoding biases in data
8.1 (2/28) Screening
Film:
The Social Dilemma (Excerpt)
8.2 (3/2) Class conversation
Readings:
- Broussard, Meredith. “When Binary Code Won't Accommodate Nonbinary People: The next frontier in gender rights is inside databases.” Slate.
- boyd, danah. “Toward Accountability. Data, Fairness, Algorithms….” Medium.
- Latanya Sweeney. “Discrimination in Online Ad Delivery.” Association of Computing Machinery.

Critical Data visualization
9.1 (3/7) Class conversation
Readings:
D'Ignazio, Catherine. “What would feminist data visualization look like?” Medium
Secaira, Manola. “Abigail Echo-Hawk on the art and science of 'decolonizing data’” Crosscut
Weber, Jasmine. “How W.E.B. Du Bois Meticulously Visualized 20th-century Black America.” Hyperallergic
Mattern, Shannon. “Deep Mapping the Media City.”
Data visualization projects:
The US Latino Digital Humanities Center
The South Asian American Digital Archives
9.2 (3/9) In-class exercise 4
In-class exercise 4: Data mapping and visualization.

Module project 2: Visualizing data
10.1 (3/21)
Working on module project 2
10.2 (3/23)
Working on module project 2

Class presentations: module project 2
11.1 (3/28)
11.2 (3/30)

Module 3 Digital Archaeology

Critical archival practices
12.1 (4/4) Class conversation
Readings:
Talla Mafotsing, Line Sidonie. “How Photos Tell the Story of a Migrant Farm Community to a New Generation.” Atlas Obscura
Caswell, Michelle. “SAADA and the Community-Based Archives Model: What Is a Community-Based Archive Anyway?” SAADA
Melissa Adams-Campbell, Ashley Glassburn Falzetti and Courtney Rivard (2015) “Introduction: Indigeneity and the work of settler archives” in Settler Colonial Studies
12.2 (4/6) In-class exercise 5
In-class exercise 5: Experimenting with archives.

Reinventing archives
13.1 (4/11) Class conversation
Readings:
Rankin, Joy Lisi. "How Minnesota Teachers Invented a Proto-Internet More Centered on Community than Commerce.”
Jesuthasan, Meerabelle. “What We Can Learn About Activism Today in the Archives of Queer History.” The Nation.
Dibennedetto, Chase. “Faced with limited resources, Indigenous communities built their own internet. Here's how.” Mashable.
13.2 (4/13) In-class exercise 6
In-class exercise 6: Digital Curation.

Module project 3: Digital humanities
14.1 (4/18)
Working on module project 3
14.2 (4/20)
Working on module project 3

Class presentations of module project 3: Digital humanities
15.1 (4/25)
15.2 (4/27)

Module project instructions

Module project 1: Designing for social justice
Think of a new internet platform that responds to a contemporary cultural issue of class, nationality, disability, age, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexuality. Using your notes from exercise 1 and 2, develop a prototype to respond to the lack of accessibility, inclusion, and equity. This can be outlined using the parameters of an existing platform or through a new idea that aims to create safe spaces for users to interact. This should be done by drafting a visual layout, writing terms and conditions, guidelines, or instructions, etc.

Module project 2: Visualizing data
Normal modes of data visualization include charts, graphs, and tables where information appears to be objective. However, numerical data in most cases conceal the human element encoded, or the reasons for collecting such data. Using your notes from exercise 3, 4, and 5, think of ways in which various datasets could be visualized to emphasize the phenomenon charted. Refer to the examples provided in class, and the concepts discussed throughout the module to decide what is the best way to do it. Remember that what you want to say through the use of data should determine the look of it, the degree of interactivity, etc.

Module project 3: Digital humanities
ßCombine the elements of this class to develop a digital humanities project to investigate the history of a topic that responds to a contemporary cultural issue of class, nationality, disability, age, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexuality. Using a combination of critical archival practices, data collection and visualization, and speculative design, develop a project to demonstrate how digital technology can be used to as a tool for social change. The project can take the form of a website, a video, a presentation with notes, or a combination of them.