Happening @ Michigan https://events.umich.edu/group/4337/rss RSS Feed for Happening @ Michigan Events at the University of Michigan. Teknolust! (March 29, 2024 11:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/119703 119703-21843427@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, March 29, 2024 11:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

A 2002 film by Lynn Hershman Leeson

Running time: 1 hour 24 minutes

Biogeneticist Rosetta Stone downloads her own DNA into an experimental AI program, creating a trio of cyborgian clones. The clones’ survival depends on injections of male Y chroma, only found in sperm. Ruby, one of the clones, ventures out and seduces men to secure the cyborg’s survival.

The DSI is cosponsoring this film in partnership with the 62nd Ann Arbor Film Festival (AAFF). The AAFF is the oldest avant-garde and experimental film festival in North America, founded by George Manupelli in 1963. Internationally recognized as a premiere forum for independent filmmakers and artists, each year's festival engages audiences with remarkable cinematic experiences. The six-day festival presents 40 programs with more than 180 films from over 20 countries of all lengths and genres, including experimental, animation, documentary, fiction, and performance-based works.

Films are not rated. All programs are intended for mature audiences. Some films have imagery of a stroboscopic nature.

Movie tickets can be bought here ($14 general, $8 student): https://bit.ly/3T0VhP6

Use the discount code UMDGI62 for $4 off general admission.

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Film Screening Tue, 05 Mar 2024 11:48:16 -0500 2024-03-29T23:00:00-04:00 2024-03-30T00:30:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Film Screening Red background with white and yellow text identifying the festival and its dates. Yellow and green film festival logo in top right corner.
fætures worldbuilding workshop (March 30, 2024 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120312 120312-21844551@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Saturday, March 30, 2024 1:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

In this workshop, we will play a worldbuilding game fætures. Playing this tabletop card game, you are invited to creatively envision speculative worlds through modes of collective brainstorming and individual imagination. The game enables you to work independently but never in isolation from your team, and everyone at the table has the same power to shape the world. You may envision a utopia or confront it with devastation. As your world comes into being, your initial straightforward conceptualization will transform into a nuanced, intricate, forking tapestry marked by negotiations, tensions, and unforeseen combinations. You are encouraged to think, design, and world-build outside of the box and go off the beaten path. fætures is intended to aid designers, writers, creatives, educators, strategists, creatives and students brainstorm and ideate worlds and entanglements in speculative scenarios. fætures workshop is a part of XR/XF: Extended realities, Extended Feminisms series of events, performances and an exhibition supported by the Arts Initiative.

Seating is limited to 12 people. Sign up for the event here: https://forms.gle/B296Zx7A5FPxK6178


Workshop hosts:

Alina Nazmeeva is a media artist and educator. Currently she is the A. Alfred Taubman Fellow at University of Michigan, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Alina creates simulations and worlds that analyze the intra-actions of physical and digital spaces and objects, and their cultural, economic and political ramifications. Using XR, gaming engines, CGI software, machinima, and physical installations, their creative and research practice examines the oscillations and murmurs between virtual and concrete, cities and videogames, life and animation, organic and the engineered. Alina taught at Rhode Island School of Design and Boston Architecture College. Her work was exhibited at the UMich Liberty Annex Gallery, Venice Biennale of Architecture, Art on the Marquee in Boston and at Augment Seattle. Her writing has been published in PLAT, Media-N, CARTHA Magazine, Perspectives, VOICES(Towards other Institutions).


John David Wagner is a design thinker and architect working at the convergence of public space, environmental design, and human rights. Spanning from digital technologies to indigenous craft, John has engaged in design projects spanning from North America, Europe, and South Asia. John received an B.Arch from Virginia Polytechnic + State University, a Masters in Architecture, with Distinction, from Harvard Graduate School of Design, and served as Irving Innovation Fellow and Mittal Fellow at Harvard University where his work focused on architectural practice that challenges the politics of the spatial production in informal contexts. He has been published by the CCA Singapore, Durty Words! Piquent Press, and Open Letters Harvard GSD.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 19 Mar 2024 08:40:33 -0400 2024-03-30T13:00:00-04:00 2024-03-30T16:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Workshop / Seminar A blurred multi-color background with the workshop name in white.
Conceiving Ada (March 30, 2024 9:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/119707 119707-21843429@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Saturday, March 30, 2024 9:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

A 1998 film by Lynn Hershman Leeson

Running time: 1 hour 24 minutes

Tilda Swinton embodies Lady Ada Lovelace, the mathematics genius who developed what became the world’s first computer language one hundred years before computers were invented (and the daughter of Romantic poet Lord Byron). Her story is channeled through Emmy, a computer scientist researching artificial life.

The DSI is co-sponsoring this film in partnership with the 62nd Ann Arbor Film Festival (AAFF). The AAFF is the oldest avant-garde and experimental film festival in North America, founded by George Manupelli in 1963. Internationally recognized as a premiere forum for independent filmmakers and artists, each year's festival engages audiences with remarkable cinematic experiences. The six-day festival presents 40 programs with more than 180 films from over 20 countries of all lengths and genres, including experimental, animation, documentary, fiction, and performance-based works.

Films are not rated. All programs are intended for mature audiences. Some films have imagery of a stroboscopic nature.

Movie tickets can be bought here ($14 general, $8 student): https://bit.ly/3T1c5Wi

Use the discount code UMDGI62 for $4 off general admission.

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Film Screening Tue, 05 Mar 2024 11:50:55 -0500 2024-03-30T21:00:00-04:00 2024-03-30T22:30:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Film Screening Red background with white and yellow text identifying the festival and its dates. Yellow and green film festival logo in top right corner.
XRXF for Black Femmes (April 1, 2024 2:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/120762 120762-21845267@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, April 1, 2024 2:30am
Location:
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

Register for this virtual workshop here: https://bit.ly/XRXFForBlackFemmes

This workshop explores the intersection of academia and creative expression, drawing inspiration from an animation project rooted in an authored paper on the online harassment experiences of Black women and femmes. This interactive webinar explores the power of art-based research as a tool for bridging the gap between scholarly investigations and creative exploration. Learn how to translate academic research into a creative inquiry while shedding light on crucial issues affecting the digital Black community.

This workshop is made possible by the Umich Arts Initiative and is part of the programming for XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms. To learn more about the event series here: https://xrxf.net/

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 26 Mar 2024 16:46:02 -0400 2024-04-01T02:30:00-04:00 2024-04-01T15:45:00-04:00 Digital Studies Institute Workshop / Seminar
Study Hall @ The DSI, WN'24 (April 1, 2024 2:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/117605 117605-21839590@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, April 1, 2024 2:00pm
Location: Mason Hall
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

We're back for Winter '24! Join us for study hall at the Digital Studies Institute, located at G333 Mason Hall. Walk right in--no RSVP required! A variety of study snacks and drinks are provided such as soda, popcorn, chips, nuts, and granola bars.

Our space is designed with students in mind. It’s great for studying solo and has the perfect vibes to accompany your study session, complete with lo-fi tunes and couch and lounge chair availability. It’s also fantastic for studying as a group! Our setup accommodates team-based learning in study pod arrangements, and we also have easily accessible tech to connect or cast to from your devices.

--Tl;dr, we offer a very comfortable space that can accommodate a number of different studying arrangements!

Questions or accommodations? Email Sarah Torsch at dsi-studentservices@umich.edu.

Interested in learning more about Digital Studies and the DSI? Visit our website, linked to the right side. -->
Considering minoring in Digital Studies? Make an advising appointment with us today!

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Social / Informal Gathering Mon, 22 Jan 2024 14:41:07 -0500 2024-04-01T14:00:00-04:00 2024-04-01T17:00:00-04:00 Mason Hall Digital Studies Institute Social / Informal Gathering University of Michigan Digital Studies Institute is hosting Study Hall for Winter 2024--running all semester long! Find us on Mondays from 2-5pm at the office of the Digital Studies Institute, located at G333 Mason Hall. Note that Study Hall will not meet on 2/26. Snacks provided! No RSVP required. For questions or accommodations, contact: dsi-studentservices@umich.edu
Pugs & Planning @ the DSI, WN'24 (April 3, 2024 3:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/120470 120470-21844796@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, April 3, 2024 3:00am
Location: Mason Hall
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

Join us at the DSI to learn about the exciting courses we will be offering for Fall 2024!

Our resident Digital Studies Academic Advisor and Professor, Toni Bushner, will be available to answer any questions about courses and the Digital Studies minor. Toni's pugs Draco and Ludo will also be here to help!

Snacks and drinks will be provided! No RSVP needed!

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Social / Informal Gathering Wed, 20 Mar 2024 14:22:37 -0400 2024-04-03T03:00:00-04:00 2024-04-03T17:00:00-04:00 Mason Hall Digital Studies Institute Social / Informal Gathering Pugs & Planning at the Digital Studies Institute. April 3rd 2024, from 3PM-5PM at Mason Hall G325. Learn more about Digital Studies course offerings for Fall '24!
XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms Exhibition (April 3, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120792 120792-21845307@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, April 3, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms brings together local, national, and international artists to create a site-specific multimedia exhibition and series of events on the University of Michigan campus and across the city of Ann Arbor. The exhibition will take place in various locations, including a shipping container - the XR/XF pod - that will travel between 2 locations in Ann Arbor during the first two weeks of April.

The city of Ann Arbor has always been feminized. The story goes that in 1824, John Allen and Elisha W. Rumsey founded the town and named it after their wives, who were both named Ann. Since then, the city has been anthropomorphized as a feminine body throughout the years. In the 1980s, the University of Michigan’s football rivals in Ohio invented the infamous slogan, “Ann Arbor is a Whore!” as a method to jeer at the opposition. Since then, this offensive slogan has spread across the US and reappears every Fall during football season in Ann Arbor, proliferating through both physical and digital objects. As one recent social media commenter notes: “That's what happens when you have a chick name for your city.”

With this project, we strike/suspend gender from the city’s name: Ann Arbor is neither trophy wife nor whore. Instead, we pose Ann Arbor as a feminist cyborg, a feminist map, and a creative, participatory organism. We construct the body of the city differently, with artistic intervention and cyberfeminist means: physical and digital installation, activations of public space, music, performances, and workshops. From the Bell Tower on central campus to the parking lot of the Liberty Annex, we offer a creative activation that is both physical and digital and a fluid/complex/distributed image of the city through both XR and feminist means.

Curated by Alina Nazmeeva and Yvette Granata. In collaboration with Tiffany Ng, Tyler Musgrave, Julie Zhu, and Anıl Çamcı. Supported by the Arts Initiative at University of Michigan.

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Exhibition Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:10:20 -0400 2024-04-03T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-03T18:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Exhibition Black background with white and green wording. Pink and white checkered object at the bottom.
"bellvoix" World Premiere by Julie Zhu, carillon (April 3, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/118487 118487-21841134@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, April 3, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Burton Memorial Tower
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

*bellvoix* is a site-specific performance at U-M's Burton Memorial Tower. Instead of broadcasting songs, the carillon has a speaking voice. Artist and performer Julie Zhu talks through a convolution of her voice and bell sounds to passersby, surprising them with specific details surveilled from the tower, goading them into conversation.

When a carillon cyborg finally acquires language, what will she say? How might listeners – who don’t have a choice whether to listen – react to the authority of a public musical instrument who necessarily has opinions? *bellvoix* makes obvious the specific social contract between the carillon and the community it serves, woos, or antagonizes. Who is the carillon? And why do we bell?

This world premiere of "bellvoix" (2023) by Julie Zhu, President's Postdoctoral Fellow and Assistant Professor (performing arts technology), is a 30 minute performance. It is co-sponsored by the U-M Arts Initiative and part of the series "XR/XF: Extended Realities/Extended Feminisms" with the Digital Studies Institute.

***
The Charles Baird Carillon, an instrument of 53 bronze bells, is located inside the Burton Memorial Tower. The largest bell, which strikes the hour, weighs 12 tons, while the smallest bell, 4½ octaves above, weighs just 15 pounds.

Thirty-minute recitals are performed on the Charles Baird Carillon at noon every weekday that classes are in session, followed by visitor Q&A with the carillonist. The bell chamber may be accessed via a combination of elevator and stairs. Take the elevator to the highest floor possible (floor 8), and then climb two flights of stairs (39 steps) to the bell chamber (floor 10). Earplugs are available from the carillonist upon request. Be prepared to walk on ice and snow in the bell chamber during winter. Built in 1936, the Charles Baird Carillon is not ADA accessible. Visitors with mobility concerns are invited to visit the Lurie Carillon: https://smtd.umich.edu/facilities/ann-and-robert-h-lurie-carillon/

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Performance Thu, 28 Mar 2024 12:16:41 -0400 2024-04-03T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-03T12:30:00-04:00 Burton Memorial Tower Digital Studies Institute Performance "bellvoix" World Premiere by Julie Zhu, carillon
XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms Exhibition (April 4, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120792 120792-21845308@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, April 4, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms brings together local, national, and international artists to create a site-specific multimedia exhibition and series of events on the University of Michigan campus and across the city of Ann Arbor. The exhibition will take place in various locations, including a shipping container - the XR/XF pod - that will travel between 2 locations in Ann Arbor during the first two weeks of April.

The city of Ann Arbor has always been feminized. The story goes that in 1824, John Allen and Elisha W. Rumsey founded the town and named it after their wives, who were both named Ann. Since then, the city has been anthropomorphized as a feminine body throughout the years. In the 1980s, the University of Michigan’s football rivals in Ohio invented the infamous slogan, “Ann Arbor is a Whore!” as a method to jeer at the opposition. Since then, this offensive slogan has spread across the US and reappears every Fall during football season in Ann Arbor, proliferating through both physical and digital objects. As one recent social media commenter notes: “That's what happens when you have a chick name for your city.”

With this project, we strike/suspend gender from the city’s name: Ann Arbor is neither trophy wife nor whore. Instead, we pose Ann Arbor as a feminist cyborg, a feminist map, and a creative, participatory organism. We construct the body of the city differently, with artistic intervention and cyberfeminist means: physical and digital installation, activations of public space, music, performances, and workshops. From the Bell Tower on central campus to the parking lot of the Liberty Annex, we offer a creative activation that is both physical and digital and a fluid/complex/distributed image of the city through both XR and feminist means.

Curated by Alina Nazmeeva and Yvette Granata. In collaboration with Tiffany Ng, Tyler Musgrave, Julie Zhu, and Anıl Çamcı. Supported by the Arts Initiative at University of Michigan.

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Exhibition Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:10:20 -0400 2024-04-04T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-04T18:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Exhibition Black background with white and green wording. Pink and white checkered object at the bottom.
Otsi'tsistó:sera: Native Plants and Planting Songs (April 4, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120794 120794-21845304@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, April 4, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

Additional information can be found here: https://xrxf.net/carillon

The sonic/ecological exhibition Otsi’tsistó:sera takes its name from a new carillon composition by Dawn Avery, a composer of Mohawk descent, based on planting songs that Haudenosaunee women of the turtle clan sing to the seeds and plants as they grow their gardens. During this two-day “open house,” visitors may enter the carillon all day and experience a belfry filled with music by Indigenous women and lush with native plants in both organic and virtual forms. Explore the ecology of local native plants and keystone species and their Indigenous significance, discover visual remnants of Michigan’s pre-logging forests, and hear Avery’s Otsi’tsistó:sera as well as piano and carillon performances of Beverley McKiver’s Canadian Floral Emblems during live carillon concerts and at an on-demand listening station. Performances and recordings by Tiffany Ng, Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, Carson Landry, Grace Jackson, and Beverley McKiver. With special thanks to forest history consultant Hillary Pine, BA ‘11 (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians)

This event is part of a greater series called, "XRXF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms." Learn more here: https://xrxf.net/.

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Other Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:12:09 -0400 2024-04-04T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-04T18:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Other Light gray background with dark gray, pink, and green words. Green checkered object at bottom.
Otsi’tsistó:sera - Native Plants and Planting Songs at the Carillon (Multimedia installation and Open House) (April 4, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/118489 118489-21841136@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, April 4, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Burton Memorial Tower
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

The sonic/ecological exhibition *Otsi’tsistó:sera* takes its name from a new carillon composition by Dawn Avery, a composer of Mohawk descent, based on planting songs that Haudenosaunee women of the turtle clan sing to the seeds and plants as they grow their gardens. During this two-day “open house,” visitors may enter the carillon all day and experience a belfry filled with music by Indigenous women and lush with native plants in both organic and virtual forms. Open 12-6pm.

Explore the ecology of local native plants and keystone species and their Indigenous significance, discover visual remnants of Michigan’s pre-logging forests, and hear Avery’s *Otsi’tsistó:sera* as well as piano and carillon performances of Beverley McKiver’s *Canadian Floral Emblems* during live carillon concerts and at an on-demand listening station. Performances and recordings by Tiffany Ng, Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, Carson Landry, Grace Jackson, and Beverley McKiver. With special thanks to forest history consultant Hillary Pine, BA ‘11 (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians)

PROGRAM

*Otsi’tsistó:sera* [Planting Songs] (2023)
Dawn Ieri’hó:kwats Avery (b. 1961)

Performers:
Tiffany Ng, University Carillonist
Grace Jackson, DMA student in Sacred Music
Carson Landry, MMus student in Carillon
Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, Affiliate Faculty, Institute for Research on Women and Gender

Arrangements from:
*Canadian Floral Emblems* (2020)
- Lady Slipper (Prince Edward Island)
- Blue Flag Iris, for Joyce Echaquan (Quebec)
- Western Red Lily (Saskatchewan)
- Mountain Avens (Northwest Territory)
- Aupiluktunnguat/Purple Saxifrage (Nunavut)
- Pacific Dogwood (British Columbia)

Beverley McKiver (b. 1958)

Additional information can be found here:
https://xrxf.net/carillon

Location Info: Charles Baird Carillon in Burton Memorial Tower, 10th floor. The bell chamber may be accessed via a combination of elevator and stairs. Take the elevator to the highest floor possible (floor 8), and then climb two flights of stairs (39 steps) to the bell chamber (floor 10). Ear protection will be available. Built in 1936, the Charles Baird Carillon is not ADA accessible. Visitors with mobility needs are invited to visit the Lurie Carillon during the regular weekday recitals from 1:20–2:00 pm

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Exhibition Thu, 28 Mar 2024 18:16:49 -0400 2024-04-04T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-04T18:00:00-04:00 Burton Memorial Tower Digital Studies Institute Exhibition Otsi’tsistó:sera - Native Plants and Planting Songs at the Carillon (Multimedia installation and Open House)
DISCO Network Live: Living Between Digital Optimism and Technoskepticism (April 4, 2024 5:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/119927 119927-21843829@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, April 4, 2024 5:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

Register to attend on Zoom: https://myumi.ch/ZDZMj

The DISCO Network is a collaborative, intergenerational research group of scholars dedicated to analyzing digital technology, race, disability, sexuality, and gender. The network comprises of six laboratories across five universities (University of Michigan, Northwestern University, The University of Maryland-College Park, Stony Brook University, Georgia Institute of Technology), each of which stands alone and a network node to write, talk, and think about the past, present, and future of technology, Blackness, Asianness, disability, and liberation. The DISCO Network is supported by the Mellon Foundation.

This panel will be a conversation with the Principal Investigators (PIs) of the DISCO Network, André Brock, Catherine Knight Steele, Lisa Nakamura, Rayvon Fouché, Remi Yergeau, and Stephanie Dinkins. What can an equitable digital future look like? In our contemporary moment, is it possible to create transformative movements, rooted within humanistic inquiry, to address inequities, histories of exclusion, disability injustice, techno-ableism, and digital racial politics? Over the past few years, the DISCO Network began a portion of this work. The collective will reflect on its collaborative effort and explore the tensions between digital optimism and technoskepticism.

Panelists:

André Brock (he/him) is an Associate Professor of Media Studies at Georgia Tech. He writes on Western technoculture, Black technoculture, and digital media. His scholarship examines Black and white representations in social media, video games, weblogs, and other digital media. He has also published influential research on digital research methods. His first book, titled Distributed Blackness: African American Cybercultures, was published with NYU Press in 2020 and theorizes Black everyday lives mediated by networked technologies.

Catherine Knight Steele (she/her) is an Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Maryland - College Park where she serves as the Director of the Black Communication and Technology Lab. Her research focus is race, gender and media with specific focus on Black culture and discourse and digital communication. She examines representations of marginalized communities in the media and how groups resist oppression and utilize online technology to create spaces of community. Her book Digital Black Feminism (NYU, 2021), examines the relationship between Black women and technology as a centuries-long gendered and raced project in the U.S. Using the virtual beauty shop as a metaphor, Digital Black Feminism walks readers through the technical skill, communicative expertise, and entrepreneurial acumen of Black women’s labor—born of survival strategies and economic necessity—both on and offline.

Lisa Nakamura (she/her) is the Gwendolyn Calvert Baker Collegiate Professor in the Department of American Culture, and the founding Director of the Digital Studies Institute, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Since 1994, Nakamura has written books and articles on digital bodies, race, and gender in online environments, on toxicity in video game culture, and the many reasons that Internet research needs ethnic and gender studies. These books include, Race After the Internet (co-edited with Peter Chow-White, Routledge, 2011); Digitizing Race: Visual Cultures of the Internet (Minnesota, 2007); Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the Internet (Routledge, 2002); and Race in Cyberspace (co-edited with Beth Kolko and Gil Rodman, Routledge, 2000). In November 2019, Nakamura gave a TED NYC talk about her research called “The Internet is a Trash Fire. Here’s How to Fix It.”

Rayvon Fouché (he/him) is a Professor of Communication Studies at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, and Integrative Marketing Communications at Northwestern University. His scholarship on invention and innovation explores the multiple intersections and relationships between cultural representation, racial identification, and technoscientific design. He has authored or edited Black Inventors in the Age of Segregation (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003), Appropriating Technology: Vernacular Science and Social Power (Minnesota, 2004), Technology Studies (Sage Publications, 2008), the 4th Edition of the Handbook of Science & Technology Studies (MIT Press, 2016), and Game Changer: The Technoscientific Revolution in Sports (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017).

Remi Yergeau (they/them) is Associate Professor of Digital Studies and English, and Associate Director of the Digital Studies Institute, at the University of Michigan. Their book, Authoring Autism: On Rhetoric and Neurological Queerness, was awarded the 2017 MLA First Book Prize, the 2019 CCCC Lavender Rhetorics Book Award for Excellence in Queer Scholarship, and the 2019 Rhetoric Society of America Book Award. They are currently at work on a second book project about disability, digital rhetoric, surveillance, and (a)sociality, tentatively titled Crip Data. Active in the neurodiversity movement, they have previously served on the boards of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) and the Autism National Committee (AutCom).

Stephanie Dinkins (she/they) is a transmedia artist who creates platforms for dialog about race, gender, aging, and our future histories. Dinkins’ art practice employs emerging technologies, documentary practices, and social collaboration toward equity and community sovereignty. She is particularly driven to work with communities of color to co-create more equitable, values grounded social and technological ecosystems. Dinkins exhibits and publicly advocates for equitable AI internationally. Her work has been generously supported by fellowships, grants, and residencies from United States Artist, The Knight Foundation, Berggruen Institute, Onassis Foundation, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, Creative Capital, Sundance New Frontiers Story Lab, Eyebeam, Data & Society, Pioneer Works, NEW INC, and The Laundromat Project. Dinkins is a professor at Stony Brook University where she holds the Kusama Endowed Professorship in Art.

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 13 Mar 2024 13:44:38 -0400 2024-04-04T17:00:00-04:00 2024-04-04T18:15:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Lecture / Discussion Blue, black, and beige event flier with purple grid squares. The flier includes headshots of the six speakers, the DISCO Network logo, and the event date, location, and description.
XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms Exhibition (April 5, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120792 120792-21845309@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, April 5, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms brings together local, national, and international artists to create a site-specific multimedia exhibition and series of events on the University of Michigan campus and across the city of Ann Arbor. The exhibition will take place in various locations, including a shipping container - the XR/XF pod - that will travel between 2 locations in Ann Arbor during the first two weeks of April.

The city of Ann Arbor has always been feminized. The story goes that in 1824, John Allen and Elisha W. Rumsey founded the town and named it after their wives, who were both named Ann. Since then, the city has been anthropomorphized as a feminine body throughout the years. In the 1980s, the University of Michigan’s football rivals in Ohio invented the infamous slogan, “Ann Arbor is a Whore!” as a method to jeer at the opposition. Since then, this offensive slogan has spread across the US and reappears every Fall during football season in Ann Arbor, proliferating through both physical and digital objects. As one recent social media commenter notes: “That's what happens when you have a chick name for your city.”

With this project, we strike/suspend gender from the city’s name: Ann Arbor is neither trophy wife nor whore. Instead, we pose Ann Arbor as a feminist cyborg, a feminist map, and a creative, participatory organism. We construct the body of the city differently, with artistic intervention and cyberfeminist means: physical and digital installation, activations of public space, music, performances, and workshops. From the Bell Tower on central campus to the parking lot of the Liberty Annex, we offer a creative activation that is both physical and digital and a fluid/complex/distributed image of the city through both XR and feminist means.

Curated by Alina Nazmeeva and Yvette Granata. In collaboration with Tiffany Ng, Tyler Musgrave, Julie Zhu, and Anıl Çamcı. Supported by the Arts Initiative at University of Michigan.

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Exhibition Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:10:20 -0400 2024-04-05T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-05T18:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Exhibition Black background with white and green wording. Pink and white checkered object at the bottom.
Otsi'tsistó:sera: Native Plants and Planting Songs (April 5, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120794 120794-21845305@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, April 5, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

Additional information can be found here: https://xrxf.net/carillon

The sonic/ecological exhibition Otsi’tsistó:sera takes its name from a new carillon composition by Dawn Avery, a composer of Mohawk descent, based on planting songs that Haudenosaunee women of the turtle clan sing to the seeds and plants as they grow their gardens. During this two-day “open house,” visitors may enter the carillon all day and experience a belfry filled with music by Indigenous women and lush with native plants in both organic and virtual forms. Explore the ecology of local native plants and keystone species and their Indigenous significance, discover visual remnants of Michigan’s pre-logging forests, and hear Avery’s Otsi’tsistó:sera as well as piano and carillon performances of Beverley McKiver’s Canadian Floral Emblems during live carillon concerts and at an on-demand listening station. Performances and recordings by Tiffany Ng, Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, Carson Landry, Grace Jackson, and Beverley McKiver. With special thanks to forest history consultant Hillary Pine, BA ‘11 (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians)

This event is part of a greater series called, "XRXF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms." Learn more here: https://xrxf.net/.

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Other Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:12:09 -0400 2024-04-05T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-05T18:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Other Light gray background with dark gray, pink, and green words. Green checkered object at bottom.
Otsi’tsistó:sera - Native Plants and Planting Songs at the Carillon (Multimedia installation and Open House) (April 5, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/118491 118491-21841138@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, April 5, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Burton Memorial Tower
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

The sonic/ecological exhibition *Otsi’tsistó:sera* takes its name from a new carillon composition by Dawn Avery, a composer of Mohawk descent, based on planting songs that Haudenosaunee women of the turtle clan sing to the seeds and plants as they grow their gardens. During this two-day “open house,” visitors may enter the carillon all day and experience a belfry filled with music by Indigenous women and lush with native plants in both organic and virtual forms. Open 12-6pm.

Explore the ecology of local native plants and keystone species and their Indigenous significance, discover visual remnants of Michigan’s pre-logging forests, and hear Avery’s *Otsi’tsistó:sera* as well as piano and carillon performances of Beverley McKiver’s *Canadian Floral Emblems* during live carillon concerts and at an on-demand listening station. Performances and recordings by Tiffany Ng, Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, Carson Landry, Grace Jackson, and Beverley McKiver. With special thanks to forest history consultant Hillary Pine, BA ‘11 (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians)

PROGRAM

*Otsi’tsistó:sera* [Planting Songs] (2023)
Dawn Ieri’hó:kwats Avery (b. 1961)

Performers:
Tiffany Ng, University Carillonist
Grace Jackson, DMA student in Sacred Music
Carson Landry, MMus student in Carillon
Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, Affiliate Faculty, Institute for Research on Women and Gender

Arrangements from:
*Canadian Floral Emblems* (2020)
- Lady Slipper (Prince Edward Island)
- Blue Flag Iris, for Joyce Echaquan (Quebec)
- Western Red Lily (Saskatchewan)
- Mountain Avens (Northwest Territory)
- Aupiluktunnguat/Purple Saxifrage (Nunavut)
- Pacific Dogwood (British Columbia)

Beverley McKiver (b. 1958)

Additional information can be found here:
https://xrxf.net/carillon

Location Info: Charles Baird Carillon in Burton Memorial Tower, 10th floor. The bell chamber may be accessed via a combination of elevator and stairs. Take the elevator to the highest floor possible (floor 8), and then climb two flights of stairs (39 steps) to the bell chamber (floor 10). Ear protection will be available. Built in 1936, the Charles Baird Carillon is not ADA accessible. Visitors with mobility needs are invited to visit the Lurie Carillon during the regular weekday recitals from 1:20–2:00 pm

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Exhibition Thu, 28 Mar 2024 18:16:52 -0400 2024-04-05T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-05T18:00:00-04:00 Burton Memorial Tower Digital Studies Institute Exhibition Otsi’tsistó:sera - Native Plants and Planting Songs at the Carillon (Multimedia installation and Open House)
Walking Her Path, Participatory Sound Walk for XR/XF (April 6, 2024 11:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/120795 120795-21845306@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Saturday, April 6, 2024 11:00am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

RSVP Here: https://bit.ly/3IWxM5m

Walking Her Path is a public soundwalk experience. Participants will engage in the exploration of their sonic environment, with a focus on listening from a perspectives shaped by the experiences of womanhood and gender dynamics. This activity involves walking, listening and recording, serving as an intentional exercise in auditory examination. During the soundwalk, participants will be invited to actively listen to both the cacophony and the subtleties of everyday life through a feminist lens. They will be prompted to tune into sounds that may symbolize the experiences of womanhood, empowerment, or oppression. For example, the sound of footsteps might symbolize independence and determination, whereas the noise from construction sites or the abrupt blare of car horns might be seen as symbolic of societal interruptions or aggressive intrusions. Attendees will be equipped with handheld field recorders and encouraged to capture sounds that resonate with them personally. Moreover, participants will be encouraged to provide narrations during the soundwalk, articulating their reasons for selecting particular sounds and what those sounds represent to them.

This event is part of a greater series called, "XRXF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms." Learn more here: https://xrxf.net/.

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Other Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:13:34 -0400 2024-04-06T11:00:00-04:00 2024-04-06T14:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Other Light gray background with dark gray, pink, and green words. Green checkered object at bottom.
XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms Exhibition (April 6, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120792 120792-21845310@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Saturday, April 6, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms brings together local, national, and international artists to create a site-specific multimedia exhibition and series of events on the University of Michigan campus and across the city of Ann Arbor. The exhibition will take place in various locations, including a shipping container - the XR/XF pod - that will travel between 2 locations in Ann Arbor during the first two weeks of April.

The city of Ann Arbor has always been feminized. The story goes that in 1824, John Allen and Elisha W. Rumsey founded the town and named it after their wives, who were both named Ann. Since then, the city has been anthropomorphized as a feminine body throughout the years. In the 1980s, the University of Michigan’s football rivals in Ohio invented the infamous slogan, “Ann Arbor is a Whore!” as a method to jeer at the opposition. Since then, this offensive slogan has spread across the US and reappears every Fall during football season in Ann Arbor, proliferating through both physical and digital objects. As one recent social media commenter notes: “That's what happens when you have a chick name for your city.”

With this project, we strike/suspend gender from the city’s name: Ann Arbor is neither trophy wife nor whore. Instead, we pose Ann Arbor as a feminist cyborg, a feminist map, and a creative, participatory organism. We construct the body of the city differently, with artistic intervention and cyberfeminist means: physical and digital installation, activations of public space, music, performances, and workshops. From the Bell Tower on central campus to the parking lot of the Liberty Annex, we offer a creative activation that is both physical and digital and a fluid/complex/distributed image of the city through both XR and feminist means.

Curated by Alina Nazmeeva and Yvette Granata. In collaboration with Tiffany Ng, Tyler Musgrave, Julie Zhu, and Anıl Çamcı. Supported by the Arts Initiative at University of Michigan.

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Exhibition Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:10:20 -0400 2024-04-06T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-06T18:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Exhibition Black background with white and green wording. Pink and white checkered object at the bottom.
XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms Exhibition (April 7, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120792 120792-21845311@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Sunday, April 7, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms brings together local, national, and international artists to create a site-specific multimedia exhibition and series of events on the University of Michigan campus and across the city of Ann Arbor. The exhibition will take place in various locations, including a shipping container - the XR/XF pod - that will travel between 2 locations in Ann Arbor during the first two weeks of April.

The city of Ann Arbor has always been feminized. The story goes that in 1824, John Allen and Elisha W. Rumsey founded the town and named it after their wives, who were both named Ann. Since then, the city has been anthropomorphized as a feminine body throughout the years. In the 1980s, the University of Michigan’s football rivals in Ohio invented the infamous slogan, “Ann Arbor is a Whore!” as a method to jeer at the opposition. Since then, this offensive slogan has spread across the US and reappears every Fall during football season in Ann Arbor, proliferating through both physical and digital objects. As one recent social media commenter notes: “That's what happens when you have a chick name for your city.”

With this project, we strike/suspend gender from the city’s name: Ann Arbor is neither trophy wife nor whore. Instead, we pose Ann Arbor as a feminist cyborg, a feminist map, and a creative, participatory organism. We construct the body of the city differently, with artistic intervention and cyberfeminist means: physical and digital installation, activations of public space, music, performances, and workshops. From the Bell Tower on central campus to the parking lot of the Liberty Annex, we offer a creative activation that is both physical and digital and a fluid/complex/distributed image of the city through both XR and feminist means.

Curated by Alina Nazmeeva and Yvette Granata. In collaboration with Tiffany Ng, Tyler Musgrave, Julie Zhu, and Anıl Çamcı. Supported by the Arts Initiative at University of Michigan.

]]>
Exhibition Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:10:20 -0400 2024-04-07T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-07T18:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Exhibition Black background with white and green wording. Pink and white checkered object at the bottom.
Study Hall @ The DSI, WN'24 (April 8, 2024 2:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/117605 117605-21839591@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, April 8, 2024 2:00pm
Location: Mason Hall
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

We're back for Winter '24! Join us for study hall at the Digital Studies Institute, located at G333 Mason Hall. Walk right in--no RSVP required! A variety of study snacks and drinks are provided such as soda, popcorn, chips, nuts, and granola bars.

Our space is designed with students in mind. It’s great for studying solo and has the perfect vibes to accompany your study session, complete with lo-fi tunes and couch and lounge chair availability. It’s also fantastic for studying as a group! Our setup accommodates team-based learning in study pod arrangements, and we also have easily accessible tech to connect or cast to from your devices.

--Tl;dr, we offer a very comfortable space that can accommodate a number of different studying arrangements!

Questions or accommodations? Email Sarah Torsch at dsi-studentservices@umich.edu.

Interested in learning more about Digital Studies and the DSI? Visit our website, linked to the right side. -->
Considering minoring in Digital Studies? Make an advising appointment with us today!

]]>
Social / Informal Gathering Mon, 22 Jan 2024 14:41:07 -0500 2024-04-08T14:00:00-04:00 2024-04-08T17:00:00-04:00 Mason Hall Digital Studies Institute Social / Informal Gathering University of Michigan Digital Studies Institute is hosting Study Hall for Winter 2024--running all semester long! Find us on Mondays from 2-5pm at the office of the Digital Studies Institute, located at G333 Mason Hall. Note that Study Hall will not meet on 2/26. Snacks provided! No RSVP required. For questions or accommodations, contact: dsi-studentservices@umich.edu
XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms Exhibition (April 10, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120792 120792-21845312@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, April 10, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms brings together local, national, and international artists to create a site-specific multimedia exhibition and series of events on the University of Michigan campus and across the city of Ann Arbor. The exhibition will take place in various locations, including a shipping container - the XR/XF pod - that will travel between 2 locations in Ann Arbor during the first two weeks of April.

The city of Ann Arbor has always been feminized. The story goes that in 1824, John Allen and Elisha W. Rumsey founded the town and named it after their wives, who were both named Ann. Since then, the city has been anthropomorphized as a feminine body throughout the years. In the 1980s, the University of Michigan’s football rivals in Ohio invented the infamous slogan, “Ann Arbor is a Whore!” as a method to jeer at the opposition. Since then, this offensive slogan has spread across the US and reappears every Fall during football season in Ann Arbor, proliferating through both physical and digital objects. As one recent social media commenter notes: “That's what happens when you have a chick name for your city.”

With this project, we strike/suspend gender from the city’s name: Ann Arbor is neither trophy wife nor whore. Instead, we pose Ann Arbor as a feminist cyborg, a feminist map, and a creative, participatory organism. We construct the body of the city differently, with artistic intervention and cyberfeminist means: physical and digital installation, activations of public space, music, performances, and workshops. From the Bell Tower on central campus to the parking lot of the Liberty Annex, we offer a creative activation that is both physical and digital and a fluid/complex/distributed image of the city through both XR and feminist means.

Curated by Alina Nazmeeva and Yvette Granata. In collaboration with Tiffany Ng, Tyler Musgrave, Julie Zhu, and Anıl Çamcı. Supported by the Arts Initiative at University of Michigan.

]]>
Exhibition Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:10:20 -0400 2024-04-10T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-10T18:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Exhibition Black background with white and green wording. Pink and white checkered object at the bottom.
XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms Exhibition (April 11, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120792 120792-21845313@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, April 11, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms brings together local, national, and international artists to create a site-specific multimedia exhibition and series of events on the University of Michigan campus and across the city of Ann Arbor. The exhibition will take place in various locations, including a shipping container - the XR/XF pod - that will travel between 2 locations in Ann Arbor during the first two weeks of April.

The city of Ann Arbor has always been feminized. The story goes that in 1824, John Allen and Elisha W. Rumsey founded the town and named it after their wives, who were both named Ann. Since then, the city has been anthropomorphized as a feminine body throughout the years. In the 1980s, the University of Michigan’s football rivals in Ohio invented the infamous slogan, “Ann Arbor is a Whore!” as a method to jeer at the opposition. Since then, this offensive slogan has spread across the US and reappears every Fall during football season in Ann Arbor, proliferating through both physical and digital objects. As one recent social media commenter notes: “That's what happens when you have a chick name for your city.”

With this project, we strike/suspend gender from the city’s name: Ann Arbor is neither trophy wife nor whore. Instead, we pose Ann Arbor as a feminist cyborg, a feminist map, and a creative, participatory organism. We construct the body of the city differently, with artistic intervention and cyberfeminist means: physical and digital installation, activations of public space, music, performances, and workshops. From the Bell Tower on central campus to the parking lot of the Liberty Annex, we offer a creative activation that is both physical and digital and a fluid/complex/distributed image of the city through both XR and feminist means.

Curated by Alina Nazmeeva and Yvette Granata. In collaboration with Tiffany Ng, Tyler Musgrave, Julie Zhu, and Anıl Çamcı. Supported by the Arts Initiative at University of Michigan.

]]>
Exhibition Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:10:20 -0400 2024-04-11T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-11T18:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Exhibition Black background with white and green wording. Pink and white checkered object at the bottom.
XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms Exhibition (April 12, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120792 120792-21845314@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, April 12, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms brings together local, national, and international artists to create a site-specific multimedia exhibition and series of events on the University of Michigan campus and across the city of Ann Arbor. The exhibition will take place in various locations, including a shipping container - the XR/XF pod - that will travel between 2 locations in Ann Arbor during the first two weeks of April.

The city of Ann Arbor has always been feminized. The story goes that in 1824, John Allen and Elisha W. Rumsey founded the town and named it after their wives, who were both named Ann. Since then, the city has been anthropomorphized as a feminine body throughout the years. In the 1980s, the University of Michigan’s football rivals in Ohio invented the infamous slogan, “Ann Arbor is a Whore!” as a method to jeer at the opposition. Since then, this offensive slogan has spread across the US and reappears every Fall during football season in Ann Arbor, proliferating through both physical and digital objects. As one recent social media commenter notes: “That's what happens when you have a chick name for your city.”

With this project, we strike/suspend gender from the city’s name: Ann Arbor is neither trophy wife nor whore. Instead, we pose Ann Arbor as a feminist cyborg, a feminist map, and a creative, participatory organism. We construct the body of the city differently, with artistic intervention and cyberfeminist means: physical and digital installation, activations of public space, music, performances, and workshops. From the Bell Tower on central campus to the parking lot of the Liberty Annex, we offer a creative activation that is both physical and digital and a fluid/complex/distributed image of the city through both XR and feminist means.

Curated by Alina Nazmeeva and Yvette Granata. In collaboration with Tiffany Ng, Tyler Musgrave, Julie Zhu, and Anıl Çamcı. Supported by the Arts Initiative at University of Michigan.

]]>
Exhibition Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:10:20 -0400 2024-04-12T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-12T18:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Exhibition Black background with white and green wording. Pink and white checkered object at the bottom.
XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms Exhibition (April 13, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120792 120792-21845315@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Saturday, April 13, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms brings together local, national, and international artists to create a site-specific multimedia exhibition and series of events on the University of Michigan campus and across the city of Ann Arbor. The exhibition will take place in various locations, including a shipping container - the XR/XF pod - that will travel between 2 locations in Ann Arbor during the first two weeks of April.

The city of Ann Arbor has always been feminized. The story goes that in 1824, John Allen and Elisha W. Rumsey founded the town and named it after their wives, who were both named Ann. Since then, the city has been anthropomorphized as a feminine body throughout the years. In the 1980s, the University of Michigan’s football rivals in Ohio invented the infamous slogan, “Ann Arbor is a Whore!” as a method to jeer at the opposition. Since then, this offensive slogan has spread across the US and reappears every Fall during football season in Ann Arbor, proliferating through both physical and digital objects. As one recent social media commenter notes: “That's what happens when you have a chick name for your city.”

With this project, we strike/suspend gender from the city’s name: Ann Arbor is neither trophy wife nor whore. Instead, we pose Ann Arbor as a feminist cyborg, a feminist map, and a creative, participatory organism. We construct the body of the city differently, with artistic intervention and cyberfeminist means: physical and digital installation, activations of public space, music, performances, and workshops. From the Bell Tower on central campus to the parking lot of the Liberty Annex, we offer a creative activation that is both physical and digital and a fluid/complex/distributed image of the city through both XR and feminist means.

Curated by Alina Nazmeeva and Yvette Granata. In collaboration with Tiffany Ng, Tyler Musgrave, Julie Zhu, and Anıl Çamcı. Supported by the Arts Initiative at University of Michigan.

]]>
Exhibition Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:10:20 -0400 2024-04-13T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-13T18:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Exhibition Black background with white and green wording. Pink and white checkered object at the bottom.
XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms Exhibition (April 14, 2024 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120792 120792-21845316@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Sunday, April 14, 2024 12:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

XR/XF: Extended Realities, Extended Feminisms brings together local, national, and international artists to create a site-specific multimedia exhibition and series of events on the University of Michigan campus and across the city of Ann Arbor. The exhibition will take place in various locations, including a shipping container - the XR/XF pod - that will travel between 2 locations in Ann Arbor during the first two weeks of April.

The city of Ann Arbor has always been feminized. The story goes that in 1824, John Allen and Elisha W. Rumsey founded the town and named it after their wives, who were both named Ann. Since then, the city has been anthropomorphized as a feminine body throughout the years. In the 1980s, the University of Michigan’s football rivals in Ohio invented the infamous slogan, “Ann Arbor is a Whore!” as a method to jeer at the opposition. Since then, this offensive slogan has spread across the US and reappears every Fall during football season in Ann Arbor, proliferating through both physical and digital objects. As one recent social media commenter notes: “That's what happens when you have a chick name for your city.”

With this project, we strike/suspend gender from the city’s name: Ann Arbor is neither trophy wife nor whore. Instead, we pose Ann Arbor as a feminist cyborg, a feminist map, and a creative, participatory organism. We construct the body of the city differently, with artistic intervention and cyberfeminist means: physical and digital installation, activations of public space, music, performances, and workshops. From the Bell Tower on central campus to the parking lot of the Liberty Annex, we offer a creative activation that is both physical and digital and a fluid/complex/distributed image of the city through both XR and feminist means.

Curated by Alina Nazmeeva and Yvette Granata. In collaboration with Tiffany Ng, Tyler Musgrave, Julie Zhu, and Anıl Çamcı. Supported by the Arts Initiative at University of Michigan.

]]>
Exhibition Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:10:20 -0400 2024-04-14T12:00:00-04:00 2024-04-14T18:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Exhibition Black background with white and green wording. Pink and white checkered object at the bottom.
Study Hall @ The DSI, WN'24 (April 15, 2024 2:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/117605 117605-21839592@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, April 15, 2024 2:00pm
Location: Mason Hall
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

We're back for Winter '24! Join us for study hall at the Digital Studies Institute, located at G333 Mason Hall. Walk right in--no RSVP required! A variety of study snacks and drinks are provided such as soda, popcorn, chips, nuts, and granola bars.

Our space is designed with students in mind. It’s great for studying solo and has the perfect vibes to accompany your study session, complete with lo-fi tunes and couch and lounge chair availability. It’s also fantastic for studying as a group! Our setup accommodates team-based learning in study pod arrangements, and we also have easily accessible tech to connect or cast to from your devices.

--Tl;dr, we offer a very comfortable space that can accommodate a number of different studying arrangements!

Questions or accommodations? Email Sarah Torsch at dsi-studentservices@umich.edu.

Interested in learning more about Digital Studies and the DSI? Visit our website, linked to the right side. -->
Considering minoring in Digital Studies? Make an advising appointment with us today!

]]>
Social / Informal Gathering Mon, 22 Jan 2024 14:41:07 -0500 2024-04-15T14:00:00-04:00 2024-04-15T17:00:00-04:00 Mason Hall Digital Studies Institute Social / Informal Gathering University of Michigan Digital Studies Institute is hosting Study Hall for Winter 2024--running all semester long! Find us on Mondays from 2-5pm at the office of the Digital Studies Institute, located at G333 Mason Hall. Note that Study Hall will not meet on 2/26. Snacks provided! No RSVP required. For questions or accommodations, contact: dsi-studentservices@umich.edu
AMPLIFY: DSI Student Showcase (April 16, 2024 2:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/111365 111365-21826896@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, April 16, 2024 2:00pm
Location: North Quad
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

Join us for our third annual AMPLIFY: DSI Student Showcase, where we will celebrate the hard work creativity of students enrolled in DSI courses.

If you know a student (or are yourself a student) who has taken a Digital Studies course in the past year whose project you think would be a good fit for the DSI Student showcase, please nominate them below! Projects can be research-based papers (presented as a poster), art installations, games, videos, interactive media, and more.

Nominate a Student Here: https://forms.gle/7aHhMCsjEtrcGRty7

If you have questions regarding nominating a student's project, please reach out to Sarah Torsch at dsi-studentservices@umich.edu.

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Exhibition Thu, 14 Sep 2023 20:37:48 -0400 2024-04-16T14:00:00-04:00 2024-04-16T17:00:00-04:00 North Quad Digital Studies Institute Exhibition wavelengths on a blue gradient background
Mario Gaming Night @ the DSI, WN'24 (April 17, 2024 5:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/117806 117806-21840044@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, April 17, 2024 5:00pm
Location: Mason Hall
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

Mario Gaming Night is back for Winter 2024! Join us monthly from 5PM - 8PM for our popular Mario Gaming Night at the DSI Office, located in Mason Hall at room G325!
RSVP REQUIRED.

We'll have several of our Nintendo Switch stations set up for multiplayer gaming, along with pizza, snacks, and drinks for you to enjoy! Our current Mario games in rotation are Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Questions or accommodations? Email Sarah Torsch at dsi-studentservices@umich.edu.

Interested in learning more about Digital Studies and the DSI? Visit our website, linked to the right side. -->
Considering minoring in Digital Studies? Make an advising appointment with us today!

]]>
Recreational / Games Fri, 22 Mar 2024 12:32:48 -0400 2024-04-17T17:00:00-04:00 2024-04-17T20:00:00-04:00 Mason Hall Digital Studies Institute Recreational / Games University of Michigan Digital Studies Institute presents Mario Gaming Night for Winter 2024. A dynamic graphic of video game characters are shown. Event dates are provided -- see details provided by event page. Pizza, snacks, and drinks provided. RSVP REQUIRED. For questions or accommodations, contact: dsi-studentservices@umich.edu.
DISCO Network Graduate Scholar Lightning Talks 2024 (April 18, 2024 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/120746 120746-21845210@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, April 18, 2024 4:00pm
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

DISCO Network Graduate Scholars Lightning Talks 2024
Thursday, April 18th 2024, 4:00 - 6:00 PM EST
Zoom

Register to attend on Zoom: https://myumi.ch/Jw8qx

Event Description:
The DISCO Network Graduate Scholars Program is designed for graduate student researchers committed to developing interdisciplinary work about the intersection between digital technology, culture, race, disability, gender, sexuality, and liberation. Our Graduate Scholars conduct research in collaboration with our six DISCO Network principal investigators: André Brock (Georgia Institute of Technology), Catherine Knight Steele (University of Maryland), Lisa Nakamura (University of Michigan), Rayvon Fouché (Northwestern University), Remi Yergeau (University of Michigan), and Stephanie Dinkins (Stony Brook University).

In the 2023-2024 academic year, we have ten DISCO Graduate Scholars: S. Nisa Asgarali-Hoffman, Jasmine Banks, Pruneah Kim, Pratiksha Menon, Hagar Masoud, Tynesha McCullers, Elise Nagy, Ria Rajan, Jessica Rucker, and David Tortolini. Each DISCO Graduate Scholar will give an eight minute “lightning talk” on their research affiliated with their DISCO Network lab.

GROUP 1: 4:00 - 4:50 PM

“Drifting through the Technosphere” with Ria Rajan (Stony Brook University)
As a digital nomad, I am deeply interested in the present future—specifically, the cyber future. This is the future I feel most primed for. When I consider this future, I am self-reflexive about my relationship with cyberspace and the embodied technologies of our daily lives.

Generationally, a post-colonial millennial, who grew up on the move through changing environments and shifting landscapes, weaving in and out of times and spaces is my modus operandi. This has played a significant role in shaping my relationship to places, duration and traces.

Movement and stasis are the primary lenses through which I process the world and continue
to be a source of inspiration and inquiry. This idea of mobility has led to a creative practice that is inherently itinerant and iterative, with a focus on intangible, ephemeral and transient experiences –- IRL and online. For this talk, I will address how my practice-based research highlights ontological modes of production and hybrid media objects.

“BPG[Dot]Com: An Examination of Black Grief and Commemorative Practices in a Digital Context” with Tynesha McCullers (North Carolina State University)
"Death is a part of the human experience; it is inevitable that individuals will experience loss throughout their lifetime so finding ways to grieve and cope will be necessary. Death is a part of the human experience; it is inevitable that individuals will experience loss throughout their lifetime so finding ways to grieve and cope will be necessary. Cultural rituals and practices surrounding death, grief and commemoration vary and are shaped by several social positions of the bereaved including religion/spirituality, race, gender, class, and nationality. Prior to the inception of the internet and in the days before social networking sites (SNSs), death and grief were managed based on proximity to the deceased. Today, the internet has shifted not only the ways people experience dying (Andersson, 2017) but also how the bereaved cope with death (Willis & Ferrucci, 2017). Kania-Lundholm (2019) writes “media communication technologies and social media…have contributed to the expansion of death and mourning” so they are no longer simply private but now public and sometimes global events. In a society that is becoming more technologically advanced, the shift from institutionalized commemorative rituals to personal rhetorical modes of communicating and coping with loss online, is more common. Therefore, mourning on social media platforms can be viewed as an extension to various other sociocultural practices as they relate to loss, grief, and commemoration.

Previous research on the use of digital technologies to express grief and cope with loss, centers itself around six themes – thanatechnology (Sofka, 1997), fans grieving celebrity deaths (Sanderson & Cheong, 2010), cultural expectations in communicating grief (Boss & Carnes, 2012; Prigerson & Jacobs, 2001), online grief practices (Lingel, 2013), (in)appropriate etiquette for sharing and reacting to death (Wagner, 2018) and affordances/limitations of SNS policies for bereaved users (Moyer & Enck, 2018). While current scholarship on death, grief, and commemoration via digital technology is ongoing and presented in a universalizable way, minimal attention has been given to the roles that demographics play in death and mourning in technology-mediated culture. In an effort to extend the scholarship on death, grief, and digital commemoration practices, this project broadly asks “how have communication technologies impacted the grief and mourning practices of Black people”. By examining Black people’s uses of communication technologies and social media platforms, in their grief and commemorative rituals, we can gain a better understanding of ways to support them as they cope with losses that are inevitable."

“미역국 (miyeokguk) asmr: Recipes as Ritual in the Computational Present” with pruneah Kim (University of Michigan)
In this talk, I hope to briefly speak on an ongoing project, titled 미역국 (miyeokguk) asmr, that investigates the sociopolitical possibilities that open up when we turn to the repetitive but always different motions of ritual in our computational present. If digital capitalism is predicated on prediction, where does ritual take us? Drawing from Romi Ron Morrison and Loren Britton’s[1] (2021) attention to ritual over prediction, I want to know what happens when we position recipes as a practice of ritual. Where does this take us? What if we attend to recipes as a mapping of movement, a choreography, instead of a means to an end? I’m especially interested in playing around with the genre of recipe, precisely because of our taken for granted framing of them as a predictive practice. So much so that recipes operate as the base analogy to coding and algorithm, a full disservice to recipes in my opinion. The attention is paid to the product. And we fail to notice and value the already present movements, encounters, intentions, history, intellect, impulses and sociality that occurs around it. My hunch here is that there is a lot to gain in noticing these things.

This project is part of my broader dissertation research that aims to explore the worldbuilding possibilities of food in BIPOC communities, especially within queer Asian diasporic communities in North America.

“‘The arms are as long as printed exclamation marks!!’ Women’s Health DIY Print Cultures, 1970-2016” with Elise Nagy (University of Michigan)
This presentation takes up women’s health DIY print cultures of the 1970s and 2010s. I explore the self-representational visual/textual artifacts therein as a kind of “reproductive technology” in their own right. I suggest that these texts raise a particular set of questions and possibilities related to women’s material embodiment, reproductive capacity, and anti-determinist claims, staked on the page and on the body. Primarily glancing off of the earliest edition of what would become Our Bodies, Ourselves, then titled Women and Their Bodies: A Course (1970), by the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective; Mira Bellwether’s 2010 zine titled Fucking Trans Women; and micha cárdenas’ 2016 piece “Pregnancy: Reproductive Futures in Trans of Color Feminism,” this brief presentation explores how each of these texts can be better understood in conversation with what Michelle Murphy has theorized as the “protocol feminism” of feminist self help: “a form of feminism concerned with the recrafting and distribution of technosocial practices by which the care and study of sexed living-being could be conducted.”

GROUP 2: 4:50 - 5:20 PM

“If You Know, You Know: Black Digital Culture and the Right to Opacity” with Jasmine Banks (University of Michigan)
This research delves into how Black users navigate the complexities of the digital, leveraging the existence of Black digital spaces that are cultural hubs for everyday discourse and camaraderie, expression, and community while challenges and systemic biases still permeate these environments. Drawing on focus group discussions with 19 Black social media users, I examine the discursive formation “if you know, you know” a sentiment, a feeling of just knowing that a meme, a hashtag, or online moment was/is a Black cultural moment. I investigate this phenomenon through the lens of opacity—the deliberate choice to eschew transparency as a means of navigating the digital landscape. I discuss how users leverage opacity to foster community bonds, assert their right to privacy, and maintain control over their cultural identity within the digital sphere.

“Babri retold: rewriting popular memory through Islamophobic humor” with Pratiksha Thangam Menon (University of Michigan)
The strategic mobilization of humor by Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) groups online contributes to the mainstreaming of supremacist ideologies that inform extremist behavior. Analyzing the social media recontextualizations of the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition as case studies, this talk examines how online instantiations of Islamophobic humor contribute to the Hindutva revisioning of popular memory. This talk expands the understanding of how Islamophobia is normalized through the shifting affective framing of the Babri Masjid demolition, from shame to schadenfreude, from tragedy to comedy, and from a threat to Indian secularism to a necessary act of paternalistic disciplining. Studying these shifts through specific examples of Islamophobic humor builds upon previous insights into: (1) the affective regimes by which Islamophobic ideas are made palatable to a wider audience, (2) discriminatory speech as an act of pleasure, and (3) how both of these work toward the reworking of popular memory in service of the Hindutva political project.
“Keep it Black, Keep it Brief, and Keep it Online: Lessons from a Pedagogical Influencer” with Jessica A. Rucker (University of Maryland-College Park)
Using Andre Brock’s methodological intervention, Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA), in conjunction with the theories and conceptual frameworks of the Black Radical Tradition, Black Liberation Pedagogy, Digital Black Feminims, Black cyberculture, and Oscillating Networked Publics, I ask How does Parking Lot Pimpin’ create openings for audiences to learn about Black life and both understand and take part in the Black Freedom Struggle? My findings, which draw from Parking Lot Pimpin’ as a case study, document how Bogues skillfully mobilizes digital tools, platforms, and technologies and effectively educates the public about Black life in ways that thrust forward the Black freedom struggle, by drawing from and adding to Black archives, and builds on scholarship from the fields of American Studies, Black Digital World Making/Black Digital Socialities, Black Vernacular Cultures and Oral Traditions, and Critical Race Studies.

GROUP 3: 5:20 PM - 6:00 PM

“What’s in my Digital Cup?: Specialty Coffee Roasters and their Digital Discourses of Flavor” with David Tortolini (Purdue University)
Specialty coffee roasters in North America utilize flavor and our senses from a Western-centric perspective and reinforce Western-centric worldviews when they showcase coffees on their websites. They approach the way a cup of coffee tastes, feels, is described by using Western-centric ideologies and definitions. The Specialty Coffee Association’s Coffee Flavor Wheel is the primary tool used in the industry. As an accompaniment to how the flavors are shown, you see some coffee roasters weave flavor into storytelling when they are retelling stories of adventure to describe where the coffee comes from and how they were able to source it. Thus, coffee roasters use flavor as an identity marker and defining tool of communities and populations outside the West.

In this talk, we will explore how colonialism has impacted our senses by examining the digitalization of flavor by specialty coffee roasters in the United States. By analyzing these digital spaces, we will uncover how flavor is used to define and categorize communities and regions across the globe. Additionally, we will investigate the consequences of relying on Western-centric ideologies to describe our senses in both digital and physical spaces. "
"Parking Lot Pimpin’, an online series created by Lynae Vanee Bogues, unequivocally and unabashedly teaches about contemporary Black life and the histories that shape it by using digital tools and platforms in ways that create multiple openings for audiences to learn about, understand, and take part in the modern Black freedom struggle. She creates these openings by teaching in the locations and places where Black publics are, but where accurate, credible, and reliable information is not always: social media platforms. In this study, I consider how Parking Lot Pimpin’ connects to and builds on a long history of African American history-defending, truth-telling, and activist memory-work and demonstrate how Bogues is an example of, a new theoretical approach which I call, a pedagogical influencer. A pedagogical influencer is a social media user who leverages their content knowledge and technical expertise to establish credibility across various digitally mediated spaces to educate and teach audiences about specific historical topics through a constellation of repeated words, phrases, concepts, mannerisms, and gestures within a specific economy, industry, or field.

“Wooden Room_Wedding Room” with Hagar Masoud (Stony Brook University)
"Wooden Room_Wedding Room is a socially engaged, multimedia installation project that addresses the traumatic impact of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). It sheds light on this violent practice, which involves the non-medical, ritual removal of external female genitalia, often without consent, and is widely seen as a patriarchal instrument to dominate girls' sexuality. FGM is prevalent across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, rooted in cultural beliefs about femininity and marriageability. The project aims to raise awareness about the physical and emotional pain inflicted by FGM and advocate for its end, emphasizing the importance of protecting girls' bodily autonomy.

Wooden Room_Wedding Room installation reimagines the colonialized interiors of Egyptian middle-class living rooms in a gallery setting, where narrators share their experiences of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) that occurred in such spaces. The ambiance includes serving Traditional Egyptian tea and tropical fruits.

“Ambiguously Brown: Resisting the Myth of Racial Authenticity in Genetic Ancestry Testing” with S. Nisa Asgarali-Hoffman (University of Maryland-College Park)
This study analyzes YouTube videos made by Caribbean content creators in which they reveal the results of their direct-to-consumer ancestry tests. I analyze these reveal videos, the user comment threads attached to them, and the role of YouTube in hosting these videos, to capture the popular discourse around the relationship between genetics and racial identity. By employing Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA), I seek to answer questions of how Caribbean content creators discuss racial identity, and in particular how online discourses of race negotiate, codify, or disrupt neoliberal notions of authenticity.

I focus on videos made by creators who specifically identify as being from the Caribbean or of the Caribbean diaspora. Through the lens of Caribbean Existentialism, I discuss how content creators and audience discussions around racial identities coalesce into a new project of “racial formation” (Omi & Winant, 2015). I unpack how racial authenticity is being reconstructed and deconstructed in digital spaces and interrogate the ways in which the conceptualization and mobilization of authenticity are intertwined with white supremacy.

Accessibility statement: We strive to make our events accessible to all participants. Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART) services will be provided.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact Cherice Chan, DISCO Network Program Coordinator, at chericec@umich.edu.

]]>
Presentation Tue, 26 Mar 2024 13:44:31 -0400 2024-04-18T16:00:00-04:00 2024-04-18T18:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Digital Studies Institute Presentation
DISCO Network DISCO Summit 2024 (June 14, 2024 9:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/117761 117761-21839983@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, June 14, 2024 9:00am
Location: Weiser Hall
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

DISCO Network | DISCO Summit

Dates: Friday, June 14 – Saturday, June 15, 2024
Location: Weiser Hall, 10th Floor, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Modality: Hybrid (all events will be held in-person with an option for individuals to attend virtually via Zoom webinar)

Registration is required to attend the DISCO Summit.

The deadline for in-person registration is Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Due to limited space in the venue, in-person registration will close once we reach our maximum capacity. Register to attend in-person: https://myumi.ch/Pkrgg

The deadline for Zoom webinar registration is Wednesday, June 13, 2024. Register to attend via Zoom: https://myumi.ch/N61QZ

Event Description:

The DISCO Summit is a two-day interdisciplinary summer symposium about digital social inequalities in celebration of the third year of the DISCO Network. The DISCO Summit will include nine panel conversations about the past, present, and future of the intersection between digital technology, culture, race, disability, gender, sexuality, and liberation.

The DISCO Network is a collaborative, intergenerational group of scholars dedicated to envisioning a new anti-racist and anti-ableist digital future. The DISCO Network comprises six labs across five universities: the Michigan Hub at the University of Michigan Digital Studies Institute (PI: Lisa Nakamura, University of Michigan), HAT Lab (PI: Rayvon Fouché; Northwestern University), DAF Lab (PI: M. Remi Yergeau, University of Michigan), Future Histories Studio (PI: Stephanie Dinkins, Stony Brook University), PREACH Lab (André Brock, Georgia Institute of Technology), and BCaT Lab (Catherine Knight Steele, University of Maryland-College Park). The DISCO Network is supported by the Mellon Foundation.

This event is free and open to the public. The DISCO Summit provides a platform for scholars, students, artists, practitioners, activists, and community members to convene and engage in dialogue about racial inequality, histories of exclusion, disability justice, techno-ableism, and digital racial politics within the academy, the technology industry, and beyond. We especially welcome individuals whose interests lie in the intersection of the digital and identity and have found difficulties pursuing their endeavors at their home institutions.

Event Schedule:

Day 1: Friday, June 14, 2024

9:00 am - 10:15 am
Digital Optimism with Lisa Nakamura, Rayvon Fouché, Stephanie Dinkins, André Brock, Remi Yergeau, and Catherine Knight Steele
Optimism is the belief that the interval between the now and liberation is where we can act. Digital optimism is the recognition that there are elements of life that vivify and energize in the here and the now, despite and amidst the digital purgatories that we endure. Sometimes that energy is found in stillness; sometimes in refusal; and sometimes in moments of catharsis or joy. This panel will explore the concept of digital optimism as it appears in DISCO’s collaborative writing and work together.

10:30 am - 11:45 am
Digital Frictions with Remi Yergeau, David Adelman, Jeff Nagy, Aimi Hamraie, Jaipreet Virdi, and Mara Mills
In their manifesto on crip technoscience, Kelly Fritsch and Aimi Hamraie (2019) impress upon us that access production is a “frictional process,” one that requires “acknowledging that science and technology can be used to both produce and dismantle injustice.” This roundtable explores the frictional intimacies, practices, and material conditions of what it means to do the digital. In particular, panelists will consider myriad ways in which accessibility holds the potential to burn, grate, spark, and tug at new imaginings of crip futures.

1:00 pm - 2:15 pm
Digital Black Feminist Pleasure and Pain Online with Catherine Knight Steele, Rianna Walcott, Francesca Sobande, and Kishonna Gray
The experiences of Black women online serve as a harbinger of what digital culture affords and what is to come. This panel thinks through the relationship between pleasure and pain in the online lives of Black women and how Black feminist methods, epistemologies, and strategies may point us toward a better digital future for us all.

2:30 pm - 3:45 pm
Little Memes: Storying Race, Gender, and Disability in the Digital Studies Classroom with Remi Yergeau, Huan He, and Toni Bushner
How do students’ stories about themselves or others—their anecdotal relations—inform their burgeoning understandings of digital inequality and related concepts? In this session, we reflect on student interviews and instructor experiences drawn from a study of five U-M Digital Studies classes focused on race and disability.

4:00 pm - 5:15 pm
Black Digital Optimism in an Age of Despair with André Brock, Kevin Winstead, Brandy Pettijohn, Apryl Williams, and Ngozi Harrison
This panel will discuss what social media activity looks like for Black folk at a time when economic disparity, geopolitical extremism, and the ongoing pandemic loom behind every post, tweet, video, and podcast.

Day 2: Saturday, June 15, 2024

9:00 am - 10:15 am
Black Innovation with Rayvon Fouché, Aaron Dial, Ron Eglash, Michael Bennett, Aria Halliday, and Tonia Sutherland
Black folks have a tradition of being innovative in ways not understood and expected by traditional markets, dominant cultural formations, or information platforms. As the world is enamored, fascinated, enraptured, troubled, or simply confused by the potentiality of generative AI, is there a place and a role for Blackness to participate, contribute, or intervene in this next technoscientific atmospheric river? What will Black innovation and creativity look like in a world propelled by a network of AI trained on past utterances that did not see Blackness as meaningful? How can Blackness and Black innovation and creativity disrupt expected technoscientific futures?

10:30 am - 11:45 am
Digital Possibilities with Stephanie Dinkins, Hagar Masoud, Ria Rajan, Cezanne Charles, and Audrey Bennet
"Digital Possibilities" presents an intergenerational panel of arts practitioners who explore the critical role deliberate exploration and practical research play in understanding and shaping digital technologies and culture. The panel showcases the transformative power deeply engaging digital technologies can have on molding practical, aspirational, and equitable understandings of self and society. Panelists discuss how practice can leverage discovery, curiosity, out-of-the-box thinking, and leadership to mine and challenge opportunities, or the lack thereof, for beauty, potentiality, subjugation, and liberation that digital technologies often carry. The panel also engages thought about how future, present, and past technologies combined with narratives centering on underutilized, underrecognized communities can be coaxed or developed to produce technological ecosystems that produce nuanced, open, and equitably informed digital tools, platforms, and collaborators.

1:00 pm - 2:15 pm
Majority World Digital Infrastructures with Lisa Nakamura, Marisa Duarte, Ivan Chaar Lopez, Meryem Kamil, Huan He, and Jasmine Banks
Digital infrastructure shapes access, representation, and cultural politics. Indigenous, Asian and Southeast Asian, Palestinian, U.S. Mexico border, and women of color uses of digital networks are often represented as niche or marginal, sequestered in area studies, ethnic studies, and women studies, yet the U.S. and Western Europe are the numerical minority.

2:30 pm - 3:45 pm
Legibility and Community in Digital Studies with Huan He, Kevin Winstead, David Adelman, Aaron Dial, Jeff Nagy, Rianna Walcott, and Brandy Pettijohn
As junior scholars, the Digital Inquiry Speculation Collaboration Optimism (DISCO) Network postdoctoral fellows faced unique challenges negotiating the tensions of being legible for academic employment and serving digital studies projects that foster collaboration and community. This panel discusses best practices for being young career scholars in critical identity and digital studies.

We would like to thank the following co-sponsors:
- Department of Afroamerican and African Studies
- Department of American Culture
- Department of Communication and Media
- Department of English Literature and Language
- Department of Film, Television, and Media
- Department of History
- Department of History of Art
- Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies
- Science, Technology, and Society Program
- University of Michigan Initiative on Disability Studies
- Center for Racial Justice
- Science, Technology, and Public Policy
- Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs
- Spectrum Center
- Marsal Family School of Education Office of Diversity, Inclusion, Justice, and Equity
- Computer Science and Engineering
- School of Information Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing
- Institute for Research on Women & Gender

Accessibility statement: We strive to make our events accessible to all participants.
- All attendees are requested to wear well-fitting masks. Masks will be provided at the event space.
- Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART) services will be provided.
- The event space is ADA-compliant.
- Gender-neutral and accessible restrooms are available in the event space.
- A quiet space will be available.
- The event planning team has worked to mitigate potential sensory triggers, such as loud buzzing sounds or flickering lights, in the event space. Individuals with sensory sensitivities should be aware that there is a possibility of unpredictable sound or lighting changes during the event.
- All attendees are requested to refrain from using scented products, such as perfume or cologne. Unscented products (e.g., soap, hand sanitizer) will be provided at the event space.
- A digital copy of the event program will be made available at least a week prior to the event.
- For those who are unable to attend the event in-person, a livestream viewing option is available.
- More detailed information about the event space (including how to access it and how the space will be arranged) will be made available on our website.
- If there are additional ways that we can meet your access needs, please indicate this in the registration form. Please register as soon as possible as some accommodations may require advance coordination.

For all inquiries related to the DISCO Summit, please contact Cherice Chan, DISCO Network Program Coordinator, at chericec@umich.edu.

]]>
Conference / Symposium Thu, 28 Mar 2024 15:43:03 -0400 2024-06-14T09:00:00-04:00 2024-06-14T17:00:00-04:00 Weiser Hall Digital Studies Institute Conference / Symposium Orange event flier with the DISCO Summit logo (a disco ball with the quantum computing symbol) surrounded by digital icons (e.g., wifi symbol, cursor, laptop). The flier includes the event date, location, a brief description, and cosponsors.
DISCO Network DISCO Summit 2024 (June 15, 2024 9:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/117761 117761-21839984@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Saturday, June 15, 2024 9:00am
Location: Weiser Hall
Organized By: Digital Studies Institute

DISCO Network | DISCO Summit

Dates: Friday, June 14 – Saturday, June 15, 2024
Location: Weiser Hall, 10th Floor, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Modality: Hybrid (all events will be held in-person with an option for individuals to attend virtually via Zoom webinar)

Registration is required to attend the DISCO Summit.

The deadline for in-person registration is Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Due to limited space in the venue, in-person registration will close once we reach our maximum capacity. Register to attend in-person: https://myumi.ch/Pkrgg

The deadline for Zoom webinar registration is Wednesday, June 13, 2024. Register to attend via Zoom: https://myumi.ch/N61QZ

Event Description:

The DISCO Summit is a two-day interdisciplinary summer symposium about digital social inequalities in celebration of the third year of the DISCO Network. The DISCO Summit will include nine panel conversations about the past, present, and future of the intersection between digital technology, culture, race, disability, gender, sexuality, and liberation.

The DISCO Network is a collaborative, intergenerational group of scholars dedicated to envisioning a new anti-racist and anti-ableist digital future. The DISCO Network comprises six labs across five universities: the Michigan Hub at the University of Michigan Digital Studies Institute (PI: Lisa Nakamura, University of Michigan), HAT Lab (PI: Rayvon Fouché; Northwestern University), DAF Lab (PI: M. Remi Yergeau, University of Michigan), Future Histories Studio (PI: Stephanie Dinkins, Stony Brook University), PREACH Lab (André Brock, Georgia Institute of Technology), and BCaT Lab (Catherine Knight Steele, University of Maryland-College Park). The DISCO Network is supported by the Mellon Foundation.

This event is free and open to the public. The DISCO Summit provides a platform for scholars, students, artists, practitioners, activists, and community members to convene and engage in dialogue about racial inequality, histories of exclusion, disability justice, techno-ableism, and digital racial politics within the academy, the technology industry, and beyond. We especially welcome individuals whose interests lie in the intersection of the digital and identity and have found difficulties pursuing their endeavors at their home institutions.

Event Schedule:

Day 1: Friday, June 14, 2024

9:00 am - 10:15 am
Digital Optimism with Lisa Nakamura, Rayvon Fouché, Stephanie Dinkins, André Brock, Remi Yergeau, and Catherine Knight Steele
Optimism is the belief that the interval between the now and liberation is where we can act. Digital optimism is the recognition that there are elements of life that vivify and energize in the here and the now, despite and amidst the digital purgatories that we endure. Sometimes that energy is found in stillness; sometimes in refusal; and sometimes in moments of catharsis or joy. This panel will explore the concept of digital optimism as it appears in DISCO’s collaborative writing and work together.

10:30 am - 11:45 am
Digital Frictions with Remi Yergeau, David Adelman, Jeff Nagy, Aimi Hamraie, Jaipreet Virdi, and Mara Mills
In their manifesto on crip technoscience, Kelly Fritsch and Aimi Hamraie (2019) impress upon us that access production is a “frictional process,” one that requires “acknowledging that science and technology can be used to both produce and dismantle injustice.” This roundtable explores the frictional intimacies, practices, and material conditions of what it means to do the digital. In particular, panelists will consider myriad ways in which accessibility holds the potential to burn, grate, spark, and tug at new imaginings of crip futures.

1:00 pm - 2:15 pm
Digital Black Feminist Pleasure and Pain Online with Catherine Knight Steele, Rianna Walcott, Francesca Sobande, and Kishonna Gray
The experiences of Black women online serve as a harbinger of what digital culture affords and what is to come. This panel thinks through the relationship between pleasure and pain in the online lives of Black women and how Black feminist methods, epistemologies, and strategies may point us toward a better digital future for us all.

2:30 pm - 3:45 pm
Little Memes: Storying Race, Gender, and Disability in the Digital Studies Classroom with Remi Yergeau, Huan He, and Toni Bushner
How do students’ stories about themselves or others—their anecdotal relations—inform their burgeoning understandings of digital inequality and related concepts? In this session, we reflect on student interviews and instructor experiences drawn from a study of five U-M Digital Studies classes focused on race and disability.

4:00 pm - 5:15 pm
Black Digital Optimism in an Age of Despair with André Brock, Kevin Winstead, Brandy Pettijohn, Apryl Williams, and Ngozi Harrison
This panel will discuss what social media activity looks like for Black folk at a time when economic disparity, geopolitical extremism, and the ongoing pandemic loom behind every post, tweet, video, and podcast.

Day 2: Saturday, June 15, 2024

9:00 am - 10:15 am
Black Innovation with Rayvon Fouché, Aaron Dial, Ron Eglash, Michael Bennett, Aria Halliday, and Tonia Sutherland
Black folks have a tradition of being innovative in ways not understood and expected by traditional markets, dominant cultural formations, or information platforms. As the world is enamored, fascinated, enraptured, troubled, or simply confused by the potentiality of generative AI, is there a place and a role for Blackness to participate, contribute, or intervene in this next technoscientific atmospheric river? What will Black innovation and creativity look like in a world propelled by a network of AI trained on past utterances that did not see Blackness as meaningful? How can Blackness and Black innovation and creativity disrupt expected technoscientific futures?

10:30 am - 11:45 am
Digital Possibilities with Stephanie Dinkins, Hagar Masoud, Ria Rajan, Cezanne Charles, and Audrey Bennet
"Digital Possibilities" presents an intergenerational panel of arts practitioners who explore the critical role deliberate exploration and practical research play in understanding and shaping digital technologies and culture. The panel showcases the transformative power deeply engaging digital technologies can have on molding practical, aspirational, and equitable understandings of self and society. Panelists discuss how practice can leverage discovery, curiosity, out-of-the-box thinking, and leadership to mine and challenge opportunities, or the lack thereof, for beauty, potentiality, subjugation, and liberation that digital technologies often carry. The panel also engages thought about how future, present, and past technologies combined with narratives centering on underutilized, underrecognized communities can be coaxed or developed to produce technological ecosystems that produce nuanced, open, and equitably informed digital tools, platforms, and collaborators.

1:00 pm - 2:15 pm
Majority World Digital Infrastructures with Lisa Nakamura, Marisa Duarte, Ivan Chaar Lopez, Meryem Kamil, Huan He, and Jasmine Banks
Digital infrastructure shapes access, representation, and cultural politics. Indigenous, Asian and Southeast Asian, Palestinian, U.S. Mexico border, and women of color uses of digital networks are often represented as niche or marginal, sequestered in area studies, ethnic studies, and women studies, yet the U.S. and Western Europe are the numerical minority.

2:30 pm - 3:45 pm
Legibility and Community in Digital Studies with Huan He, Kevin Winstead, David Adelman, Aaron Dial, Jeff Nagy, Rianna Walcott, and Brandy Pettijohn
As junior scholars, the Digital Inquiry Speculation Collaboration Optimism (DISCO) Network postdoctoral fellows faced unique challenges negotiating the tensions of being legible for academic employment and serving digital studies projects that foster collaboration and community. This panel discusses best practices for being young career scholars in critical identity and digital studies.

We would like to thank the following co-sponsors:
- Department of Afroamerican and African Studies
- Department of American Culture
- Department of Communication and Media
- Department of English Literature and Language
- Department of Film, Television, and Media
- Department of History
- Department of History of Art
- Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies
- Science, Technology, and Society Program
- University of Michigan Initiative on Disability Studies
- Center for Racial Justice
- Science, Technology, and Public Policy
- Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs
- Spectrum Center
- Marsal Family School of Education Office of Diversity, Inclusion, Justice, and Equity
- Computer Science and Engineering
- School of Information Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing
- Institute for Research on Women & Gender

Accessibility statement: We strive to make our events accessible to all participants.
- All attendees are requested to wear well-fitting masks. Masks will be provided at the event space.
- Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART) services will be provided.
- The event space is ADA-compliant.
- Gender-neutral and accessible restrooms are available in the event space.
- A quiet space will be available.
- The event planning team has worked to mitigate potential sensory triggers, such as loud buzzing sounds or flickering lights, in the event space. Individuals with sensory sensitivities should be aware that there is a possibility of unpredictable sound or lighting changes during the event.
- All attendees are requested to refrain from using scented products, such as perfume or cologne. Unscented products (e.g., soap, hand sanitizer) will be provided at the event space.
- A digital copy of the event program will be made available at least a week prior to the event.
- For those who are unable to attend the event in-person, a livestream viewing option is available.
- More detailed information about the event space (including how to access it and how the space will be arranged) will be made available on our website.
- If there are additional ways that we can meet your access needs, please indicate this in the registration form. Please register as soon as possible as some accommodations may require advance coordination.

For all inquiries related to the DISCO Summit, please contact Cherice Chan, DISCO Network Program Coordinator, at chericec@umich.edu.

]]>
Conference / Symposium Thu, 28 Mar 2024 15:43:03 -0400 2024-06-15T09:00:00-04:00 2024-06-15T17:00:00-04:00 Weiser Hall Digital Studies Institute Conference / Symposium Orange event flier with the DISCO Summit logo (a disco ball with the quantum computing symbol) surrounded by digital icons (e.g., wifi symbol, cursor, laptop). The flier includes the event date, location, a brief description, and cosponsors.