globaloutlookdh-l November 2020

globaloutlookdh-l@uleth.ca

5 participants
5 discussions

Call for Nominations
by Yeku, James Tunde 29 Dec '20

29 Dec '20

Caution: This email was sent from someone outside of the University of Lethbridge. Do not click on links or open attachments unless you know they are safe. Suspicious emails should be forwarded to phishing(a)uleth.ca. Dear Colleagues, Several members of the GO::DH Executive Committee, who have graciously provided years of excellent service on the committee, are now moving on to other services elsewhere, even as they remain committed and supportive members of the organization. With their term now ended or coming to an end, we are now seeking at least four nominees for election and/or acclamation to the Committee. This will be for a two-year term of service beginning immediately after the election, from January 1st, 2021–December 31, 2022. All voting positions on the Committee are for two-year terms that can be renewed three times. We begin with a nomination period, which will close Tuesday, December 8 at midnight in all time zones, followed by a two-week elections period. The election will be held by electronic ballot open to all subscribers to the GO::DH mailing list. While the work of the GO::DH Executive Committee is not heavy, it is important to our community and the support of an approach to DH that recognizes, supports, and encourages linguistic, regional, and other forms of diversity. This year, GO::DH has launched a series of articles with translations in Digital Studies/ Le champ numérique, co-sponsored an African Digital storytelling Symposium at the University of Kansas, and prepared a new version of our website which will launch soon. We are about to submit our application to ADHO to move from a Special Interest Group to full organizational member, which will open up new opportunities for collaboration with other Constituent Organizations. We welcome your ideas and enthusiasm for other initiatives GO::DH can undertake! Please consider nominating yourself (self-nominations are common and welcome) or somebody else in our community by emailing James Yeku at jyeku(a)ku.edu<mailto:jyeku@ku.edu>. All who wish to put their names forward will be warmly welcomed as candidates. Again, the deadline for nominations is Tuesday, December 8. In your email, please include the following information: · The name of the nominee · Preferred email address of the nominee (if you are nominating somebody other than yourself, please be sure to cc your nominee on the email so that we know they are willing to stand and that we know we have a working email address for them) · An optional brief candidate statement (<250 words). This can be anything you wish: a bio; an explanation of your aims for the position; political planks. This statement will be published to the GO::DH website. Sincerely, James Dr. James Yeku http://africandh.ku.edu/ https://digitalnollywood.ku.edu/ Assistant Professor of African Digital Humanities AAAS, University of Kansas Bailey Hall, Rm. 12E 1440 Jayhawk Boulevard Lawrence KS 66045, USA

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Reminder: Global Digital Humanities Symposium 2021 - Call for Proposals Open (closes Dec 1)
by Mapes, Kristen 25 Nov '20

25 Nov '20

Caution: This email was sent from someone outside of the University of Lethbridge. Do not click on links or open attachments unless you know they are safe. Suspicious emails should be forwarded to phishing(a)uleth.ca. Dear colleagues, A quick reminder that CFP for the 6th annual Global Digital Humanities Symposium, scheduled for April 12-15, 2021, is open. This virtual event will take place synchronously over four days, with approximately three hours each day of programming. The Call for Proposals is available in English, French, and Spanish (links below), and proposals and presentations are welcome in any of these three languages. During the Symposium, we will support live interpretation of presentations in these languages. Live captions will also be provided for presentations given in English. Further details about this foray in supporting multilingualism at the Symposium are available in the CFP. Deadline to apply: Tuesday, December 1, 2020, midnight in your timezone Full CFP - English - https://msuglobaldh.org/call-for-proposals-english Full CFP - Espagnol - https://msuglobaldh.org/call-for-proposals-espagnol Full CFP - Français - https://msuglobaldh.org/call-for-proposals-francais This year we especially anticipate and welcome presentations on the following topics: * Global DH during a global pandemic * Surveillance, censorship, and/or data privacy in a global context * DH as socially engaged humanities and/or as a social movement * Equity in digital access * DH as a tool of political empowerment We are always interested to hear about the following topics: * Productive failure; failure as a part of DH praxis * Critical cultural studies and analytics * Cultural heritage in a range of contexts, particularly non-Western * Open data, open access, and data preservation as resistance, especially in a postcolonial context * How identity categories, and their intersections, shape digital humanities work * Digital humanities, the environment, and climate change * Global research dialogues and collaborations within the digital humanities community * Global digital pedagogies * Indigeneity – anywhere in the world – and the digital * Digital humanities, postcolonialism, and neocolonialism * Borders, migration, and/or diaspora and their connection to the digital * Digital and global languages and literatures * Innovative and emergent technologies across institutions, languages, and economies * Scholarly communication and knowledge production in a global context Presentation formats: * 5-minute lightning talk (300 word proposal) * 15-minute presentation (300 word proposal) * 90-minute panel (100 word proposal describing the panel as a whole, plus 100 word description for each presentation within the panel) * Project showcase (300 word proposal) * There will be a session similar to a poster presentation fair, in which presenters will share their work with small groups or individuals. Rather than a set presentation length, this project showcase will enable one-on-one feedback and ask presenters to share about their work in a more conversational and extemporaneous way. Free registration for the Symposium will open in early February 2021. Find out more, including information about past Symposia at http://msuglobaldh.org. Sincerely, Kristen Mapes, on behalf of the Symposium Planning Committee Kristen Mapes Assistant Director of Digital Humanities, College of Arts & Letters Michigan State University 479 West Circle Drive, Linton Hall 308 East Lansing MI 48824 517-884-1712 kmapes(a)msu.edu

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Open letter on digital platforms and the future of education
by Domenico Fiormonte 14 Nov '20

14 Nov '20

Caution: This email was sent from someone outside of the University of Lethbridge. Do not click on links or open attachments unless you know they are safe. Suspicious emails should be forwarded to phishing(a)uleth.ca. Dear friends, I've been bothering you with this issue -- GAFAM & us -- for a long time. The pandemic made everything worse, and the situation is now almost completely out of control, i.e. GAFAM tools (let alone other spooky softwares like Respondus) colonizing and distorting many educational contexts, North and South of the globe. I don't know if we can stop this process at this point, but as a digital humanists I think we should take a stand. We cannot remail silent while platforms are occupying our universities and schools. The risks are too high. We've written an open letter to studentes and colleagues which has been translated in several languages (but not posted online yet). In EU the objective would be for each of us to reach their respective Privacy Authority, and try to use the GDPR as a "trojan horse" for starting to undermine GAFAM's hegemony. But I'll consider it a success if we'll be able at least to start a discussion on these serious issues. Please help us to circulate the letter. (Would it be possible to publish it on http://www.globaloutlookdh.org/?) Thanks Domenico ----------------------------------------- Why basing universities on digital platforms will lead to their demise Published originally in Italian on 10 November 2020 (https://infolet.it/2020/11/10/perche-luniversita-delle-piattaforme-e-la-fin…) (All links removed. They can be found in the original post - English Translation by Desmond Schmidt) A group of professors from Italian universities have written an open letter on the consequences of using proprietary digital platforms in distance learning. They hope that a discussion on the future of education will begin as soon as possible and that the investments discussed in recent weeks will be used to create a public digital infrastructure for schools and universities. -------------------- Dear colleagues and students, as you already know, since the COVID-19 emergency began, Italian schools and universities have relied on proprietary platforms and tools for distance learning (including exams), which are mostly produced by the "GAFAM" group of companies (Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon). There are a few exceptions, such as the Politecnico di Torino, which has adopted instead its own custom-built solutions. However, on July 16, 2020 the European Court of Justice issued a very important ruling, which essentially says that US companies do not guarantee user privacy in accordance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). As a result, all data transfers from the EU to the United States must be regarded as non-compliant with this regulation, and are therefore illegal. A debate on this issue is currently underway in the EU, and the European Authority has explicitly invited "institutions, offices, agencies and organizations of the European Union to avoid transfers of personal data to the United States for new procedures or when securing new contracts with service providers." In fact the Irish Authority has explicitly banned the transfer of Facebook user data to the United States. Finally, some studies underline how the majority of commercial platforms used during the "educational emergency" (primarily G-Suite) pose serious legal problems and represent a "systematic violation of the principles of transparency." In this difficult situation, various organizations, including (as stated below) some university professors, are trying to help Italian schools and universities comply with the ruling. They do so in the interests not only of the institutions themselves, but also of teachers and students, who have the right to study, teach and discuss without being surveilled, profiled and catalogued. The inherent risks in outsourcing teaching to multinational companies, who can do as they please with our data, are not only cultural or economic, but also legal: anyone, in this situation, could complain to the privacy authority to the detriment of the institution for which they are working. However, the question goes beyond our own right, or that of our students, to privacy. In the renewed COVID emergency we know that there are enormous economic interests at stake, and the digital platforms, which in recent months have increased their turnover (see the study published in October by Mediobanca), now have the the power to shape the future of education around the world. An example is what is happening in Italian schools with the national "Smart Class" project, financed with EU funds by the Ministry of Education. This is a package of "integrated teaching" where Pearson contributes the contents of all subjects, Google provides the software, and the hardware is the Acer Chromebook. (Incidentally, Pearson is the second largest publisher in the world, with a turnover of more than 4.5 billion euros in 2018.) And for the schools that join, it is not possible to buy other products. Finally, although it may seem like science fiction, in addition to stabilizing proprietary distance learning as an "offer", there is already talk of using artificial intelligence to "support" teachers in their work (https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/06/08/artificial-intell…). For all these reasons, a group of professors from various Italian universities decided to take action. Our initiative is not currently aimed at presenting an immediate complaint to the data protection officer, but at avoiding it, by allowing teachers and students to create spaces for discussion and encourage them to make choices that combine their freedom of teaching with their right to study. Only if the institutional response is insufficient or absent, we will register, as a last resort, a complaint to the national privacy authority. In this case the first step will be to exploit the "flaw" opened by the EU court ruling to push the Italian privacy authority to intervene (indeed, the former President, Antonello Soro, had already done so, but received no response). The purpose of these actions is certainly not to "block" the platforms that provide distance learning and those who use them, but to push the government to finally invest in the creation of a public infrastructure based on free software for scientific communication and teaching (on the model of what is proposed here and which is already a reality for example in France, Spain and other European countries). As we said above, before appealing to the national authority, a preliminary stage is necessary. Everyone must write to the data protection officer (DPO) requesting some information (attached here is the facsimile of the form for teachers we have prepared). If no response is received within thirty days, or if the response is considered unsatisfactory, we can proceed with the complaint to the national authority. At that point, the conversation will change, because the complaint to the national authority can be made not only by individuals, but also by groups or associations. It is important to emphasize that, even in this avoidable scenario, the question to the data controller is not necessarily a "protest" against the institution, but an attempt to turn it into a better working and study environment for everyone, conforming to European standards.

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ADHO RFP: Consultant on Structural Racism
by Hannah Jacobs 09 Nov '20

09 Nov '20

Caution: This email was sent from someone outside of the University of Lethbridge. Do not click on links or open attachments unless you know they are safe. Suspicious emails should be forwarded to phishing(a)uleth.ca. **Please share.** Request for Proposals: Consultant on Structural Racism https://adho.org/rfp-consultant-structural-racism The Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO) promotes and supports digital research and teaching across arts and humanities disciplines. In doing so, it draws together humanists engaged in digital and computer-assisted research, teaching, creation, dissemination, and beyond, in all areas reflected by its diverse membership. In June 2020, ADHO publicly stated<https://adho.org/blm-structuralracism-establishmentviolence> that Black Lives Matter and that we stand in solidarity with people around the world protesting against structural racism and other forms of oppression and discrimination. ADHO recognizes that as an organisation we have work to do in our own digital humanities communities in order to become a fully anti-racist and non-discriminatory organization. As part of this statement, ADHO is committed to conducting a systematic review of its policies and organizational culture by engaging a paid external consultant with past experience and expertise in addressing systemic racism within organizations. ADHO will make the results of this review public and will commit to taking action based on the review. With this request for proposals, ADHO invites individuals and organisations to provide a proposal for the following scope of work while adhering to the listed minimum requirements. Proposals will be accepted from any part of the world. The working language will be English. Scope of Work * Conduct a systematic review of ADHO’s structures as they relate to how it * creates and sustains its policies and organizational culture; * conducts its governance and chooses its leadership; * organizes and conducts events, such as the annual ADHO conference; * engages with publications. The review should be conducted within the scope of ADHO’s Statement on Black Lives Matter, Structural Racism, and Establishment Violence<https://adho.org/blm-structuralracism-establishmentviolence>. Requirements applicants must adhere to: * They must not be a member of one of ADHO’s Constituent or Associate Organisations. * They must be able to demonstrate experience and expertise in conducting external reviews aimed at addressing structural racism within the context of academic organisational cultures and policies. * They must also show how their code of conduct and/or professional principles align with the context provided in the statement. * They must submit a proposal of no more than 4 pages for how the scope of work would be approached, including: * an overview of how they meet the requirements; * a proposed timeline for conducting the systematic review; * a daily or per-project rate for conducting the consultancy; * a brief description of the review’s output (e.g. documentation, recommendations). Submission deadline Submit a proposal by 30 November 2020 23:59 UTC to secretary(a)adho.org<mailto:secretary@adho.org>. Selection and appointment process Proposals received will be initially reviewed by ADHO’s Executive Board (EB) to ensure that the above requirements are met. The complete list of proposals received will be presented to ADHO’s Constituent Organization Board (COB) for final selection and ratification. Questions or clarifications regarding this request for proposals are encouraged and may be addressed to adho(a)adho.org<mailto:adho@adho.org> or to secretary(a)adho.org<mailto:secretary@adho.org>. We aim to respond to all applicants by 31 December 2020. ADHO reserves the right not to make an appointment. --- Hannah L. Jacobs Communications Officer, Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations<https://adho.org/>

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Webinar: “Zooming” In and Out to Examine the “Virus”
by Natalia Grincheva 01 Nov '20

01 Nov '20

Caution: This email was sent from someone outside of the University of Lethbridge. Do not click on links or open attachments unless you know they are safe. Suspicious emails should be forwarded to phishing(a)uleth.ca. *** With apologies for x-posting*** You are welcome to attend the following webinar: Webinar: “Zooming” In and Out to Examine the “Virus” Professor Jodie McVernon and Professor Sean Cubitt ( The University of Melbourne What new meanings of words such as zoom and virus did the Convid-19 outbreak instigate? How did we move from ‘Google it’ to ‘Let’s Zoom’, and what are the economic and political implications of platform-imperialism in the time of the 24/7 digital communication? What are the real and potential powers of online and biological viruses to disrupt, challenge, improve or destroy human life? The final webinar will facilitate a cross-disciplinary conversation between researchers at the University of Melbourne to share insights on the role of digital technologies in the current pandemic with its consequences for moral, social and physical being. Register here: https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/research/digital-studio/programs/seminar-series… Date & time: November 6, 2020 London (Greenwich Mean Time +2): 7:00 AM Melbourne (Australian Eastern Standard Time): 4:00 PM This is a last webinar of the fall series: Redefining Digital Keywords >From Digital Archaisms to (Post)Pandemic Neologisms (Digital Studio, the University of Melbourne) If you missed any of the previous webinars you are welcome watch the recordings on the Digital Studio website. The Death of the “Analogue” and Re-birth of the “Surrogate” A/Professor Jeffrey Drouin and Professor Jonathan Sterne Will Covid-19 lockdown finally abandon the analogue age? Will digital surrogate become mainstream in the near future? With the comprehensive digitization of communications across various spheres of human life from entertainment to education, from work to healthcare, the webinar will discuss what these words mean in pandemic time. Watch a recording here: https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/research/digital-studio/programs/seminar-series… “Internet” and “Hackers”: New Threats and Opportunities Professor Gabriella Coleman and Professor Thomas Streeter Has Covid-19 transformed how we will live in the Internet in our digital future? What are the democratic promises of hacktivism and the security dangers of hacker cybercrimes? This webinar will explore the social, ethical and political implications of the new technology-society relationships in the (post)pandemic times of this free-wheeling horizon of and expanded cyberspace. Watch a recording here: https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/research/digital-studio/programs/seminar-series… “Events” in the Post-“Information” Age A/Professor Julia Sonnevend and Dr. Bernard Geoghegan Will the word information acquire new meanings under the pressure of technological transformations caused by the Covid-19 digital lockdown? How will people understand, define and experience major or minor events when they are limited to virtual encounters, online meetings and social media catch-ups? The webinar will interrogate old meanings and explore emerging connotations of what becomes information and whither the nature of an event in the seamless enfolding of the two in the online world. Watch a recording here: https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/research/digital-studio/programs/seminar-series… “Geeking” and “Prototyping” the “New Normal” A/Professor Christina Dunbar-Hester and Professor Fred Turner Could we imagine and prototype human life in the post-pandemic world? Will geeks rule in the emerging social conditions of the new normal, or will they simply become extinct in the digital mainstreaming of daily life? The webinar will tackle the question of human typologies in new social formations and online networks. Watch a recording here: https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/research/digital-studio/programs/seminar-series… “Sharing” and “Gaming” in the Post-pandemic World Dr. Nicholas A. John and Professor Saugata Bhaduri How do we share online versus offline and what games can we play when limited within digital reality? What are the consequences on our health and well-being of non-stop digital sharing of our lives and emotions? And is it possible to transfer sport matches, games, and even such world sport mega-events as the Olympics into the digital world? The webinar will aim to answer these questions in conversation with Dr Nicholas A. John and Professor Saugata Bhaduri. Watch a recording here: https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/research/digital-studio/programs/seminar-series…

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globaloutlookdh-l November 2020