Professional Pathways in Black DH

Black Digital Humanities (DH) is a term that describes the use of various digital tools to research the lived experiences and cultures of people of African descent. These digital tools can include digital mapping, XR technologies (e.g., virtual reality, augmented reality), artificial intelligence (AI), and other emerging technologies. While these tools are increasingly available at universities, many faculty, graduate students, independent researchers, and activist/community advocates are still working to understand whether or not these tools are of value to their work. This day-long virtual workshop will bring together a small handful of speakers who have experience in building Black DH projects, organizing DH centers, using DH to advocate for their communities, and incorporating DH into their teaching and research about Black people. Not only will they share about their research and career trajectories, but they will also answer specific, individual questions in a  small group chat format. As a bonus, we will also be shipping treats to all attendees from Trade Street Jam Co., a Black-owned business that specializes in specialty jams and sauces. A demo session using some of the included products will be provided during the break.
 

       Speakers

• Dr. Bryan Carter is an Associate Professor in Africana Studies at the University of Arizona specializing in African American literature of the 20th Century with a primary focus on the Harlem Renaissance and a secondary emphasis on digital culture. He is the creator of Virtual Harlem,  and director of the University of Arizona's Center for Digital Humanities. 
   
• Dr. Derek Ham is the department head of Art + Design, an Associate Professor of Graphic Design, and an Affiliated Assistant Research Professor of Architecture at North Carolina State University. He is the creator of the I Am A Man virtual reality experience. 
   
• Dr. Jaimee Swift is the founder, creator & executive director of the Black Women Radicals advocacy organization. Its database "historizes and visualizes Black women’s radical political activism in Africa and in the African Diaspora in efforts to build academic, political, and community engagement, dialogue, knowledge production, research, and education about Black women’s significant legacies as socio-political agents of radical change." Her dissertation, “Toward A Queer Amefricanidade: State, Structural, and Symbolic Violence and Afro-Brazilian LGBT Women's Resistance in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil” examines Afro-Brazilian queer and transgender women's historical and contemporary political struggles against multiform state and quotidian violence since Brazil's democratic transition from military dictatorship from the 1980s to present day.
   
• Dr. Schuyler Esprit is the Founder and Director of Create Caribbean Inc., the first digital humanities  academic center in the English-speaking Caribbean. It provides academic research support, courses, internships and consultancy services to faculty, students, scholars, public and private sector institutions, and community organizations. Their emphasis is on using digital technologies to conduct and display research responds to the growing ICT-focused culture in the Caribbean.
   

• Dr. Clayton Colmon is the Associate Director of Instructional Design for Penn Arts & Sciences Online Learning.His work lives at the intersection of race, gender, sexuality, science fiction, and digital studies, as he examines technology’s impact on community-building efforts for Black folks and other minoritized groups in digital environments. He has presented and published scholarship on Black speculative futures in literature, music, and critical digital pedagogy. Clay believes that interdependent, lifelong, learning is integral to any sustainable social system. As such, he supports efforts to design spaces for pluralistic, justice-driven, pedagogies that can help us all get and stay free. In addition to his instructional design and curriculum development work at the University of Pennsylvania, he teaches courses on digital strategies and culture. He also teaches courses on Black speculative futures and design justice at Claremont Graduate University.
   

       Itinerary

• 11:00 - 11:15am - Introduction
• 11:15am - 1:15pm - Presentations
• 1:15pm - 2:45pm - Break-Out Discussions
• 2:45pm - 3:15 - Break Time
• 3:15 - 4:15pm - Moderated Recap Panel
• 4:15 - 4:30pm - Closing Remarks

       Attendees will receive swag consisting of:

• 1 Signature trio gift set
• 1 hot sauce
• 1 spoon
• 1 mocktail elixir