BA Creative and Cultural Industries

Race and technology have been closely intertwined for centuries and the relationship between the two has recently come into sharper focus in what could be called a decolonial moment. While the internet – originally available only in its textual form – was first imaged as transcending the assumptions people make about others based on their race, gender or age, it soon became clear that online and offline worlds are largely inseparable. Colonial legacies continue shaping digital developments in a myriad of ways, albeit differently in different social and cultural contexts. In this course unit, students will learn about various theories of race, racism and ethnicity, and apply postcolonial and decolonial perspectives to examine persisting racial inequalities and racism in the digital world. They will also discuss the strategies that Black, Brown, Indigenous and other racialised people use to resist racial structures reproduced by digital technology and to create more inclusive, more just and safer digital technologies.
 

The unit aims to:

- Introduce students to key theories, concepts and writers in the field of race and digital technology 
- Equip students with necessary knowledge and skills to examine persisting racial inequalities and racism in the digital world from postcolonial and decolonial perspectives
- Introduce students to the strategies of survival and resistance of racialised people in the digital world 
- Support students in reflecting on their own engagement with digital media and technology from a perspective of critical race theory 
 

This unit will introduce students to the key theories of race, racism and ethnicity and will support them in exploring the questions raised in critical postcolonial and decolonial studies. Students will learn about the key concepts and historical and contemporary racial relations not only from the western perspective but also from the perspective of other cultures, and will reflect on their importance in a current globalised world.

At the same time, students will apply those concepts, theories and perspectives to the realm of digital media and technology. They will learn about the history of digital media and technology from a perspective of critical race theory and will discuss several key case studies of racial discrimination, for example, in relation to facial recognition, search engine results, skin-tone standards in digital photography as well as dating preferences and online hate speech.

Additionally, students will discuss the various ways of exercising agency by racialised people regarding digital media and technology, for example by self-organising online (e.g. #BlackLivesMatter), creating alternative digital services (e.g. OTV | Open Television, GRM Daily and Saint Heron) and challenging racism in the design of digital media and technology (e.g. by advocating removing ‘ethnicity filters’ on dating apps). 

This units consist of twelve 2.5h-long workshops during which students will work individually, in pairs and in groups to discuss core readings and further explore the topic of race and digital technology by participating in various activities such as mini-research projects, discussions of reports and news pieces, analyses of official data and creative projects.

For the first part of the assessment, reflective diaries, students will be asked to keep a diary of their social media or digital technology use for a week, with particular focus on issues related to race (be it explicit discussions about race or students’ reflections on racialised representations, practices or networks). The diaries could be kept in the form preferred by individual students (e.g. written diary entries or voice notes). Students will be asked to submit a reflexive piece about race and digital technology, referring to their own digital experiences by drawing on their diaries.

For the second part of the assessment, case studies, students will choose a particular case study related to the topic of race and digital technology (e.g. facial recognition of Black faces or Asian women’s representation in search engine results) and discuss them in-depth in a form of a critical essay. Students will be allowed to choose their own case studies.

• Define and explain the concepts of race, racism and ethnicity, and their implications in the context of digital technology A2
• Identify and debate key concepts, theories and arguments about the role of race in relation to digital media and technology A2
• Summarise key strategies of racialised people to resist racism in the digital world A2
   

• Examine persisting racial inequalities and racism in the digital world from postcolonial and decolonial perspectives B2
• Summarise and critically evaluate historical and contemporary instances of racial bias, discrimination, and inequality in digital systems, platforms, and algorithms B2
• Formulate well-reasoned arguments that address the potential for both reinforcing and challenging systemic racism through digital technologies B2

• Apply advanced digital tools and race-related critical theories to identify and analyse real-life instances of racial bias and discrimination within digital media and technology C2.1 & C2.2
• Demonstrate advanced information retrieval and communication skills on the topic of race and digital media C2.2

• Evaluate complex material as well as present and substantiate evidence-based arguments in relation to the questions of race and digital technology D2.1
• Build self-awareness and reflexivity on their own digital media and technology use, including personal biases, from a perspective of critical race theory D2.2
• Cultivate empathy and cultural sensitivity by engaging with diverse perspectives on race and its interactions with digital media and technology D2.2.
   

Students will share their reflective diary ideas with their teachers via email or during office hours and receive feedback within 15 working days or on the spot.

Students will share their choice of case studies during workshops and discuss them with peers and teachers, receiving feedback .

Summative - Online via TII in line with Faculty Policy within 15 working days.
 

Bailey, M. 2021. Misogynoir transformed: Black women’s digital resistance. New York, NY: NYU Press.

Barco del, M. 2015. How Kodak's Shirley Cards Set Photography's Skin-Tone Standard. NPR. Available at: https://www.npr.org/2014/11/13/363517842/for-decades-kodak-s-shirley-cards-set-photography-s-skin-tone-standard

Benjamin, R. 2019. Race after technology: Abolitionist tools for the New Jim Code. Cambridge: Polity.

Boston, N. (2016). Libidinal Cosmopolitanism: The case of digital sexual encounters in post-enlargement Europe. In Ponzanesi, S. & Colpani, G. (Eds.) Postcolonial Transitions in Europe: Contexts, Practices and Politics, 291-310. Rowman & Littlefield.

Brock, A. Jr 2020. Distributed Blackness: African American Cybercultures. New York, NY: NYU Press.

Brown, M., R. Ray, E. Summers, and N. Fraistat. 2017. #SayHerName: A case study of intersectional social media activism. Ethnic and Racial Studies (40)11, 1831-1846.

Camargo, M., and E. Martins. 2020. Fluid territories: Intersectional subjectivities through hereditary and digital spaces. In Queer sites in global contexts: Technologies, spaces, and otherness. Edited by R. Ramos and S. Mowlabocus, 66-81. London, UK: Routledge.

Christian, A. J. (2018). Open TV: Innovation beyond Hollywood and the rise of web television (Vol. 20). NYU Press.

Daniels, J. (2013). Race and racism in Internet studies: A review and critique. New Media & Society, 15(5), 695-719.

El-Tayeb, F. (2011). European Others: Queering Ethnicity in Postnational Europe. University of Minnesota Press.

Eshun, K. (2018). More Brilliant than the Sun: Adventures in Sonic Fiction. Verso.

Jackson, S. J. (2021). Making #BlackLivesMatter in the shadow of Selma: Collective memory and racial justice activism in US news. Communication, Culture and Critique, 14(3), 385-404.

Lopez, L. K. (2022). Race and Digital Media: An Introduction. John Wiley & Sons.

McIlwain, C. D. (2019). Black software: The Internet and racial justice, from the AfroNet to Black Lives Matter. Oxford University Press, USA.

Mowlabocus, S. 2020. A Kindr Grindr: Moderating race (ism) in techno-spaces of desire. In Ramos, R. & Mowlabocus, S., (Eds.) Queer Sites in Global Contexts: Technologies, Spaces, and Otherness, 33-47. Routledge.

Nakamura, L. 2013. Cybertypes: Race, ethnicity, and identity on the Internet. Routledge.

Nakamura, L., & Chow-White, P. (Eds.). 2013. Race after the Internet. Routledge.

Scheduled activity hours Practical classes & workshops 30

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