What concepts, ideas and examples from this text contribute to the theory and practice of archive ethnography?
In particular, I like the quote Rizzo uses, citing scholar Kim Gallon, that “the black digital humanities help to “unmask the racialized systems of power at work in how we understand the digital humanities as a field” (p. 1). It made me think of the ways this approach could be applied to archive ethnography. For example, one of the assigned readings for the course is a book by Safiya Noble titled Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. As such works demonstrate, we must question how the operation of digital tools like search engines may be informed by or reproduce racist structures that influence knowledge production. Similar to the Mauthner & Gardos (2015)’s piece, not only are data curation practices in need of questioning when it comes to archives, but the digital tools we use and create as researchers as well.
What is the main argument, narrative, or e/affect?
The document is a syllabus for an Introduction to Black Digital Humanities course. The course introduces students to this emerging field in Digital Public Humanities, which serves to “unmask the racialized systems of power at work in how we understand the digital humanities as a field” (Rizzo citing Gallon, p. 1). Through participating in regular lab sessions, students will develop digital technology skills such as using mapping software, blogging, social media, and digital archiving to apply theories of Black Digital Humanities to their projects.