Course info

The political-economic, cultural, and environmental impacts of digital media on a global scale require theoretical and methodological inquiries that extend beyond Western-centric perspectives and settings. Building on the scholarly literature that bridges decolonial and media studies, it is possible to trace how colonial structures and relations are reproduced or undone via digital media. One point of entry will be the idea of digital colonialism, which highlights the continuation of colonialism by other means. For instance, data science involves racialized biases incorporated into the functioning of predictive algorithms. Or the extraction of natural resources and human labor underlying digital media relies on social hierarchies predicated on geopolitics, race, and gender. Yet, the distributed agency over networked media can introduce new sites and acts of resistance and commoning. The seminar will engage critical studies of science and technology, infrastructure, and surveillance/platform capitalism. It will also tackle the overlaps between decolonial studies and critical race, feminist, and queer theory through digital culture and arts. There will be occasions for students to develop globally and historically situated perspectives within their own research practice.