Five College Event: New Media in Feminist Scholarship, Teaching, and Activism

Where: 

The FCWSRC, 83 College Street, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley

Perfectly Transparent: Will the Promise of a "Perfect" World Render Us the Vessels for Surveillance?
Salome Kahiu's presentation looks at the fundamental change in human sovereignty that is assumed to be a main characteristic of the perceived Transhuman future. It explores the idea that technology is using us as agents through which a new Transhuman society will be birthed. In dissecting the inevitable technological evolution, Salome will look at the cultural and social ethics surrounding this aspect of futurism. Does the creation of a "perfect" society advocate for eugenics or dysgenics? The talk will discuss ways through which this agency has consequently rendered us transparent and open for surveillance and monitoring. 

Fan Video and the Queerness of Media Convergence
Julie Russo's  presentation takes the production of pop culture remixes within female fan communities as one example of the stakes of new media's transformations. Today, those of us who are Internet users are also media creators, and Russo argues that we need new conceptions of labor to understand our negotiations with centralized commercial websites that profit from the data we contribute. Focusing on YouTube as a problematic platform for fan videos, her lecture explores the implications of "user-generated content" for the queer modes and messages within participatory culture.