Seminar Directors

Stephen Boatright
CUNY Graduate Center

Erin Siodmak
CUNY Graduate Center

Patricia Clough
CUNY Graduate Center

Seminar Description

Information and communication technologies are consuming ever-increasing percentages of higher education budgets, with university administrations turning to electronic resources as a way to cut spending. How can some of this profligate expenditure be repurposed pedagogically to further critical, socio-cultural thought and analysis of technology by students and instructors? Instead of a reactive Ludditism or blind techno-fetish, how can we harness the force of techno-neoliberalism? Doing so requires proactive engagement with both university technologies and those that we and our students possess. To better understand and assess issues arising from the increased presence of technologies in the university, the political, social, and educational implications of new technologies must be addressed. In what ways can these technologies be examined and employed in college-level teaching?

Practically, this seminar is designed to encourage and foster exchange of tech-to and knowledges regarding proprietary software and institutional platforms, such as Blackboard, as well as open-source and wiki-based applications. Social media, too, offer a platform for increased communication, sharing, and theoretical inquiry into the nature of knowledge acquisition, memory, and subjectivity. However, in seeking to utilize personal technologies such as smartphones, one must be careful not to assume their ubiquity. We must ask: what limitations exist regarding students’ experience with and access to such commodities, including knowledge of wikis, home computers, and even the Internet itself? What would it mean to devote substantial class time to teaching basic tech skills in the limited (and shrinking) number of courses offered in cultural studies? How might we construct a syllabus around or based on the incorporation of new technologies? Theoretically and philosophically, this seminar seeks to raise such questions, concerns, and possibilities to advance an intellectual conversation around a pedagogical approach to technology.

In preparation for the seminar, we ask that participants look into and familiarize themselves with the technology offerings at their home or teaching universities. A short list of readings will be circulated six weeks in advance of the seminar and will address critical pedagogy, technology, and various examples of realized and potential uses of new technologies in higher education.

The goal of the seminar is to have a conversation around these topics and issues, and for those interested to continue working beyond the conference. Also, we hope to create a pedagogical model for incorporating and addressing new technologies and further to collaborate on the production of a wiki for syllabi, teaching activities, etc as a resource for interested teachers and scholars.

Application Process

Please send a short statement of interest (max 250-word) to Stephen Boatright, Erin Siodmak, and Patricia Clough indicating why you would like to participate, what your expectations are, and what you hope to contribute. Include your name, affiliation, and research interests in the application. Open to scholars of all levels.