Agenda
Overview
Broadly, the class is divided into three phases:
Weeks 1, 10: Intro & Outro, breadth of topics
Deep dives into three different Critical Lenses
Weeks 2-3: Participatory Design
Weeks 5-6: Feminism and Intersectionality
Weeks 8-9: Disability & Ableism
Weeks 4, 7: Design and Critique of Interventions
We will explore how different "lenses" can be used to extract different insights, actions, and interventions from the "same" social context—we will call these "focuses". We will have one "class focus", which will serve as our running example as we explore different analyses together. In addition, the class will divide into three subgroups, with each group choosing a different focus area. Your subgroup will be consistent throughout the whole course, and will enable deeper, small-group discussions on your area of focus.
Spring 2023 Planned Focus Areas
Instructor/Class Running-Example
Public Transit
Sub-Group Focuses
Communities (esp. Students) in Higher Education [Pannuto]
Building workers' agency and power [Tandon]
Digital Communities and Social Media [Smart]
Class Schedule
Note: This is a new course, and is still experimental.
This syllabus is subject to change as-needed, and we ask that you are forgiving of any rough edges.
Week 1 — Introduction
Tue, 4/4
Pre-class:
(none)
Course Introduction
Social Science Primer
Intro of our focus areas?
Critical Lens Analysis
Logistics
Thr, 4/6
Pre-class:
Based on Tuesday's activity and your own follow-on reading and work, come with at least two questions you would be interested in asking our panelists.
Speaker Slides if Available?
Expert Panelists
Kathryne (Kate) Metcalf, PhD Candidate in Communication and Science and Technology Studies (STS)
How data infrastructure shapes the production of knowledge, particularly in biomedical research.
Stuart Geiger, Asst. Prof. in Communication and Data Science, UC San Diego
(Decentralized) socio-technical systems of technology and knowledge production.
Keolu Fox, Asst. Prof. in Anthropology & co-founder of the Indigenous Futures Institute, UC San Diego
Genome Sciences and their application to human genetics, biomedicine, ancient genomics, and Indigenous data sovereignty.
Nadia Nadesan, Research and Design, Platoniq
UX Designer working on critical race theory, intersectionality, and participatory design.
Week 2,3 — Lens 1: Participatory Design
[Lecture]
Introduction to Participatory Design
What is PD?
History of study in this space
Example Applications
Retrospective Example
Current Example
Example Interventions
[Interactive Activity]
Problem brainstorming related to focus areas.
Due Today (4/11):
Introductory Readings (assigned 4/4)
Panel Reflections (assigned 4/6)
Assigned:
Costanza-Chock, S. (n.d.). Design Practices: "Nothing about Us without Us". https://designjustice.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/cfohnud7/release/4 (read by 4/13)
Nothing to turn in—just be sure to update your Annotated Bibliography.
Thr, 4/13
Pre-class:
Print hardcopy of reading for class.
Bring writing untensils to class.
All Subgroups:
Tuesday's reading assignment (Constanza-Chock).
Digital Comm [4140 CSE]:
Seguin, Joshua Paolo, et al. "Co-designing Digital Platforms for Volunteer-led Migrant Community Welfare Support." Designing Interactive Systems Conference. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1145/3532106.3533544
Worker Agency [2217 CSE]:
Christina Harrington, Sheena Erete, and Anne Marie Piper. 2019. Deconstructing Community-Based Collaborative Design: Towards More Equitable Participatory Design Engagements. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 3, CSCW: 216:1-216:25. https://doi.org/10.1145/3359318
Higher Ed [3217 CSE]:
Vivienne Farrell, Graham Farrell, Kon Mouzakis, Chris Pilgrim, and Pauline Byrt. 2006. PICTIOL: a case study in participatory design. In Proceedings of the 18th Australia conference on Computer-Human Interaction: Design: Activities, Artefacts and Environments (OZCHI '06). https://doi.org/10.1145/1228175.1228209
Subgroup Day
Separate sessions for each focus area
Discussion of Assigned Reading
Interactive, Guided Reading
Staff-led reading of paper / article / chapter.
Emphasis on how to read this type of work, and how to balance breadth and depth in introduction to a new scientific area.
Due Today (4/13):
Costanza-Chock, S. (n.d.). Design Practices: "Nothing about Us without Us". https://designjustice.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/cfohnud7/release/4 (assigned 4/11)
Assigned:
Lens Deep Read (due 4/18)
Initial Intervention Proposal (due 4/27)
Lens Deep Read Assignments:
Digital Platforms and PD:
Hess et al. 2008. Community driven development as participation?: involving user communities in a software design process. https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.5555/1795234.1795240
Doing PD with communities:
Beck, Eevi E. P for Political: Participation Is Not Enough. 2002, p. 17. https://aisel.aisnet.org/sjis/vol14/iss1/1/?utm_source=aisel.aisnet.org%2Fsjis%2Fvol14%2Fiss1%2F1&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages
PD in Higher Ed [two short papers]:
Julian Brinkley. 2020. Participation at What Cost? Teaching Accessibility Using Participatory Design: An Experience Report. In Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE '20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 114–120. https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366931
Julian Brinkley, Earl W. Huff, and Kwajo Boateng. 2021. Tough but Effective: Exploring the use of Remote Participatory Design in an Inclusive Design Course Through Student Reflections. In Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE '21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 170–176. https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3432527
Tue, 4/18
Pre-class:
Print hardcopy of reading for class.
Bring writing untensils to class.
Bring at least one discussion topic / question / etc
(none)
Subgroup Day
Separate sessions for each focus area
Guided Discussion
Critical discussion of reading
Panel Preparation
20m Presentation / Group [~10m / paper]. Include paper summary, key ideas, and insights from subgroup discussions of papers.
Whole subgroup prepares presentation, two members elected to present [different each time]
Non-presenters should have questions prepared for other sub-groups.
Due Today (4/18):
Lens Deep Read (assigned 4/13)
Assigned:
Lens Panel Prep (due 4/20)
Project group formation (due 4/23)
Thr, 4/20
Pre-class:
(none)
Links to class panel slides
In-Class Panels
3x Panels on intersection of lens and focus
Open Discussion
Group Formation and Project Brainstorming Time
Supplemental readings (Optional):
[13 Pgs] Finn Kensing and Joan Greenbaum. 2012. Heritage: Having a say. Routledge International Handbook of Participatory Design. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203108543
Eevi E. Beck. 2002. "P for Political: Participation is Not Enough," Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems: Vol. 14: Iss. 1, Article 1.
Merijke Coenraad, Jen Palmer, Donna Eatinger, David Weintrop, Diana Franklin, Using participatory design to integrate stakeholder voices in the creation of a culturally relevant computing curriculum, International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, Volume 31, 2022,100353, ISSN 2212-8689, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcci.2021.100353.
PD applied to the design of curriculum for middle- and high-school demographics. Good starting point for modern research in representation in pedagogy.
Jerry B. Weinberg and Mary L. Stephen. 2002. Participatory design in a human-computer interaction course: teaching ethnography methods to computer scientists. SIGCSE Bull. 34, 1 (March 2002), 237–241. https://doi.org/10.1145/563517.563431
Seale, J. (2010), Doing student voice work in higher education: An exploration of the value of participatory methods. British Educational Research Journal, 36: 995-1015. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920903342038. [ucsd access]
Smith, Adrian. 2014. The Lucas Plan: What can it tell us about democratising technology today?
Design Justice Zine, Issue #1: Principles for Design Justice
Week 4 — Project Preparation Workshops
Intervention Design, Considerations, and Impact
Lecture:
Concrete examples (and analysis) of prior interventions
Intervention design philosophy
Activities:
Stakeholder mapping for problems.
Due Today (4/25):
(none)
Assigned:
(none)
Thr, 4/27
Pre-class:
(none)
(none)
Intervention Design Workshop
Lighting round of proposal presentations and critiques
Open-ended workshop day for project design
Due Today (4/27):
Lens Reflection (assigned 4/20)
Initial Intervention Proposal (assigned 4/13)
Assigned:
Revised Project Proposal (due 5/7)
Stakeholder Outreach and synthesis (due 5/30)
Weeks 5,6 — Lens 2: Feminism
Introduction to Feminism
What is Feminism actually?
History of study in this space
Modern understanding
Example Applications
Retrospective Example
Current Example
Example Interventions
Introducing Intersectionality
From informal to formal understanding
Due Today (5/2):
(none)
Assigned:
Catherine D'Ignazio & Lauren Klein. The Power Chapter. Data Feminism. (due 5/4)
Thr, 5/4
Pre-class:
Print hardcopy of reading for class.
Bring writing untensils to class.
Digital Communities
Fiesler, Casey, Shannon Morrison, and Amy S. Bruckman. "An archive of their own: A case study of feminist HCI and values in design." CHI 2016. https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858409
Workers' Agency & Power
Gordon "Globalism and the prison industrial complex: an interview with Angela Davis." https://doi.org/10.1177/030639689904000210
Higher Ed
Charleston, L. J., George, P. L., Jackson, J. F. L., Berhanu, J., & Amechi, M. H. (2014). Navigating underrepresented STEM spaces: Experiences of Black women in U.S. computing science higher education programs who actualize success. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 7(3), 166–176. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036632
Subgroup Day
Separate sessions for each focus area
Guided Reading
Staff-led reading of paper / article / chapter.
Emphasis on how to read this type of work, and how to balance breadth and depth in introduction to a new scientific area.
Due Today (5/4):
Catherine D'Ignazio & Lauren Klein. The Power Chapter. Data Feminism. (assigned 5/2)
Assigned:
Lens Deep Read (due 5/9)
Digital Communities:
Dimond et al. "Hollaback!: The Role of Collective Storytelling Online in a Social Movement Organization." https://doi.org/10.1145/2441776.2441831
Workers' Agency & Power (2 News Articles + A Book Chapter):
“This Is a Story About Nerds and Cops”: PredPol and Algorithmic Policing - Journal #87. https://www.e-flux.com/journal/87/169043/this-is-a-story-about-nerds-and-cops-predpol-and-algorithmic-policing/
“Opinion: ‘Smart Streetlights’ Are Not a Tool. They Lay the Groundwork for Dystopian Surveillance.” San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Apr. 2023, https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/community-voices-project/story/2023-04-27/opinion-smart-streetlights-are-not-a-tool-they-lay-the-groundwork-for-automated-mass-surveillance-cvp-irani.
Chapter 5, Benjamin, Ruha. Race after Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code. Polity, 2019. PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dz_pQ6eoWyxIEYIAu1pyDI9xL-lQRnbZ/view?usp=share_link
Higher Ed:
Pat O’Connor (2020) Why is it so difficult to reduce gender inequality in male-dominated higher educational organizations? A feminist institutional perspective, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 45:2, 207-228, DOI: 10.1080/03080188.2020.1737903
Emphasis on faculty and other senior academic roles; discussion of the structural facets of operation of institutions of higher education that perpetuate
(perhaps inadvertently) gender inequity in practice. Beginning features a good summary of evolution of the understanding in this sphere.EU-centric presentation—while reading, try to assess parallels or differences to current US experience as well as those from your undergraduate.
Supplemental materials (Optional):
[Documentary] Free Angela and all Political Prisoners. (Watch free on Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/472114/free-angela-and-all-political-prisoners?start=true)
Tue, 5/9
Pre-class:
Print hardcopy of reading for class.
Bring writing untensils to class.
Bring at least one discussion topic / question / etc
(none)
Subgroup Day
Separate sessions for each focus area
Guided Discussion
Critical discussion of reading
Cross-reading discussion
Identify commonalities (e.g. themes, insights, outcome, experimental methods, etc) across the Thr/Tue materials
Full class meeting preparation
Prepare a ~10m presentation (~5 / paper) with summary of readings, key takeaways, and impressions
Whole subgroup prepares presentation, two members elected to present [different each time]
Thr, 5/11
Pre-class:
(none)
(none)
Coming Back Together
Presentation of papers
Each subgroup presents a ~10m presentation (~5 / paper) with summary of readings, key takeaways, and impressions
"Jigsaw" Activity
Three groups made of 2 people from each subgroup
Task [~30m]: Identify commonalities (e.g. themes, insights, outcomes, experimental measures, etc) across all six readings
Shareout of themes
Open Discussion
Of reading materials
Of this lens holistically
Of stakeholder outreach progress and plans
Supplemental readings (Optional):
Schwan, H., Arndt, J., & Dörk, M. (2022). Disclosure as a critical-feminist design practice for Web-based data stories. First Monday, 27(11). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v27i11.12712
Contemporary discussion of the balance of effective visual communications coupled with honest disclosure of underlying biases or limitations. Includes summary discussion of current visual vs textual means of communicating critical analysis.
Wigginton, B., & Lafrance, M. N. (2019). Learning critical feminist research: A brief introduction to feminist epistemologies and methodologies. Feminism & Psychology, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353519866058
Very accessible read, designed to introduce the central formalisms in Critical Feminist Theory. Domain focus is psych and sociology.
Week 7 — Projects and Presentations Check-In
Tue, 5/16
Pre-class:
Updated project proposal
Summary of stakeholder interaction
slides
Intervention Design Workshop
Stakeholder share-out
Proposal presentations and critiques
Open-ended workshop day for project design
Due Today (5/16):
(none)
Assigned:
(none)
Thr, 5/18
Pre-class:
(none)
Project Working Day
Optional meeting — Staff will be in class to assist with any questions, design iteration, etc.
Due Today (5/18):
Lens Reflection (assigned 5/11)
Assigned:
Final presentation (due 6/8)
Final report (due 6/14)
Weeks 8, 9 — Lens 3: Disability & Ableism
Introduction
What is disability?
What is ableism?
Debate
Is <topic> discrimination?
Outro
End of term logistics
Due Today (5/23):
(none)
Assigned:
Discover External Perspectives (due 5/25)
There are many well-prepared talks in this sphere. Search YouTube for "TED Ableism" or "TED Disability" and choose a video outside of the top-3 results (n.b. most are TEDx talks; that's fine). Come Thursday prepared to talk about key ideas and insights from the video you chose. [Also be sure to include an entry in your AnnoBib!]
Supplemental readings (Optional):
Fabri, M and Andrews, PCS and Pukki, H (2016) Using Design Thinking to engage autistic students in participatory design of an online toolkit to help with transition into higher education. Journal of Assistive Technologies, 10 (2). (eprint)
Ymous et al. (2020) "I am just terrified of my future" — Epistemic Violence in Disability Related Technology Research (acm link)
Thr, 5/25
Pre-class:
Print hardcopy of reading for class.
Bring writing untensils to class.
Digital Communities:
Nothing Micro About It: Examining Ableist Microaggressions on Social Media https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3517428.3544801
Worker Agency [2217 CSE]:
Cynthia L. Bennett and Daniela K. Rosner. 2019. The Promise of Empathy: Design, Disability, and Knowing the "Other". In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '19). https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300528
Higher Ed [3217 CSE]:
Andreas Stefik, Richard E. Ladner, William Allee, and Sean Mealin. 2019. Computer Science Principles for Teachers of Blind and Visually Impaired Students. In Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE '19). https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287453
Subgroup Day
Separate sessions for each focus area
Guided Reading
Staff-led reading of paper / article / chapter.
Emphasis on how to read this type of work, and how to balance breadth and depth in introduction to a new scientific area.
Due Today (5/25):
Discover External Perspectives (assigned 5/23)
Assigned:
Lens Deep Read (due 5/30)
Digital Communities:
Disability-disclosure preferences and practices in online dating communities
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3155120
Worker Agency:
Hamraie, Aimi. “Designing Collective Access: A Feminist Disability Theory of Universal Design.” Disability Studies Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 4, 4, Sept. 2013. dsq-sds.org, https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v33i4.3871.
Higher Ed:
Lauren Race, Claire Kearney-Volpe, Chancey Fleet, Joshua A. Miele, Tom Igoe, and Amy Hurst. 2020. Designing Educational Materials for a Blind Arduino Workshop. In Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '20). https://doi.org/10.1145/3334480.3383055
Note: This is a shorter paper; come prepared to try to do the same; we'll pick a topic on Thursday.
Tue, 5/30
Pre-class:
Print hardcopy of reading for class.
Bring writing untensils to class.
Bring at least one discussion topic / question / etc
(none)
Subgroup Day
Separate sessions for each focus area
Guided Discussion
Critical discussion of reading
Cross-reading discussion
Identify commonalities (e.g. themes, insights, outcome, experimental methods, etc) across the Thr/Tue materials
Full class meeting preparation
Prepare a ~10m presentation (~5 / paper) with summary of readings, key takeaways, and impressions
Whole subgroup prepares presentation, two members elected to present [different each time]
Due Today (5/30):
Lens Deep Read (assigned 5/25)
Stakeholder Outreach and synthesis (assigned 4/27)
Assigned:
Lens Panel Prep (due 6/1)
Thr, 6/1
Pre-class:
(none)
(none)
Coming Back Together
Presentation of papers
Each subgroup presents a ~10m presentation (~5 / paper) with summary of readings, key takeaways, and impressions
"Jigsaw" Activity
Three groups made of 2 people from each subgroup
Task [~30m]: Identify commonalities (e.g. themes, insights, outcomes, experimental measures, etc) across all six readings
Shareout of themes
Open Discussion
Of reading materials
Of this lens holistically
Of stakeholder outreach progress and plans
Week 10 — Intersectionality & Other Lenses [Student Choice]
Grab Bag Topics
(from class vote)
Surveillance Capitalism
Algorithmic Fairness
Queer Theory
Due Today (6/6):
(none)
Assigned:
(none) — However, reminder to take some time to update you AnnoBib!
Thr, 6/8
Pre-class:
(none)
Final: Presentation of Intervention Designs (x2)
Supplemental readings (Optional):
Ihudiya Finda Ogbonnaya-Ogburu, Angela D.R. Smith, Alexandra To, and Kentaro Toyama. 2020. Critical Race Theory for HCI. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’20), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376392
Richard Delgado, Jean Stefancic, and Angela Harris. 2012. Critical Race Theory: An Introduction, Second Edition. NYU Press. Retrieved March 13, 2023 from https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qg9h2
Ch. 1: Introduction
Ch. 2: Hallmark themes
Ruha Benjamin. 2016. Catching Our Breath: Critical Race STS and the Carceral Imagination. Engaging Science, Technology, and Society 2: 145–156. https://doi.org/10.17351/ests2016.70
Week 11 — Finals Week
Mon, 6/12
3-6pm
(exam day)
Final: Presentation of Intervention Designs (x4)
Course Debrief
Course Feedback
Course staff will buy food and drinks for everyone
Due Today (6/12):
Final Project Presentation (assigned 5/18)
Wed, 6/14
(final deadline for all materials)
Due Today (6/14):
Final Report (assigned 5/18)
Annotated Bibliography (assigned 4/4)