Unexpected Development: Decolonial Media Aesthetics and Women’s ICT4D Video; DPLA West

Unexpected Development: Decolonial Media Aesthetics and Women’s ICT4D Video

Tuesday, April 17, 12:30pm ET, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett St, Cambridge, MA. This event will be webcast live.

ICT4D (Information Communication Technology for Development) powerfully frames women’s grassroots video production in the Global South, much of which is distributed widely through YouTube. Often, these videos reproduce racialized and gendered discourses - legacies of colonialism - in their narratives of economic, social, and technological progress. However, there are also videos by women’s groups that defy both the historical linearity and spatial fragmentation of the ICT4D framework. These videos instead remix, reclassify, and globally reconnect women’s experiences in the contemporary moment. Culled from hundreds of online videos produced by ICT4D programs, including those in countries classified as having “Low Human Development” according to the Gender Inequality Index of the United Nations Development Program, these media represent powerful instances of a decolonial aesthetics, an altogether unexpected development. These ICT4D vide os make compelling claims for other historical narratives and visions for women’s future lives, identities, and uses of information communication technologies. Dalida María Benfield's research addresses artists’ and activists’ creative uses of video and other networked digital media towards social justice projects. Her work is focused on the transformational capacities of media art across different scales. As an artist and activist, she has developed production, education, exhibition, and distribution initiatives focused on youth, women, people of color in the U.S., and local and transnational social movements, including co-founding the media collective Video Machete. She received her Ph.D. in 2011 from the University of California-Berkeley in Comparative Ethnic Studies with Designated Emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. RSVP Required. more information on our website>

Rethink Music Conference

April 22-24, Hynes Convention Center, Boston, MA

Music is universal, but the business of music is changing. Produced by Berklee College of Music and midem, Rethink Music is a hands-on conference designed to bring music stakeholders together to discuss business models for the future, examine copyright challenges in the digital era, and analyze technological innovation in music and its distribution. Centered around transforming the music industry, Rethink Music’s programming does not just focus on discussing change, but rather making it happen. Registration required. more information on the Rethink Music website>

DPLA West

April 27, San Francisco, CA

DPLA West—taking place on April 27, 2012 in San Francisco—is the second major public event bringing together librarians, technologists, creators, students, government leaders, and others interested in building a Digital Public Library of America. Convened by the DPLA Secretariat at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society and co-hosted by the San Francisco Public Library, the event will assemble a wide range of stakeholders in a broad, open forum to facilitate innovation, collaboration, and connections across the DPLA effort. DPLA West will also showcase the work of the interim technical development team and continue to provide opportunities for public participation in the work of the DPLA. Registration required. more information on the DPLA website>

ROFLcon III

May 4-5 MIT

The first Internet culture conference series devoted to discussing what makes memes work, why they work, and where its all going. Registration required more information on the ROFLcon website>

RB: 197: University 2.0

This week's guest, Juan Carlos de Martin, readily admits that he is only the latest in a long line of thinkers to portend the end of the university as we know it. He almost gleefully cites Thomas Edison as one of his most notable predecessors. But Juan Carlos may be the first to be right. When Juan Carlos began his research tracing the history of the university – an institution that has barely changed since the founding of the University of Bologna nearly a millennium ago – he was optimistic about the democratizing effects of digital technology. However, Juan Carlos now says he has identified several persuasive arguments against the University that together could topple the ivory tower. David Weinberger interviewed Juan Carlos – a Berkman Fellow and co-founder of the NEXA Center for Internet and Society in Torino, Italy – about what Juan Carlos has called the "perfect storm" on the University's horizon. video/audio on our website>

Kristin Thomson and Erin McKeown on Making it as a Musician in an Increasingly Networked World

Newly empowered musicians now find themselves juggling dozens of career-related responsibilities, from booking their own shows to composing witty tweets. How are today’s musicians balancing it all and, even more critical, how have these changes impacted their earning capacity? Kristin Thomson — independent record label owner and Consultant for the Future of Music Coalition — and Erin McKeown — internationally known musician and Berkman Fellow — discuss the changing landscape for musicians and music fans, focussing on how musicians are managing their assets, building teams and allocating their time in an increasingly networked world, and drawing on data collected through FMC’s groundbreaking Artist Revenue Streams project, a multi-method, cross-genre examination of musicians' and composers' revenue streams in the US. video/audio on our website>