Keynote: Nikkita Oliver
Nikkita Oliver is a Seattle-based creative, community organizer, abolitionist, educator, and attorney. Working at the intersections of arts, law, education, and community organizing she strives to create experiences which draw us closer to our humanity and invites us to imagine what we hope to see in the future.
She has opened for Cornel West and Chuck D of Public Enemy, featured on the Breakfast Club, KUOW’s The Week in Review, Cut Stories, and performed on The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert. Her writing has been published in the South Seattle Emerald, Crosscut, the Establishment, Last Real Indians, The Seattle Weekly, and The Stranger. She organizes with No New Youth Jail and the Seattle Peoples Party.
Nikkita is the co-executive director of Creative Justice, an arts-based alternative to incarceration and a healing engaged youth-led community-based program. She was the first political candidate of the Seattle Peoples Party running for Mayor of Seattle in 2017 narrowly missing the general election by approximately 1,100 votes; coming in third of 21 candidates.
Short Talks:
“Equity in Data Visualization” with Negeen Aghassibake, Data Visualization Librarian, UW Libraries
Data and data visualization are increasingly important methods of communication and decision-making. However, equitable practices are not often the priority in the collection, creation, and visualization of data. A critical approach to data practices can help with the adoption of ethical and equitable data practices. This talk will discuss those issues and approaches.
Negeen Aghassibake is a Data Visualization Librarian at the University of Washington. In this role, she helps students, faculty, researchers, and staff think critically about and create data visualizations. She is interested in the intersections of data and equity.
“Applied Research and Public Scholarship: The cases of the Technology & Social Change Group and the Center for an Informed Public” with Chris Coward, Senior Principal Research Scientist, UW Information School and Jason Young, Senior Research Scientist, TASCHA
Two centers at the Information School have an explicit commitment to applied research and public scholarship – the Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) and the newly established Center for an Informed Public (CIP). While many entities give lip service to public scholarship, in fact it is difficult to operationalize in ways that are both meaningful for the interested communities and congruent with the typical research orientation of the academy. This session will present case studies from TASCHA and CIP, illustrating both the challenges we have faced, and the benefits we believe occur from the extra work it takes to pursue this form of research. We will also discuss an intellectual framework, Engaged Excellence, for involving external partners in the research enterprise.
Chris Coward is Senior Principal Research Scientist at the University of Washington Information School, director of the Technology & Social Change Group, and co-founder of the Center for an Informed Public. His research spans issues of information access, digital inclusion, digital skills, and civic engagement, primarily in resource limited countries. His current work examines misinformation and civic discourse, with the aim of developing new library programs and services that respond to today’s more fractious information ecosystem.
Jason Young is a Senior Research Scientist with the Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) and affiliate faculty with the Center for an Informed Public (CIP). His research focuses on the impacts of information and communication technologies on rural and Indigenous communities. He received his PhD from the University of Washington Department of Geography in 2017.
“Using Open Educational Resources to Improve Classroom Equity” with Lauren Ray, Open Education and Psychology Librarian, UW Libraries
Lauren Ray is the Open Education and Psychology Librarian at the University of Washington Libraries. In this new role, she leads conversations around Open Educational Resources, working with campus partners to support the adoption and publication of affordable and openly licensed materials. She also provides support to the UW’s Department of Psychology, through research consultation and instructional services.
Panel: Diverse Design
As researchers begin to question practices that developed from positions of power and privilege, how can they embrace more equitable and inclusive research methods? Our panel will explore ways to increase the representation of those who have been historically marginalized and even harmed by research, such as members of ethnic, economic, cultural, gender, sexual, and other minority groups. Panelists will also discuss how this kind of research design leads to more effective real-world outcomes.
Panelists:
- Gillian Harkins, Associate Professor of English, University of Washington
- Linda Ko, Associate Member, Cancer Prevention Program, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center
- Clarita Lefthand-Begay, Assistant Professor, Information School, UW
- Moderated by Jenny Muilenburg, Research Data Services Librarian, UW Libraries