Poster Session (Asynchronous - Online Only)
Street Heroines: International Women Street Artists and Networks of Social Change View Digital Media
Poster Session Kristin Moss
"Street Heroines" examines the contemporary global phenomenon of street art. Using a visual culture studies approach, this research critically analyzes street art as a creative tool for social change as enacted by women and queer artists. Focusing on work that is intentionally produced to promote social change or constitute political activism (sometimes called 'artivism'), the author finds two themes in artwork made by women street artists and those working in predominantly female art collectives. Artists in different global contexts produce work concerned with creating safe and inclusive public spaces, and attempt to reclaim representation of female sexuality. This study critically investigates underrepresented women artists/artwork to reveal several common creative strategies. These aesthetic interventions employ portraiture and novel depictions of the female form that expand a multimodal dialogue about contemporary society, positioning artists as social critics/citizen activists. This work also considers how street art photography and online sharing has expanded once marginalized artists' capacities to reach viewers beyond local neighborhoods, generate global audiences and networks, and establish connections between local issues and broader public discourses.
Mapping Patterns of Meaning in Student Usage of Emojis View Digital Media
Poster Session Megan Lawson
This paper examines existing literature related to research in-progress that seeks to descriptively map meanings that students assign to use of emojis and other visual elements. Documenting the meanings that emerge in such mapping effort could be analyzed in and of themselves, and also could potentially provide the basis for development of curriculum materials to enhance literacy instruction. The rationale for this mapping project, expressed most basically is: When we write, we express in words. When we use emojis, we express symbolically and visually. If this mapping work can reveal useful patterns in terms of words regarding what students are expressing with emojis, then those results may potentially provide the basis for useful insights in digital-literacy instruction and curriculum. The essential proposition would be that it may be possible to help students enhance their writing with words through greater awareness of the kinds of things they use emojis, etc., for now. The project is grounded in narrative research design and the influential work of anthropologist Ruth Benedict on the way defining elements of human behavior do not exist in isolation but show that a culture is a more or less consistent pattern of thought and action not necessarily shared by other types of society. This project will seek to identify such patterns in the digital culture of students today, who routinely make meaning through a multiplicity of modes and media in which visual elements are integral.
