“For this project you’ll be working with some form of “digital methodology.” Here, this means answering a question, solving a problem, or explaining something important with a digital tool.
First, define a problem or question. Find something like a cultural artifact, group of texts, or social phenomenon that you’re interested in learning something about. (Note: I am using the broad meaning of the word “text” to include any artifact that could be potentially meaningful.)
Next, find ways to explore that text(s) with as many digital tools as you can. You’ll find these listed in the relevant module’s pages.
Finally, decide which tool offers the most interesting interpretation or discovery about your text, issue, or problem, and from that data, draw your own conclusions about the meaning of your findings in light of this digitally-enabled exploration.
Many of the modules describe a specific kind of project, but as much as possible, your work should follow the path of your own initiative. That said, unlike the first two modules which were more open-ended and flexible, your work here must produce a finished project of some kind because you will be creating a web page to explain it. Doing this well is hard and having a specific outcome in mind from the beginning (i.e., working toward a finished product) will definitely help.“
Digital Journalism
It’s a complex world and we need complex tools to make sense of it. In this module, your team will identify a topic or pose a question, investigate that question, and tell the story you discover using a confluence of modalities and digital tools. https://dgst101.net/mod/convergence-journalism/
I chose to use various AI programs and websites to explore questions like:
-What are the contemporary issues American Indians are facing?
-What are current stereotypes, and what are the harmful impacts of them?
Reflection:
I knew I wanted to focus my project about American Indians, as an aspiring anthropologist, I realize that I dont need to travel the world, because there are indigenous peoples right here in virginia and fredericksburg who are in need of representation. After learning what I have in my classes that discuss their contemporary issues and reading their books, I feel like this is the bare minimum I can do. It took me a lot of trial and error to find the right topic for this module. I was frustrated at first, but then remembered that “finding a research topis IS research”, and I let myself explore. As a white person, I am scared to accidentally do something culturally insensitive, and I know I must be careful with my words, so at first I wasn’t even sure if I should be doing this. But I remembered what Monacan tribe member, Victoria Ferguson, mentioned in her speech about them desperately needing representation and allies, so, I figured I should at least try my best and not give up to do a project on something easier. I used 4 types of AI. AskAI, which is similar to chatGPT, but gives sources and references. I also used chatGPT. I used those two AI things to ask questions like, “what are stereotypes about american indians”, “what are the contemporary issues of american indians”, and I used what I was given and compiled some things together, but my main resources were from websites I found on google searches and the sources that AskAI gave me, which were actually really helpful, one of the websites was included in Victoria Fergusons slideshow! But I accidentally closed all my tabs before getting a chance to use it, im sure I can find it in my history if i dig deep for it.
Ask AI was the most helpful AI resource because it gave me good sources that were relevant and up to date.
The remaining two AI programs I utilized were Bing AI image generator, and the iPhone app Wombo Dream. Both of these allow you to type in a prompt, and then it will generate an image based off of that, but I have no clue how it comes to make them. BUT- what it did show- was that there must be something in the media and in the internet causing it to create these images- and they are real life stereotypes- so it really said a LOT. I included how these stereotypes are problematic and harmful to native people’s identity and perception of themselves in the world.
It was very very difficult to make slides that were concise and clear because there was SO much that I could have done. But I tried to just stick to a few important ones, hoping to challenge peoples assumptions and question how american indian people are portrayed today. and I hope that if anyone is interested, they will do research on their own time, because this hasnt even touched the tip of the iceberg of what should be known.
