EVENT: Civic engagement in a networked world will be the featured discussion at the 8th annual Digital Media & Learning Conference.

WHEN/WHERE: All day, Oct. 4-6, UCI Student Center (bldg. 113, grid E8 on campus map: http://bit.ly/2cqfB8r)

INFORMATION: Media planning to attend should contact Mimi Ko Cruz at 949-824-4587, mcruz@hri.uci.edu, or Brian Bell, 949-565-5533, bpbell@uci.edu. Attendance and parking are complimentary for media who RSVP in advance.

HIGHLIGHTS: Oct 5, 9 a.m. — The keynote address will be delivered by danah boyd, a researcher at Microsoft Research and the founder of Data & Society. Her work examines the intersection between technology and society, including ill effects. Her talk, titled “Learning All the Wrong Things,” will focus on “the darker sides of networked media engagement: media manipulation, strategic harassment, and youth radicalization.”

Oct. 5, 12:30 p.m. — “Contra Deportation: Fighting Injustice with Electronic Civil Disobedience” will be presented by Ricardo Dominguez, UC San Diego associate professor of visual arts and co-founder of Electronic Disturbance Theater. 

Oct. 6, 11 a.m. — Bahraini civil rights activist Esra’a Al-Shafei will speak about her experiences as a youth leader, advocating for the rights of oppressed and underrepresented groups in the Middle East. She will be interviewed by Henry Jenkins, leader of the University of Southern California Media, Activism, & Participatory Politics research group which has sought to better understand the political lives of American youth who are seeking to change the world “by any media necessary.” (No photos of Al-Shafei will be allowed to protect her from danger in her country.)

BACKGROUND: The DML Conference is supported by the MacArthur Foundation and organized by the Digital Media & Learning Research Hub and the Connected Learning Alliance, which are part of the University of California Humanities Research Institute based at UCI. It is an inclusive, international gathering of scholars and practitioners in the digital media and learning field, focused on fostering interdisciplinary and participatory dialog and linking theory, empirical study, policy and practice.

“The conference is the annual event that brings together scholars, educators, and industry professionals who are exploring how new technologies can best serve the needs of all learners and the public interest,” said Mimi Ito, research director of the DML Hub, co-founder of the Connected Learning Alliance and a UCI cultural anthropologist who directs the Connected Learning Lab. “Our community is a unique and catalytic blend of innovators working in a wide range of organizations, united by a shared commitment to equity and a learner-centered approach.”

CONFERENCE WEBSITE: https://dml2017.dmlhub.net/