Feminist Data Visualization and the View from Nowhere
Catherine D’Ignazio
Assistant Professor, Civic Media and Data Visualization
Emerson College
Research Affiliate, MIT Media Lab
Friday, February 2, 2018
12 PM - 1:30 PM (new time!)
Robinson 109, Northeastern University (note temporary location change)
336 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115
Pizza will be served
Abstract: What would a feminist approach to data science and visualization look like? Drawing on feminist approaches in Science & Technology Studies, Human-Computer Interaction, Digital Humanities and Critical Cartography, I will outline six preliminary
principles, along with many examples, for what a feminist approach to data analysis and visualization can look like that were co-designed with my colleague Lauren Klein. While the dominant paradigm of data visualization is the "view from nowhere", a feminist
approach opens up possibilities for the "view from a specific place, by a situated body, for a particular community". We can think of feminist data visualization as a way to address data literacy and inclusion issues as well as to expand our notion of what
counts (and who counts) in a data visualization.
About the speaker: Catherine D'Ignazio is a scholar, artist/designer and software developer who investigates how data visualization, data literacy and new forms of storytelling can be used for civic engagement and community empowerment. Her research
at the intersection of technology, design & the humanities has been published in the Journal of Peer Production, the Journal of Community Informatics, and the proceedings of Human Factors in Computing Systems (ACM SIGCHI). Her art and design projects have
won awards from the Tanne Foundation, Turbulence.org and the Knight Foundation and exhibited at the Venice Biennial and the ICA Boston. D'Ignazio is an Assistant Professor of Civic Media and Data Visualization at Emerson College, a Faculty Director at the
Engagement Lab and a Research Affiliate at the MIT Media Lab.
About NUVis: The
Northeastern University Visualization Consortium (NUVis) is an interdisciplinary cross-university initiative to support the university’s research efforts in visualization and to connect faculty, researchers, and students across campus to foster a visualization
community. Northeastern University’s interdisciplinary focus and structure is an ideal environment for such an interdisciplinary field of study, and the goal of NUVis, funded through a collaboration between the College of Arts, Media and Design and the College
of Computer and Information Science, is to continue to foster and grow this important area of research. NUVis sponsors talks and symposia including a bi-weekly seminar, connects faculty and students through its online portal, provides resources to support
visualization-related research at the university through avenues including workshops and library-sponsored open office hours, and hosts and organizes community building events including hackathons and student research poster exhibitions.
