On April 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (CST), QSIDE's Data4Justice Conference assembled activists and academics alike, to communicate their data science research, which can be utilized to further social equity and inclusion. QSIDE’s conference was previewed in a previous article.
The conference was held via Zoom and participants networked and learned together about the most cutting-edge research and its social justice applications. The event focused on QSIDE’s five main research topics, criminal justice, education justice, environmental justice, health care justice and inclusion in the arts.
Among members of QSIDE, affiliated institutions and the general public, Dr. Srivi Ramasubramanian participated in the conference, speaking during the inclusion in the arts and media section of the event.
Three distinguished speakers led the conversations about inclusion in arts and media. Dr. Allissa Richardson of the USC Annenberg School of Communication talked about "The Coming Archival Crisis: How Social Media Disappears Black Witnessing.” Then, Dr. Srivi discussed "Data for Social Justice in Media Contexts.” Finally, Dr. Diana Greenwald of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum explored "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? Artistic Labor and Time Constraint in Nineteenth-Century America".
In her particular lecture, Dr. Srivi offered insights from her brand new co-authored book, “Quantitative Research Methods in Communication: The Power of Numbers for Social Justice.” Her new book is now available to pre-order.
Starting out, Dr. Srivi used examples in the media about digital literacies and racial justice. By using this illustrative approach in her talk, she demonstrated how researchers can use data-driven approaches to address implicit racial bias, civic engagement, policy change, and social transformation within media and tech spaces.
Thereafter, Dr. Srivi utilized personal anecdotes to share about how her everyday life shapes and is shaped by media. Dr. Srivi’s experiences as an immigrant, bicultural, desi woman in academia easily show what she talked about. Here she talked about critical media effects, especially related to stereotypes and the (de)stigmatization processes.
Using a profound rhetorical method, Dr. Srivi concluded her talk with a powerful call-to-action. She offered listeners a research agenda and roadmap for long-term change, in pursuit of digital equity and racial justice. She asked the audience to reimagine the mediascape as a potential space for community-building, healing and social transformation.
If you missed her QSIDE talk but are interested in the topic, check out “Quantitative Research Methods in Communication: The Power of Numbers for Social Justice,” co-authored by University of Massachusetts professor Dr. Erica Scharrer and Dr. Srivi. The book is published by Routledge and now available for purchase at Routledge and Amazon.
- Written by student journalist Riley Farrell
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