Week 4 Slides
Critical Computational Literacies
Dr. Chris Proctor
LAI 686, Spring 2022
Week 4: February 22, 2022
Notes: I should introduce myself
Logistics
- Technobiographies are due next week. We'll share them in class. Questions?
- The first journal assessment is due next week. Please email me a link.
- You should be thinking about sites for conducting fieldwork.
Act I
Conceptual framework
Act II
Power: Noble & Zuboff
Act III
Criticality: Lee & Garcia
Act I
Conceptual framework
4:10-4:55pm
Warmup
The terms "critical" and "criticality" are used frequently in educational research. What do they mean? Where do you hear them used?
Take five minutes to jot down your answer. Then we'll share.
Notes:
Critical has a sense of being important (this is a bit blunt). Critical has a sense of understanding deeply. And critical also has a sense of being oriented toward change. The last two are connected.
Connect to last week's discussion of futurity. In a sense, criticality is about understanding how futures come to be and acting toward different futures.

Notes: I like to talk about literacy because it lets you talk about how people do stuff with texts. Texts are part of a symbolic system of meanings, which shape our practices. How is this like language?
How does infrastructure shape practice?
- Structure identity through subject positions and footing
- Structure voice through genre
- Structure meaning through Discourses
- Structure legibility by networking publics
What kinds of practices can have critical power?
- Identity
- Voice
- Meaning
- Legibility
Act II: Power
Noble and Zuboff
5:05-5:50pm
Wikipedia
"In social science and politics, power is the capacity of an individual to influence the actions, beliefs, or conduct (behaviour) of others."
Noble
- What is race?
- How is race a form of power?
- How do digital infrastructures operationalize race?
Notes: Stuck? Talk about racial formations and racial projects.
Zuboff
- What is surveillance capitalism?
- How is surveillance capitalism a form of power?
- How do digital infrastructures operationalize surveillance capitalism?
What else works like race and surveillance capitalism?
Act III: Criticality
6:00-6:45pm