Skip to content

Seminar: Indigenous Media 2016

Seminar: Indigenous Media 2016 published on No Comments on Seminar: Indigenous Media 2016

Again, I have the pleasure to teach the Seminar “Indigenous Media” for the MA Program in Visual and Media Anthropology at the Free University Berlin. Find below a brief description of the course.

In the seminar “Indigenous Media” students get an introduction to indigenous media technologies. In ten seminar units selected questions, issues, and problems are discussed: How do indigenous people produce, distribute, and utilize audiovisual media? How has ethnographic and anthropological film making changed? What role do politics, power, globalization, and (post-)colonialism play in the production and use of indigenous media? How do indigenous people utilize media to construct and negotiate their individual and collective identities? How are indigenous cultures and languages represented through media? And how do indigenous people appropriate and (co-)develop digital technologies in times of increasing globalization?

We start with the contextualization of indigenous media within the framework of an anthropology of media. In the second unit students are introduced to selected debates about the meaning and relevance of (mass) media for indigenous people and their culture. We then discuss ethnographic film making and visual anthropology in the context of indigenous people’s changing role from “objects” for ethnographic films to partners in media projects. The fourth unit deals with the phenomena of (post-)colonialism and decolonization and their implications for indigenous media. This discussion leads us to the self-controlled production of indigenous media and its relevance for issues such as (self-)representation, appropriation, control, and empowerment. Globalization, modernity, and related questions of collective indigenous identity construction – “indigeneity” – are the topics of the next unit. The following three sessions are closely connected and discuss aspects of identity, community, networking, ownership, activism, empowerment, aesthetics, poetics, and popular culture in relation to indigenous media. In the final unit students learn about the importance of digital technologies and infrastructures for indigenous people, their activist projects, and networking initiatives.

Through several case studies students are introduced to the similarities and differences of indigenous media projects throughout the world. These case studies take us to different regions, countries, and continents: from Nunavut, Canada, and the US to the Caribbean, Guatemala, Mexico, and Brazil, to Nigeria, Myanmar, Australia and Finland. The seminar’s assignments include the reading of selected articles, the watching of films and videos, and the discussion of these in small essays. The online conference tool Adobe Connect is used to present and discuss aspects of texts, films, and essays.

Paper: Interactive technology enhanced learning for social science students

Paper: Interactive technology enhanced learning for social science students published on 1 Comment on Paper: Interactive technology enhanced learning for social science students

Budka, P., Schallert, C., Mader, E. 2011. Interactive technology enhanced learning for social science students. In M. E. Auer & M. Huba (Eds.), Proceedings 14th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning (ICL2011) (pp. 274-278), CD-ROM. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE.

Abstract

This paper introduces the case of an interactive technology enhanced learning model, its contexts and infrastructure at a public university in the Bologna era. From a socio-technological perspective, it takes a look at the conditions and challenges under which this flexible learning model for the social sciences has been developed. Furthermore, selected evaluation results, including experiences and expectations of social science students, are discussed. The paper concludes that it is possible, with the appropriate didactical model, to create and facilitate interactive student-centered learning situations, even in “mass lectures”.

Text (PDF)

Seminar: Media & visual technologies as material culture – students’ research ideas

Seminar: Media & visual technologies as material culture – students’ research ideas published on No Comments on Seminar: Media & visual technologies as material culture – students’ research ideas

Clustering of individual ideas to create joint research projects in the seminar “Media and Visual Technologies as Material Culture” at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology of the University of Vienna.

clustering_ideas

Article: From marginalization to self-determined participation

Article: From marginalization to self-determined participation published on 1 Comment on Article: From marginalization to self-determined participation

Budka, P. 2015. From marginalization to self-determined participation: Indigenous digital infrastructures and technology appropriation in Northwestern Ontario’s remote communities. Journal des Anthropologues – Special Issue “Margins and Digital Technologies”. No. 142-143: 127-153.

Abstract

This article discusses, from an anthropological perspective, the utilization of digital infrastructures and technologies in the geographical and sociocultural contexts of indigenous Northwestern Ontario, Canada. By introducing the case of the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Kuh-ke-nah Network (KO-KNET) it analyses first how digital infrastructures not only connect First Nations people and communities but also enable relationships between local communities and non-indigenous institutions. Second, and by drawing on KO-KNET’s homepage service MyKnet.org, it exemplifies how people appropriate digital technologies for their specific needs in a remote and isolated area. KO-KNET and its services facilitate First Nations’ self-determined participation to regional, national, and even global ICT connectivity processes, contributing thus to the “digital demarginalization” of Northwestern Ontario’s remote communities.

Text (PDF)

World Summit on Information Society: Action Line “Cultural diversity and identity”

World Summit on Information Society: Action Line “Cultural diversity and identity” published on No Comments on World Summit on Information Society: Action Line “Cultural diversity and identity”

“Cultural and linguistic diversity, while stimulating respect for cultural identity, traditions and religions, is essential to the development of an Information Society based on the dialogue among cultures and regional and international cooperation. It is an important factor for sustainable development.

UNESCO emphasises the value of cultural and linguistic diversity in all its work.  It is also concerned to ensure that new media platforms make content available which is relevant to the lives of all communities and individuals, including the poor and marginalised.  Content of local relevance, and content which is locally produced, are important in this context.” …
more info

UNESCO & WSIS
WSIS

Seminar research projects

Seminar research projects published on No Comments on Seminar research projects

In the seminar “Identity, sociality & communality in times of digital media technologies” at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna, students work in research teams on aspects of privacy, gaming, movements, participation, solidarity and visual culture.

mindmap

Concept map: Communicative ecologies

Concept map: Communicative ecologies published on No Comments on Concept map: Communicative ecologies

This map visualizes the concept of “communicative ecologies” as introduced by Tacchi, J., Slater, D., Hearn, G. 2003. Ethnographic Action Research: A User’s Handbook. New Delhi: UNESCO, http://eprints.qut.edu.au/4399/. It was done by using the free CMap Tools (click to enlarge).

concept map

Article: “We were on the outside looking in”: MyKnet.org – A First Nations Online Social Environment in Northern Ontario

Article: “We were on the outside looking in”: MyKnet.org – A First Nations Online Social Environment in Northern Ontario published on No Comments on Article: “We were on the outside looking in”: MyKnet.org – A First Nations Online Social Environment in Northern Ontario

Bell, B., Budka, P., Fiser, A. 2012. “We were on the outside looking in”: MyKnet.org – A First Nations online social environment in northern Ontario. In A. Clement, M. Gurstein, G. Longford, M. Moll & L. R. Shade (Eds.), Connecting Canadians: Investigations in Community Informatics (pp. 237-254). Edmonton: Athabasca University Press.

“In 2000, one of Canada’s leading Aboriginal community networks, the Kuh-ke-nah Network, or K-Net, was on the verge of expanding into broadband services. (For more on K-Net, see chapter 14.) K-Net’s management organization, Keewaytinook Okimakanak Tribal Council, had acquired funding and resources to become one of Industry Canada’s Smart Communities demonstration projects. Among the innovative services that K-Net introduced at the time was MyKnet.org, a system of personal home pages intended for remote First Nations users in a region of Northern Ontario where numerous communities have lived without adequate residential telecom service well into the millennium (Fiser, Clement, and Walmark 2006; Ramírez et al. 2003). Shortly thereafter, and through K-Net’s community-based Internet infrastructure, this free-of-charge, free-of-advertising, locally supported, online social environment grew from its core constituency of remote First Nations communities to host over 30,000 registered user accounts (of which approximately 20,000 represent active home pages). …”

free chapter download: http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120193

Free e-Book: Connecting Canadians: Investigations in Community Informatics

Free e-Book: Connecting Canadians: Investigations in Community Informatics published on No Comments on Free e-Book: Connecting Canadians: Investigations in Community Informatics

A. Clement, M. Gurstein, G. Longford, M. Moll & L. R. Shade (Eds.), Connecting Canadians: Investigations in Community Informatics. Edmonton: Athabasca University Press.

“Connecting Canadians represents the work of the Community Research Alliance for Community Innovation and Networking (CRACIN), the largest national and international research effort to examine the burgeoning field of community informatics, a cross-disciplinary approach to the mobilization of information and communications technologies (ICT) for community change.

Funded for four years by the SSHRC’s Initiative for the New Economy, CRACIN systematically studied a wide variety of Canadian community ICT initiatives, bringing perspectives from sociology, computer science, critical theory, women’s studies, library and information sciences, and management studies to bear on networking technologies. A comprehensive thematic account of this in-depth research, Connecting Canadians will be an essential resource for NGOs, governments, the private sector, and multilateral agencies across the globe.”

Download the book or single chapters for free: http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120193

Vortrag: IKT als Werkzeuge zur Reduktion erzwungener Mobilität

Vortrag: IKT als Werkzeuge zur Reduktion erzwungener Mobilität published on No Comments on Vortrag: IKT als Werkzeuge zur Reduktion erzwungener Mobilität

Vortrag im Rahmen der 7. Tage der Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie:Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT) als Werkzeuge zur Reduktion erzwungener Mobilität” (PDF)

Aus dem Inhalt:

  • Indigene in Kanada & im Nordwestlichen Ontario
  • Sitation von First Nations im Nordwestlichen Ontario
  • Indigene IKT im Nordwestlichen Ontario: KO-KNET
  • Reduktion erzwungener Mobilität durch IKT
  • IKT-Anwendungspraktiken: Isolation vs. Sozialität
  • Indigene IKT: Ergebnisse aktueller Studien

Indigene IKT: Ergebnisse aktueller Studien:

  • IKT-Praktiken beeinflussen …
    a) (kulturelle) Identitätskonstruktion & -verhandlung
    b) (soziale) Vergemeinschaftungsformen & -prozesse
    c) Kommunikationspraktiken
  • Entscheidend sind …
    a) Kontrolle von & Bezug zu IKT
    b) Soziokulturelle, geographische & politische Kontexte/Rahmenbedingungen/Möglichkeiten

Vortrag: Indigene Medientechnologien

Vortrag: Indigene Medientechnologien published on No Comments on Vortrag: Indigene Medientechnologien

Gastvortrag im Rahmen der Vorlesung “Einführung in die Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie” (Sommersemester 2012, Leitung: Elke Mader): “Indigene Medientechnologien – Produktion & Anwendungspraktiken aus medienanthropologischer Perspektive“: Teil 1Teil 2 (PDF)

Aus dem Inhalt:

  • Medientechnologien aus kultur- und sozialanthropologischer & ethnographischer Perspektive
  • Indigene Medien:
    Indigene?
    Indigene IKT: „outreach“ Praktiken z.B. EZLN in Mexiko, „inreach“ Praktiken: z.B. KO-NET in Kanada
  • Indigene Medientechnologieproduktion: Beispiel „Internet für First Nations in Kanada“
  • Indigene Medienanwendungspraktiken: Beispiel „MyKnet.org: Social Networking für First Nations in Kanada“ – Identitätskonstruktion, Vergemeinschaftungsformen, ethnographische Felderforschung

Presentation: Cyberactivism = cultural activism

Presentation: Cyberactivism = cultural activism published on No Comments on Presentation: Cyberactivism = cultural activism

At the 2nd UnlikeUs conference in Amsterdam, I gave a talk on cyberactivism, with KO-Knet and MyKnet.org as examples for the indigenous case.

Budka, Philipp. 2012. Indigenous cyberactivism: the case of KO-Knet and MyKnet.org. Presentation at UnlikeUs conference, Amsterdam, 10.03.2012. (PDF)

Main points:

  • case for media / technology diversity that is cultural diversity
  • through activist projects and practices
  • need to support local languages, cultural heritage & practices
  • through (1) control & ownership, (2) cooperation, networking & sharing

Further reading and resources:

Summary of the presentation by Ryanne Turenhout

Books
Landzelius, K. 2006. (ed.) Native on the net: Indigenous and diasporic peoples in the virtual age. New York & London: Routledge.
McCaughey, M., Ayers, M. D. 2003. (eds.) Cyberactivism: Online activism in theory and practice. New York & London: Routledge.

Journals & Papers
Budka, P., Bell, B., & Fiser, A. (2009): MyKnet.org: How Northern Ontario’s First Nation communities made themselves at home on the World Wide Web. The Journal of Community Informatics, 5(2), http://ci-journal.net/index.php/ciej/article/view/568/450
The Journal of Community Informatics Special Issue (2009): CI & Indigenous Communities in Canada – The K-Net (Keewaytinook Okimakanak’s Kuhkenah) Experience, http://ci-journal.net/index.php/ciej/issue/view/27

Links
UnlikeUs
Institute for Network Cultures

Project (un)Lawful Access – Cybersurveillance in Canada

Project (un)Lawful Access – Cybersurveillance in Canada published on No Comments on Project (un)Lawful Access – Cybersurveillance in Canada

from http://unlawfulaccess.net/

“This project is a response to the serious threats to privacy, free speech and civil liberties raised by proposed lawful access legislation. To understand what is at stake in this invasive and costly bill, Canada’s leading privacy and surveillance experts offer their anaylsis in the hopes of stirring debate on these critical issues.”

(un)LAWFUL ACCESS from The New Transparency on Vimeo.

Paper: From Cyber to Digital Anthropology to an Anthropology of the Contemporary

Paper: From Cyber to Digital Anthropology to an Anthropology of the Contemporary published on No Comments on Paper: From Cyber to Digital Anthropology to an Anthropology of the Contemporary

Philipp Budka’s Paper at the DGV (German Anthropological Association) conference in Vienna, 14-17 September 2011, Workshop “Cyberculture” organized by Alexander Knorr

Abstract
This paper is first taking a look back on the “anthropology of cyberculture”, formulated as anthropological research area, concept and issue by Escobar in 1994. Inspired by science and technology studies, he painted a very vivid picture how anthropology and ethnography could contribute to the understanding of new bio and communication technologies as society’s transforming driving forces. Pushed by powerful digital media technologies, such as internet applications and services, anthropology labelled as “digital anthropology” is currently tempted to forget about cyberanthropology’s holistic effort of understanding the sociocultural construction and interpretation of bio and communication technologies. What is the legacy of the anthropology of cyberculture when dealing with new digital practices? Is it actually necessary to construct branches of anthropology that deal with contemporary sociocultural developments? Or should we just open the discipline to an “anthropology of the contemporary”, as Rabinow and Marcus (2008) propose?

References
Escobar, Arturo. 1994. Welcome to Cyberia. Notes on the anthropology of cyberculture. In Current Anthropology, 35/3: 211-231.
Rabinow, Paul, Marcus, George E. (with Faubion, James D., Rees, Tobias) 2008. Designs for an anthropology of the contemporary. Durham: Duke University Press.

Text (PDF)

Links
http://www.tagung2011.dgv-net.de/

http://www.tagung2011.dgvnet.de/workshops.html

http://www.univie.ac.at/ksa/

Video: Brief history of APC

Video: Brief history of APC published on No Comments on Video: Brief history of APC

A brief overview of Association for Progressive Communications’ (APC) 20 years of online work for social justice.

About APC:

“APC’s strength lies in the fact that we don’t get excited about the internet for the internet’s sake. We are committed activists who want to use it to make the world a better place. We help people get access to the internet where there is none or it is unaffordable, we help grassroots groups use the technology to develop their communities and further their rights, and we work to make sure that government policies related to information and communication serve the best interests of the general population, especially people living in developing countries.

…”

more at: http://www.apc.org/en/about

Brief history of APC from APC on Vimeo.

Primary Sidebar