Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Black Studies & Technological Possibilities


I’ve always thought of those folks who began organizing what eventually became known as black studies as exceptionally imaginative and even visionary. So I wonder if they could’ve imagined a scenario like the one presented in the image pictured above--a class on Langston Hughes taking place in a virtual world.

The image is a snapshot from an African American literature course taught by Bryan Carter that I was sitting in on during the course of this past spring semester. I attended a presentation by Professor Carter and his avatar back in December, and he invited me to sit in on his classes, many of which he teaches online.

Professor Carter utilizes a range of new media and technologies such as live, online broadcasts, chat rooms, blogs, voice threads, and Second Life. I took the snapshot pictured above on Second Life during one of Carter’s discussions of Hughes for his African American literature course.

Carter’s courses provided me with all kinds of ideas and inspiration for expanding my work with African American literature, black studies, and technology. I was moved by how students were building their knowledge of African American literary art at the same time that they were becoming more tech savvy.

Related:
Black Studies and Digital Humanities

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