Indiana University’s Institute for Digital Arts and Humanities will present two symposium speakers this month a part of its “Rewiring Consent” spring lecture series on the Bloomington campus.
Graham Roberts, senior graphics editor at The New York Times, will speak at 6 p.m. April 25 in the Whittenberger Auditorium of the Indiana Memorial Union. Jacqueline Wernimont, director of Nexus Lab at Arizona State University, will speak at 4 p.m. April 27 in the Social Sciences Research Commons in Woodburn Hall.
Both talks are free and open to the public.
Roberts is a five-time Emmy Award nominee for his work in virtual reality and data visualization. His talk, ”Explorations in Visual Journalism: From Visualization to Virtual Reality at The New York Times,” will discuss the legendary news outlet’s approach to visual journalism from the beginning of the decade until the present, focusing on virtual reality and the challenges posed by this fundamentally new platform.
Roberts’ work at The New York Times includes a collaboration with NASA titled “Seeking Pluto’s Frigid Heart,” which created a detailed virtual look at Pluto’s surface using data from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft. His contribution to the project included the composition of the “Pluto Chorale” as well as his role on the producing team.
He describes his presentation as a multimedia tour of the New York Times’ Virtual Reality initiative, with a peek at exclusive behind-the-scenes processes for some of the newspaper’s most mission-defining visual journalism moments.
Wernimont is a specialist in feminist digital media and the history and technology of human quantification, including double-entry bookkeeping, pedometers, fitness trackers, actuarial tables and accountability apps.
Her talk, “Counting the Dead: Consent, Quantum Media and How We Come to Matter,” will discuss how “quantum media” work to enumerate human activity. This includes focusing on how the practice of counting the dead is deeply entangled with the paperwork and media technology used to certify and regulate the lives of U.S. citizens – as well as how these practices express and shape how the nation-state values different lives and bodies.
The lecture will also feature responses from IU faculty members Justin Garcia, associate director for research and education and the Ruth Halls Assistant Professor for Gender Studies at the Kinsey Institute; Amy Gonzales, assistant professor in The Media School; and Rebekah Sheldon, assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of English.
Wernimont is also the co-director of the Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory, the national coalition of graduate students developing research in the Digital Humanities.
The Institute for Digital Arts and Humanities introduces faculty and students to digital tools and methods and encourages exploration of the state of digital practice in the academy with a focus on Digital Critique. The institute’s theme this academic year is Diversity and Digital Culture.