ECT Brownbag: Anna Amato

Participating in Critical Data Literacy Through The Arts

Tuesday, March 29, 12:00 pm -1:00 pm EST
Zoom Link: https://nyu.zoom.us/j/98187593671 

How communities are represented through data is a social and ethical challenge that cuts across data science and the arts. While a photograph can tell a story about people and places, it can also be interpreted out of context or used to overgeneralize. Alternatively, patterns in quantitative data and statistics can be hard to make sense of in terms of everyday life. Data science draws on practices from multiple disciplines to support new ways of knowing. Yet, the arts have traditionally served only as a means to widen engagement with STEM literacies. I propose that arts-integrated approaches, which foreground discussion about representation and cultural narratives, offer opportunities to think critically about how data are produced and used in the real world. I draw on a critical data literacy framework, which challenges the perception of data as neutral and objective by situating data in real world contexts and consequences. I ask: How does storytelling generate opportunities to (1) integrate data science and art practices, (2) situate data in broader social relationships and patterns, and (3) center critical questions about how data are produced and used in society?