A PLACE OF PERSONAL AND CULTURAL RESISTANCE : USING BLACK FEMINIST VALUES, PERSPECTIVES, AND EMBODIED KNOWLEDGES TO (RE)EXAMINE INSTITUTIONAL LOGICS AND ETHICS IN DIGITAL RESEARCH

Summary

Centering the experiences and practices of Black women scholars who engage research in areas of Black technological and digital engagement, this dissertation examines how Black women and Black feminist-identifying digital researchers’ personal, cultural, and professional identities inform methodological and ethical decision-making in their work. Building on the theoretical approaches of Black feminist thinkers like Patricia Hill Collins and the Combahee River Collective, this project... Show moreCentering the experiences and practices of Black women scholars who engage research in areas of Black technological and digital engagement, this dissertation examines how Black women and Black feminist-identifying digital researchers’ personal, cultural, and professional identities inform methodological and ethical decision-making in their work. Building on the theoretical approaches of Black feminist thinkers like Patricia Hill Collins and the Combahee River Collective, this project addresses the complexities of digital ethics by 1) examining how Black women’s unique, lived experience(s) both inform and are impacted by their work and 2) uncovering the processes that support -- and sometimes create tensions with -- research aroundBlack digital publics, users, and spaces. This project places a special focus on the work of Black women and Black feminist-identifying scholars in writing studies-related fields, collecting and analyzing data from multiple qualitative interviews amongst five research participants.Ultimately, this dissertation highlights the growing work and practices of Black women digital researchers, using Black feminist theory as a means to uncover how Black women researchers reconsider, repurpose, and reapproach their research practices from embodied and critical standpoints. This project also adds to growing conversations around the development ofdigital methodologies in writing and communication-related fields, particularly those that place a greater priority on researchers’ ethical responsibilities to multiple-marginalized technology users and communities. Show less