Department of Communication Hosts Asian American Digital Politics Workshop
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The UMass Amherst Department of Communication brought together experts, scholars, practitioners and graduate students to discuss the role of digital media in Asian American politics earlier for the Asian American Digital Politics Workshop. The workshop, hosted in the Communication Hub March 3-4, provided a platform for participants to share their experiences and insights into the use of digital media in organizing, mobilizing and engaging Asian American communities.
The bridge-building workshop featured various panel discussions, cross-disciplinary conversations, fascinating book talks, passionate critiques and thoughtful discussions of work-in-progress interventions that explored various aspects of Asian American digital politics. Topics covered by communication researchers, historians and Asian American studies scholars included the impact of social media on political engagement, the disinformation narratives that stoke conflict among communities of color and the challenges faced by Asian American community media and journalists.
Workshop participants introduced their recently published books and shared their experiences working with the public, including with Filipino American health workers and Chinese immigrants searching in-language news, while policy experts spoke about the challenges of advocating for community resources to tackle racism and disinformation. The workshop provided a valuable networking opportunity for the speakers and attendees, allowing them to connect with other like-minded individuals and organizations working in the field of Asian American digital politics.
“These were the key questions that informed the design of our panels and the selection of the people in the workshop,” says Jonathan Corpus Ong, associate professor of communication and one of the organizers of the workshop. “First, we explored the places where disinformation studies and ethnic studies meet. How can we have more of a dialogue across areas and disciplinary boundaries? What analytical tools can we exchange to generate a more profound understanding of both disinformation and ethnic studies and better collective organizing?
“Second, we discussed how critical research can have a longer tail and develop a more meaningful impact,” Ong continues. “The critical academic work everyone in this workshop produces is unique. So, we discussed what would an efficient assembly line look like for critical research to feed in to the design of computational tools, which community partners could write about for their specific target communities, and for policymakers to use for advocacy and lobbying. Third, we probed what kind of support mechanisms we need when doing the kind of risky research we do. We discussed that survival is not enough, so we will aim for thriving. The burnout and harassment of doing this kind of work are real, and we must check-in and exchange best practices for doing risky research.”
Overall, Ong says, “The workshop provided a platform for learning, discussion and collaboration, and it highlighted the need for continued efforts to leverage digital media for political empowerment and advocacy.”
This event, which was organized by Ong and graduate student Nora Suren, was supported by a research grant from Luminate Group and Reset.