Let's Chat: Fall Term Reflection

This term has been a wonderful introduction to Digital Humanities. I enjoyed becoming more familiar with the various content management systems and exploring the advantages and disadvantages between them. As the front-end web developer, I started learning Bootstrap and PHP to be able to create customized themes for the sites. I loved learning these new languages and using them combined with HTML and CSS to modify themes in WordPress and Omeka. It was amazing to be able to apply the new knowledge right away into something that can be seen (and shown off).

World Usability Day was an incredible opportunity to experience the difference between an academic centered versus a more industry-focused conference. I loved the exposure to a variety of people and backgrounds, but all with a shared interest in thinking about the ethics in technology. One of my favorite talks at the conference discussed our “data exhaust” which she defined as the data that we are constantly creating, most of it subconsciously. While I was aware of some of the ways, such as cellphone location, she presented so many new ways in which that happened, and then presented the question: who owns this data? Overall, this term has been a great experience and I look forward to the rest of the year.