Final Reflection
1. Digital storytelling
While I had some exposure during my class last semester, the readings and activities helped me actually understand what digital storytelling is. Before this class, I struggled to define it, and while the definition can be contested, I feel as though I can actually tell people about it and they would understand.
2. Knightlab/Scalar/technical skills
Again, I had some exposure to Scalar last semester, but one afternoon, I spent a couple hours playing around with the website, and now I feel confident in my ability to navigate it and create visually engaging content on it. I also was introduced to Knightlab through this class and enjoyed the intuitive format–I plan on continuing to use Knightlab in academic and personal projects. The technical skills in general have been both good for my resume and enjoyable to learn.
3. Timeline
The first time I have ever created a timeline was for this class. I found that it was not only fun to make, but also required me to rethink how to structure the narrative. Balancing the narrative of my family and greater contextual events proved to be difficult, but ultimately rewarding. I learned a lot about my family and how I fit into the world through this project.
4. Story map
Like the timeline, I learned a lot about myself from this project. I struggled at first to determine how to create it, however, once I chose the locations and did the research, I was really proud of the map I made. I want to continue to create such maps, URA pending.
5. Decolonization
While I have learned about decolonization since grade school, what I learned from this class in particular is a specific research method to achieve it. I was particularly interested in the readings that discussed whether digital storytelling is an effective method, because while I enjoyed learning various forms and felt as though the stories were important, it’s also important to understand whether it’s achieving what it should. I hope that participant centered research continues to grow and that the ideals of digital storytelling continue in different research methods.
6. Self-representation
What fascinates me about digital storytelling is the focus on having participants telling their own stories. The importance of self-representation is evident, yet so much (as we’ve seen in the class) has ignored the voices of the very people they are researching. A huge part of why I enjoyed digital storytelling is hearing the stories from the people themselves, without the lens of biased researchers.
7. Identity
Identity has always been fascinating to me. One of my favorite parts of digital storytelling is the identity aspect: that one of the tenets is that the projects are self-revelatory. I learned a lot about my own identity throughout the projects in this course.
8. Transnational research
As a Global Studies major, it was really fascinating to learn about research that isn’t restricted by traditional (colonialist) borders, particularly emphasizing that using those borders limits the research itself and doesn’t show the full story. I particularly enjoyed Ana Patricia Rodriguez’s paper on Salvadoran migrants and Maylei Blackwell’s on the indigenous community of LA.
9. Definitions
As I touched on in digital storytelling, definitions are often open-ended. While we learned the strict definition from Joe Lambert and Brooke Hessler, I also enjoyed that we were challenged to create our own definitions and understandings of digital storytelling. I like that an argument can be made for so many various methods of storytelling (and use such definitions in my own research).
10. Interculturality
Finally, the first theme that we learned about has stuck with me the most, particularly Coco Fusco’s paper and the documentary of her performance with Guillermo Gómez-Peña. It ties to our discussions with colonization and decolonizing research; I learned a lot from the documentary and paper, that I tied it into many of the following projects.
The technical skills will stay with me as I envision using them in both academic and personal projects. I hope to find ways to use the timeline and the story map to create dynamic and alternative formats to traditional papers and presentations. The readings on identity were particularly helpful for me to develop not only as a student but also as a person. I am interested in continuing to learn about representation in research, particularly topics relating to self-representation. I really love the ideals of digital storytelling in ensuring participants have full authority over their stories, as well as themes of intimacy that we discussed in class. As a global studies major, keeping in mind the discussions of ethics and decolonizing research is incredibly important to keep with me. Furthermore, I submitted an application for an URA that will create an archive of story maps that are similar to mine. If I receive the grant, I will continue the research on a grand scale, but I am also hoping to talk to other people in my life and help them create maps as well. Everything I have learned in this class will stick with me, as a student, but also a Kira.