This book brings Afrofuturism into conversation with digital humanities to pioneer the field of Digital Africana Studies, and shows how students and academics can engage with the vision of Afrofuturism, both theoretically and practically, in the classroom and through research.
As Black people across the globe consider their place in the future following the past two decades of technological advancement, Afrofuturism and its relevance for the humanities has become ever pertinent. While Afrofuturism has thus far been discussed through a literary, artistic, or popular culture lens, growing use of new technologies, and its resultant intersections with the reality of our racial experiences, has created a need for approaching Afrofuturism from a digital studies perspective. Via detailed case studies, Bryan W. Carter introduces the field of Digital Africana Studies to demonstrate how this new area can be experienced pedagogically. Alongside the book, readers can also visit select Digital Africana Studies projects that exemplify the various technologies and projects described at the author’s website: ibryancarter.com/projects.
Given its unique approach to the path-breaking tradition of Afrofuturism, the book will be indispensable for scholars and students across fields such as digital humanities, media studies, black studies, African American studies, and Africana studies.
Author(s): Bryan W. Carter
Series: Routledge Research in Digital Humanities
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 145
City: New York
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Frontispiece
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Critiques and Discourses in Digital Humanities
Chapter 1: Has the Future Caught Up Yet?: Afrofuturism through the Lens of Academia, Development, and Experience
Afrofuturist Theory Is…
So, What Is Digital Humanities?
“Borderlands” Theory
The Evolving Nature of Black/Africana Studies
Digital Africana Studies – a Primer
Afrofuturism Is Evolving
Community Informatics
Social Capital Theory
Expressing Social Capital through Digital Technologies
Astro-Blackness
The Problem with Social Capital
Bringing Art to Life
Developing “Resonance of Form and Vibration of Color”
Chapter 2: Bridging the Gap between Afrofuturism in Theory and in Practice
Early Inspirations
Developing an Afrofuturistic Curriculum
Autopoiesis: From Afrofuturism to Afrofuturism
Controlling and Correcting Chaotic Communications
Equifinality
Second Life was Only the Start: Outreach and Access Are Key
Designing a Digital Narrative
Developmental Platforms
Furthering our Journey into Black Culture
The Medium Is More than the Message
Augmented Reality
Virtual Reality
Volumetric Video Capture and Streaming
Digital Storytelling
3D Scanning/Twin Worlds
Précis
Chapter 3: I Produce, Therefore, I Extend…
Technological Determinism
Case Study: When African American Americans Came to Paris
Case Study: Neurospeculative Afrofeminism (NSAF)
Case Study: Smokestacks in the Distance: Environmental Racism, Afrofuturism, and Najee Dorsey’s “Poor People’s Campaign”
Case Study: Afrofuturism and NFTs
Case Study: Black Quantum Futurism’s Multimedia “time machine”: “Ancestors returning again/this time only to themselves”
Précis
Chapter 4: Pedagogy of the People through Collective Knowledge Creation
Moving Towards an Afrofuturistic Pedagogy
Culturally Responsive/Relevant Pedagogy
Moving Towards an Afrofuturist Curriculum Design
Immersive Learning
Engaging Curricular Design Strategies
Black Aesthetic in Curricular Design
Case Studies: Evolving Afrofuturistic Curriculum Designs
Experiencing Black Speculative Ideas
Space Is the Place
The Dream Lab – Afrofuturist Seminar
Afrofuturist Curricular Design: Cultural Moments
Précis
Chapter 5: Seeking Definition in the Absurdity of a Post-Racial World
Expressing Afrofuturism through Art
Surrealism Is the Original Futurism
David Alabo’s Afro-surrealist Landscape
Précis
Chapter 6: Storytelling as Social Justice
Hurston and Southern Storygathering
Oral Aesthetics
Having a Space of One’s Own
Every Afrofuturist Needs a Mount Bashenga
X-Lab as Creative Playground
Case Study: Digital Africana Oral History Project
Decolonizing the Experience
Public Pedagogy
Trending Toward Revolutionary Digital Africana Studies
Case Study: Dunbar: The Beauty behind the Mask
Précis
Chapter 7: Defining Access Where None Was Ever Given
Public and Private
Democratizing Systems Design
Case Study: Omnivor
Live Volumetric Video Streaming
Funding Structures and Support
DH Centers – Academic Mount Bashengas
Afrofuturist DH Labs
Précis
An Experiential Contribution to the Conversation
Bibliography
Index
