FORW-RD Thinking Seminar Series | Dr. Nettrice R. Gaskins, Lesley University

FORW-RD Thinking Seminar Series  - Dr. Nettrice R. Gaskins, Lesley University

Techno-Vernacular Creativity & Innovation (TVC)

Co-sponsored by... 

NSF Research Traineeship Program on Future of Robots in the Workplace (FORW-RD), Interactive Media and Game Development (IMGD) Program, and JustT Collaborative (WPI’s Public Interest Technology initiative). 

Abstract: Techno-Vernacular Creativity & Innovation (TVC) refers to a novel approach to STEAM learning that engages students from historically marginalized communities in culturally relevant and inclusive maker education.   

The growing maker movement in education has become an integral part of both STEM and STEAM learning, tapping into the natural DIY inclinations of creative people as well as the educational power of inventing or making things. And yet African American, Latino/a American, and Indigenous people are underrepresented in maker culture and education. In this book, Nettrice Gaskins proposes a novel approach to STEAM learning that engages students from historically marginalized communities in culturally relevant and inclusive maker education. TVC connects technical literacy, equity, and culture, encompassing creative innovations produced by ethnic groups that are often overlooked. 

 

Bio:  Dr. Nettrice R. Gaskins is an African American digital artist, academic, cultural critic and advocate of STEAM fields. In her work she explores "techno-vernacular creativity" and Afrofuturism.  

Dr. Gaskins teaches, writes, "fabs”, and makes art using algorithms and machine learning. She has taught multimedia, visual art, and computer science with high school students. She earned a BFA in Computer Graphics with Honors from Pratt Institute in 1992 and an MFA in Art and Technology from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1994. She received a doctorate in Digital Media from Georgia Tech in 2014. Currently, Dr. Gaskins is a 2021 Ford Global Fellow and the assistant director of the Lesley STEAM Learning Lab at Lesley University. She is an advisory board member for the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech. Her first full-length book, Techno-Vernacular Creativity and Innovation is available through The MIT Press. Gaskins' AI-generated artworks can be viewed in journals, magazines, museums, and on the Web. Her series of 'featured futurist' portraits are on view at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building through early July 2022. 

Gaskins served as Board President of the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture (The Alliance) and she was on the board of the Community Technology Centers Network (CTCNet) and Artisan’s Asylum.