UM Digital Studies Institute

The image is a promotional poster for an event by the Digital Studies Institute at the University of Michigan. The background features a dark red hue with abstract white line drawings of buildings. At the top left, the University of Michigan logo and the Digital Studies Institute name are displayed. The central portion of the poster prominently features a large white text box with bold red lettering that reads, "PREDATORY DATA: EUGENICS IN BIG TECH AND OUR FIGHT FOR AN INDEPENDENT FUTURE." Below this, a circle contains a photo of a person wearing glasses and a black coat, identified as Anita Say Chan. Another red text box on the left gives event details, "March 24, 3:00 PM EST, Hybrid - In person @ Weiser Hall, 10th floor," followed by a QR code. On the right side, there is a list of co-sponsors in white text, including various departments and institutes.

Save the date! What do big tech, eugenics & your data trail have in common? Find out at our DSI Lecture Series, “Predatory Data: Eugenics in Big Tech and Our Fight for an Independent Future” with Anita Chan.
🗓 Mar. 24, 3:00 PM
📍1010 Weiser Hall + Zoom
🔗https://myumi.ch/n1zqb

Promotional flyer for the University of Michigan's Digital Studies Institute Lecture Series "Trans Ecologies of the Real and the Virtual in Contemporary Art" with micha cardenas featuring a digital artwork.

Don’t miss our upcoming DSI Lecture Series, “Trans Ecologies of the Real and the Virtual in Contemporary Art” with micha cárdenas as we explore trans ecologies, art, and digital worlds.
🗓 Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026 | ⏰ 3:00 PM ET
📍 Online (via Zoom)
🔗 Register here: myumi.ch/G23ey

Check out the DISCO Network's upcoming talk 🔥 This is sure to be an amazing conversation!!

The words "Digital IDEAS" with "IDEAS" in a 3D checkered style design and the U-M's Digital Studies Institute logo below.

Good news! 🎉

We’ve extended the application deadline for the 6th Annual Digital IDEAS Summer Institute.

🗓 New deadline: Feb. 22

Still time to join us May 31–June 5, 2026 as we explore this year’s theme: AFTER.

Apply here: myumi.ch/rAP6M 💡

#DigitalIDEAS #CallForApplications

Colorful poster for the AMPLIFY: DSI Student Showcase featuring event details and creative typography, spelling out the words AMPLIFY.

🎉 Join us for AMPLIFY: the DSI Student Showcase on Tue, Feb. 3 | 3–6 PM!
Explore student work across podcasts, zines, digital art, games, and more.
📍 North Quad
🔗 myumi.ch/qZ3mZ

The words "Digital IDEAS" with "IDEAS" in a 3D checkered style and the University of Michigan's Digital Studies Institute logo below.

🚨 5 days left!
Digital IDEAS applications close Feb. 1.

Please share with students, scholars, artists & technologists in your networks who are thinking critically about the digital AFTER.

Apply: myumi.ch/rAP6M

#DigitalIDEAS2026 #CriticalTech

Two weeks from today!!

Save the date! 📅 The 2026 Digital IDEAS Summer Institute happens May 31–June 5.
Join us as we explore AFTER — from aftermaths to afterlives! ✨
Applications close Feb 1, 2026.
More info: myumi.ch/rAP6M
#DigitalIDEAS2026 #DigitalStudies #AfterTheory #CriticalDigital

3D text "IDEAS" with "Digital" above it, and "Digital Studies Institute University of Michigan" below.

The 6th Annual Digital IDEAS Summer Institute returns May 31–June 5, 2026! 💡💻✨This year’s theme: AFTER — exploring aftermaths, afterlives, afterworlds & the hereafter.
Details + apply: myumi.ch/rAP6M
#DigitalStudies #DigitalIDEAS2026 #CriticalTech

Exhibit Spotlight | Q&A with Dr. Toni Bushner | U-M LSA Digital Studies Institute Dr. Toni Bushner talks about the unique aspects of the chiptune community and how the limitations of old tech spark creativity in art today.

What does creative constraint look like when using retro tech? 🎮 In our latest Q&A, Prof. Toni Bushner dives into the world of chiptune, where old-school hardware becomes a playground for radical creativity → myumi.ch/mRN61 #DigitalStudies #Chiptune #8BitMusic

Today’s the day!📢 Join us for “Forging Feminist Futures from 'Creepy' Technologies: The Politics of Smart Tech and Liberation Dreams”
with Neda Atanasoski & Nassim Parvin.
🗓 3–4:30 PM
📍 1010 Weiser Hall (10th floor) + Zoom
💻 Register now: myumi.ch/W6MWd

👀 Less than a week away! Join us at “Forging Feminist Futures from 'Creepy' Technologies: The Politics of Smart Tech and Liberation Dreams” with Neda Atanasoski & Nassim Parvin.
🗓 Tue, Sept 30 | 3–4:30 PM
📍 1010 Weiser Hall + Zoom
🔗 Register: myumi.ch/W6MWd

Mark your calendars for an amazing event next week!!

What do smart dust, credit scores & sexcams have in common? Find out in “Forging Feminist Futures from 'Creepy' Technologies” with Atanasoski & Parvin, part of the DSI Lecture Series.
🗓 Sept. 30 | 3–4:30 PM
📍 1010 Weiser Hall + Zoom
🎟 Register: myumi.ch/QwGnk

We have an amazing lineup of programming through the DISCO Network for the 25-26 academic year! Learn more below🪩We hope to see you there!

At Digital IDEAS, we watched "Humans in the Loop" — a film that showcases the invisible labor behind AI systems.
We spoke with filmmaker Aranya Sahay about Western biases in AI, and the laboring bodies in the Global South who train those norms into the machine.
#DigitalIDEAS #CriticalAI

Digital IDEAS Day 4 → A dynamic panel on Harnessing Reparative AI with Ellie Abrons, Germaine Halegoua, Matt Bui, and Erykah Benson.
What does AI look like when it’s rooted in justice—not just efficiency?
A powerful conversation on repair, design, and digital futures.
#DigitalIDEAS #CriticalAI

Digital IDEAS Day 3 → Ariel Hasell critically reflects on Elon Musk’s tweet: “You are the media now.”
In today’s media ecosystem, emotional virality beats credibility.
Who gets to speak—and who gets heard—is shaped more by engagement than expertise.
#DigitalIDEAS #MisinformationMachine

Forget innovation. This morning at Digital IDEAS Day 3, Shannon Mattern reminded us that maintenance is radical.
We talked about care as a method, refusal as a practice, and the politics of keeping things running.
#DigitalIDEAS #FeministInfrastructures

This afternoon at Digital IDEAS Day 2 → Sheila Murphy on Silicon Valley Frontiers 🧠✨
A sharp dive into the metaphors, myths, and media that keep Big Tech dreaming of expansion.
What happens when the “future” is just a repackaged past?
#DigitalIDEAS #SiliconValleyFrontiers

Digital IDEAS Day 2 💻💥
Today’s keynote with Sarah Sharma brings us into the world of feminist techno-logics, where time is political, infrastructures are gendered, and refusal is a method.
#DigitalIDEAS #FeministTechnoLogics

Digital IDEAS has entered the chat.
🌎 36 scholars
🌡️ 1 heat wave
💥 Infinite ideas about productive malfunctioning
Let’s make (and break) things — critically. #DigitalIDEAS

Event flier for Building the Indigenous Internet panel and Q&A featuring headshots of Ashley Cordes, Majerle Lister, and Lisa Nakamura. Flier text: This panel brings together key voices in infrastructure as broadly imagined, data sovereignty and decolonial perspectives to critically explore the history, present, and future of the Indigenous Internet. The conversation will showcase how Indigenous knowledge has and will continue to shape data worlds by bringing together interdisciplinary perspectives on emerging technologies--ranging from computer science, artificial intelligence, social media, online activism, the work of infrastructure and circuit building, and beyond. By centering Indigenous voices, the discussion aims to create transformative visions for a sustainable, equitable, and inclusive digital future while inviting speculative thinking about post-settler digital worlds. Free copies of Indigenous Currencies: Leaving Some for the Rest in the Digital Age (MIT Press) by Ashley Cordes will be available for the first 50 attendees!

UPCOMING: Join us in-person or virtually for a conversation about Building the Indigenous Internet, with Ashley Cordes, Majerle Lister, and @lnakamura.bsky.social

🗓️ Monday, April 14, 2 - 3:30 PM ET

📍 Weiser Hall 10th Floor, UMich & Zoom

More info and register: events.umich.edu/event/130932

Digital Studies Institute (DSI) Join me in supporting what you love about LSA this Giving Blueday!

Thank you to our #GivingBlueday donors!! Your financial support enables us to train the next generation of scholars, creatives, technologists, and policymakers thinking critically about emerging tech issues from a lens of social justice. We appreciate you!

Digital Studies Institute (DSI) Join me in supporting what you love about LSA this Giving Blueday!

On #GivingBlueDay, we’re not just raising funds, we’re raising voices. Your donation to the DSI supports our commitment to the intersection of technology and social justice. Let’s pave the way for a brighter digital future!

Digital Studies Institute (DSI) Join me in supporting what you love about LSA this Giving Blueday!

Big shoutout to everyone who’s already donated to the DSI for #GivingBlueDay! Your generosity empowers the next generation of tech-savvy changemakers! 💻💡🤖

When you donate to @UmichDigital on #GivingBlueday, you support research & programming on the social implications of technology & our shared digital futures. Help us train the next generation so that tech is shaped with equity and social justice at heart: myumi.ch/D81J6

Digital Studies Institute (DSI) Join me in supporting what you love about LSA this Giving Blueday!

Rise and shine for #GivingBlueDay! Start your day off right by donating to the DSI 🤖 🌞 Help us train the next generation of scholars thinking critically about tech and social justice 💻🌐📱 Donate here:

Event flier for TikTok, Deepseek, and the Fear of Chinese Tech in Nationalist Times featuring headshots of Tara Fickle, Ian Shin, and Jeff Yang.

Join us for a conversation with Tara Fickle, Ian Shin, and @originalsp.in about TikTok, DeepSeek, and the fear of Chinese tech in nationalist times!

📅 Monday, March 31, 4-6 PM ET

📍Weiser Hall 10th Floor, University of Michigan & Zoom

More info and register: events.umich.edu/event/132520

Critical data studies, AI, platform cultures, post-truth internet, abolitionist tech—if your research engages digital studies in radical ways, we want you at Digital IDEAS @UmichDigital 📅June 23-27, 2025 📍 Ann Arbor, MI ✍️ Apply by Mar. 21: myumi.ch/G2WzP