2023 Diverse Perspectives in Digital Media & Design Speaker Series 

To paraphrase James Baldwin, nothing can be changed until it is faced. This is certainly true of the inequities that have historically shaped digital media content, fields, and careers. Join UConn’s Digital Media & Design department in welcoming industry professionals, artists, and media scholars from the film, design, cultural, game, and other sectors to discuss how issues of equity manifest in their work, creative processes, and professions, allowing us to reflect on how our own practice can support greater equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Subscribe to the UConn DMD YouTube page to view each of these live events!

Now in it's third year, the Diverse Perspectives in Digital Media & Design speaker series is supported by a 3-credit course of the same name taught by Professor Clarissa Ceglio. Through readings, films, and other works created by and/or recommended by the series’ speakers, students examine the ways in which digital media works, practices, and professional fields perpetuate racism, sexism, classism, ageism, and other forms of oppression. By meeting and talking with contemporary practitioners who are challenging and changing the status quo, students reflect on how they can support greater equity, diversity, and inclusion in their future spaces of work.

The 2021-23 Series

Check out the 2022 Diverse Perspectives in Digital Media & Design Speaker Series and 2021 Diverse Perspectives in Digital Media & Design Speaker Series and watch the recorded events on our YouTube DMD Diverse Perspectives playlist.

Monday, February 27, 2023
5:30pm EST
Invisible Asians: How Underrepresentation Creates Otherization and Fuels Hate 
Aalok Kanani, Chief Digital and Communications Officer for the Asia Society
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Monday, March 20, 2023
5:30pm EST
Love Wins: Solving LGBTQ Problems Through UX Design 
Andrew Wolf, Senior Product Designer at Rokt
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Monday, March 27, 2023
WORKSHOP: Flipping the Narrative: A Workshop on Effective Storytelling and Storyboarding 
1:00-3:00pm EDT (139 Bishop Center)
Presentation: The Visionary Leadership of Minority Women in Animation 
5:30pm EDT (146 Bishop Center and virtual)
Jane Wu, Creative Director at Hero4Hire
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Monday, April 17, 2023
5:30pm EDT
Elevating Diverse Voices in a Volatile Film Distribution Landscape 
Nikki Stier Justice, Head of Distribution for Buffalo 8 and Independent Producer
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Monday, April 24, 2023
5:30pm EDT
That’s What She Said, Inclusive Storytelling as Radical Authenticity 
Jennifer Reeder, artist, filmmaker, and screenwriter
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