Being critical about the digital tools we use: a cross-disciplinary issue
From the beginning of the project, we knew that it was necessary to have a theoretical perspective from researchers and practitioners involved in the subjects that will occupy us for two years. The lecturers we invited in Esadse to give conferences in the framework of DTCC, were chosen to give students aside perspectives on the subject of tools for collaboration, in and out of the creative field. As inter-disciplinary projects are more and more common whether in schools or in the professional world, we thought it would be interesting to question the digital tools others are using for collaboration. We also chose all these lecturers for their critical approach on tools and the numerous issues raised by digital technologies, in line with our pedagogy.
We first invited Vincent Hugoo, to enlighten us on the survey, from a sociological perspective, to understand how we could borrow some methodological tools to enrich our preliminary explorations.
The work of Tallulah Frappier imposed itself by questioning the governance and the political dimension of exchange as a democratic act on web platforms.
In the continuity, we invited Angie Gaudion, who represents Framasoft, an association famous for its involvement in the production and distribution of free software.
We set aside the practice in interaction design, to focus on different perspectives, and to finish this theoretical cycle, we chose to invite Sarah Garcin, an important creator of the French scene in the field of graphic design and digital practices.
Vincent Hugoo: The Sociological Survey
14 December 2021, Esadse
Vincent Hugoo is a doctoral student at the European Center for Sociology and Political Science (CESSP, EHESS/Paris 1). His research focuses on the relational processes that surround daily life --- sociability, interactions, socialization ---, considered from the angle of class and gender, and on the development and role of the French school system in foreign countries.
This lecture focused on the method of inquiry in the humanities and social sciences, as a scientific approach to the social world. It explained the principle of inquiry and gave an overview of the different techniques -- observations, interviews, questionnaires, work on secondary data -- as they fulfill distinct objectives.
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Tallulah Frappier: Designing the debate
17 March 2022, Esadse
Tallulah Frappier is a PhD student in Design and Political Science at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne and works on the design of digital deliberation platforms.
Debate plays a major role in many theories of democracy: it is the basis of all legitimate decisions. As an oratory practice and an exchange of ideas between several people, one might think that debate depends only on the individuals who lead it. However, from the agora to the internet forum, the debate is regularly accompanied by materialities and procedures that concretize the explicit and implicit rules that structure it. It becomes a propitious subject for the designer's reflection who is able to ask himself how these objects linked to the debate reveal and condition it.
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Angie Gaudion (Framasoft): How do free software contribute to the emancipation of users?
30 March 2022, Esadse
Angie Gaudion is in charge of public relations for the Framasoft association and coordinator of the Collective of Alternative Hosting infrastructures (CHATONS). She regularly leads conferences and workshops around digital and cultural commons.
Faced with the monopolies of the digital giants (GAFAM, NATU, BATX, etc.) that generate huge profits on the processing and sale of our personal data, it is becoming urgent to gradually regain control of our digital life. With the Framasoft association, understand why free software and services are essential in a process of digital emancipation and discover ethical, decentralized, solidarity-based alternatives that are more respectful of your privacy.
Sarah Garcin: Long distance relationship (or not)
8 November 2022, Esadse
Sarah Garcin does interaction design, programs softwares, cooks, draws and broadcasts. She is interested in collaborative writing, sharing knowledge, pedagogy, alternative publishing systems, free software, wild picking, direct and multi-streaming, and superposition.
Over the past twenty years, advancements in technology have made remote work easily accessible. Writing texts, discussing ideas, and collaborating on projects with multiple individuals remotely has become a common practice. It is now routine to work with colleagues, clients, service providers, friends, and collaborators, even without ever meeting them in person. While this conference acknowledges the well-known phenomenon of remote collaboration, its focus is on introducing experimental tools that enable collaboration in the same physical space and in real-time.