Designing a Future with Digital Studies

Before declaring Digital Studies as a minor, I had little to no background knowledge on what it was. Originally, I had believed that it was a discipline that involved social media (something that I felt was important on exploring as I studied advertising) and the different tools that allow people to create media. However, I learned that digital studies encompasses more than just social media and creating media. It allows you to become literate in digital tools and understand its impact on how we communicate, view others, and access information.

Digital Studies is a field that is becoming increasingly important as it educates us to think critically about the digital tools we use on a daily basis, and introduces us to new tools. The implications of these tools include how identity is formed online, how we treat others online, how to extract data, how to use the Adobe Suite, and more.

The world and the internet are constantly changing. Digital Studies provides an academic approach to recognize that these constant changes are “echoed in new ways of thinking about culture and knowledge, and in light of this, the humanities are are actively augmenting and rethinking their existing methods and practices” which is shown through educators changing their teaching strategies to keep up with the technological changes (Berry & Fagerjord, p. 1, 2017).

My Digital Studies Minor beginning was after a peer in one of my classes suggested it after I admitted that I didn’t have enough credits to graduate. I didn’t want to have a random minor just to meet credits, but after looking over some of the classes, I realized Digital Studies could be the perfect solution. At Grand Valley State University(GVSU), there are classes offered in the minor that are from different programs, not just Digital Studies, which allowed me to customize my path and have a more holistic approach to the minor. This also made it easier for me to choose classes that applied to my major.

While researching the different classes in the minor, it was reassuring that I had taken one of the classes offered (Writing for the Web) and had enjoyed it. After this, I decided that I would declare Digital Studies as one of my minors because my advertising classes had stressed the importance of digital media and how prevalent is has become. Also, classes emphasized the use of digital skills in the workforce with facts like, “digitally intensive middle-skill jobs pay more than non-digital middle-skill jobs” (“Digital Skills,” n.d.).

Before the minor, I had already taken Writing for the Web, which I hadn’t realized would encompass learning how to code and build a website. Originally, I was interested in the class because of my career goal of being a Copywriter, and I felt it would be helpful to learn the most rhetorically effective way to write on the web. During the course of the class, I was exposed to Drupal, a content management system, which I had never heard of before, and learned basics to CSS and HTML, which I had never imagined I would ever learn in my life, let alone in a writing class. I was able to the learn technical aspects of website building, but also, got to see how a string of words can turn into a beautifully designed and functional website.

With my continued interest in design, I took Advanced Writing for the Web. This class built upon what we had learned in Writing for the Web, but had us work with clients to develop a Drupal website for them. Additionally, one of our assignments involved us using a web page provided with HTML, but every student had to use CSS to change the appearance of the website (Figure 1).

Figure 1: A web page that I designed by coding CSS in Advanced Writing for the Web.

Then, I took my first “Digital Studies” class, Digital Identities and Communities, which gave me the groundwork for the minor. We explored what it meant to be digital or analog, and topics such as: identity, gaming, privacy, and addiction. I felt that the goal of this course provided insight on what it meant to be digital and how it impacts the way we live.

The following semester, I took Digital Data and Design which focused on the different ways you can extract data and how to ethically display data. This class, along with Visual Rhetoric and Design, helped inform me of how an “expertise in data science [involves the] capacity to think deeply about the ethical and social implications of the use of digital technology” (Crawford, 2018). I didn’t quite realize the ethical ramifications that could be present when using technology in advertising. When creating graphics, specifically displaying information, it is important to have visuals that do not distort the data, such as when creating infographics (Figure 2). This can cause confusion and leads to viewers being misinformed (Hogle, 2018). In addition, when targeting certain groups of people for an ad, you need to make sure that the way you acquired the data for their information was ethical and that you are not targeting in a way that violates their privacy.

Figure 2: An infographic I made in Visual Rhetoric and Design that combined design and data.

Another class that I chose to take was Understanding Still Photography. This was an additional class that I did not see myself taking. I have never really been into photography and am not known for taking lots of pictures. I thought that this class could help me see the visual aspect of an advertisement and the strategy that goes into taking a picture. If I become a Copywriter, I will have to work with Art Directors who will have images, and I will have to make sure that my writing fits the meaning of the photo. By taking this class, I learned the basic technical aspects of using a DSLR camera and the many ways that photographs can spread meaning (Figure 3). This will help me to better communicate with photographers and coworkers the future, and allows me the advantage of being able to take and use my own photos on writing tasks, such as for a blog or a social media post.

Figure 3: A photograph I took for Understanding Still Photography which displays the concept of time.

With the information I learned from my Digital Studies classes, I aspire to work for a company that values privacy and providing ethical graphics and information to the public. I still wish to pursue advertising copywriting and I think that what I learned will help me to write more effectively on the web and communicate better to my audiences. With technology constantly changing, my digital studies education will always be present, as I need to keep up with evolving regulations, platforms, and issues in the field.

Berry, D. M., & Fagerjord, A. (2017). Digital Humanities: Knowledge and Critique in a Digital Age. John Wiley & Sons.

Crawford, S. (2018, August 22). Why Universities Need ‘Public Interest Technology’ Courses. Wired. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/story/universities-public-interest-technology-courses-programs/

Digital Skills Gap: Middle-Skill Jobs, Digital Literacy, and Future of Work. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2019, from https://www.burning-glass.com/research-project/digital-skills-gap/

Hogle, P. (2018, August 15). Misleading Data Visualizations Can Confuse, Deceive Learners. Retrieved February 7, 2019, from https://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/misleading-data-visualizations-can-confuse-deceive-learners