A PDF version of my C.V. can be found here: CV
JAIME LEE KIRTZ
EDUCATION
PhD in Media Research and Practice 2019 University of Colorado, Boulder
Dissertation Title: Encoded Inequality: Hacking the Gender Bias in Media Technology
Committee: Andrew Calabrese, Janice Peck, Stewart Hoover, Lori Emerson, Nabil Echchaibi (Chair)
Description: Utilizing a case study of video game systems, my dissertation interrogates the gendered and racial biases and assumptions opaquely embedded within technoculture. It includes: an investigation into gendered discourses of technology; a delineation of feedback loops of gendered cultural-consumer practices of play; a critical examination of sociohistorical and material practices, such as the connection between weaving, feminized labor, and women’s bodies; and articulates challenges to digital inequalities through subversive practices from artistic, making and hacking communities.
MA in English and Creative Writing 2014
Concordia University, Montréal, QC
Thesis Title: We(s)t Coast
Committee: Darren Wershler, Bina Freiwald, Sina Queyras (Chair)
Dual BSc & BA in Physics and English Literature 2010
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Engaging with social, cultural and political aspects of algorithmic culture, new media and infrastructure with a particular focus on issues of gender and race. Specific areas of focus include: gendered and racial labor in global media industries, social justice and technology, algorithmic culture, media policy, critical infrastructure studies, media archaeology, democracy and civic participation, international media and technological circulation.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Professional Appointments
Postdoctoral Fellow 2019-Present
School of Communication, Simon Fraser University
- Research fellow for Digital Democracies Institute led by Dr. Wendy H.K. Chun
- Leading comparative case study research on abusive language and toxicity online within political and gaming communities
- Developing interdisciplinary methods and theory around issues of toxicity and counterspeech in media environments and sociotechnical systems
- Leading cross-disciplinary, collaborative study on algorithmic content moderation, user experience and platform policy
- Supervising graduate and undergraduate student researchers on ethnographic study
- Collaborating on building of NLP tools (natural language processing) and responsible AI
- Coding schema development and operationalization of concepts
Research Assistant 2016-2017 Department of Media Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Assistant to Dr. Andrew Calabrese
- Contributor to study on the media ethics and social-political issues arising from the predatory double bind of food corporations and regulations
- Conducted primary and secondary research on food politics and social justice through digital archives and collections
- Employed new editing technologies and assembling materials for upcoming publications
Research Fellowships
Research Fellow 2015-2019 Center for Media, Religion and Culture, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Presented talks on a variety of topics including: misinformation, big data, affect, algorithms
- Conducted interviews for the Media Ambivalence Project
- Constructing the digital aspect of the hypermediation and public scholarship project
- Participating in weekly meetings and discussions
- Contributing entries for the keywords media project
McLuhan Residency Fellow 2017 McLuhan Center, University of Toronto
- Conducted research on labor ethics and standards within modern information communities
- Participated in weekly workshops with fellow graduate students
- Attended weekly meetings to discuss future collaborative projects and development of the McLuhan Center for Culture and Technology during the summer semester
CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
Remaking in the Revolution: Platforms, Precarious Labor and Intersectional Design
My current book project interrogates the problem of opacity, inequality and labor precarity in modern technology through examining practices that involve reuse, through recycled materials or upcycle practices and which intersect with contemporary digital culture through platforms and the gig economy. I examine case studies wherein objects or materials have gone through material, commodity and digital remediations and interrogate issues of platformization through the concept of algorithmic personalization. Focusing on both discourse and data practices, I critique the problematic idealizations in common and journalistic representations of hackers and crafters and articulate the recoding of inequality in information cultures. Thus, I investigate the ways in which past assumptions, norms, and social characteristics are embedded, transformed, reiterated, and re-purposed in present context. In doing so, I engage with the gendering of precarious labour, not only within the media, but through the materials and practices themselves.
From Hate to Agonism: Fostering Democratic Exchange Online
My current work for the Digital Democracies Institute project includes:
- A study (lead author) that examines the ways in which abusive language and toxicity is
- conceptualized and moderated on social media platforms and resulting racial discrimination
- A follow-up article (lead author) on how the problematic and inconsistent articulation of abuse and toxicity is amplified in the reporting process.
- A series of workshops and probe kits that draw from critical design practices on the topic of abuse and counter-speech. This process involves hiring, supervising and mentoring graduate and undergraduate students as well as being lead author on a publication from results.
TEACHING INTERESTS
Developing interdisciplinary courses and courses in media and communication disciplines that examine, integrate, and question new media technology using critical thinking. Specific sub- genres include: social media, new media theory, social justice informatics, communication technology, platform studies and policy, research methods and communication history.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Primary Instructor Positions
Instructor 2018- 2019
Department of Media Studies, Program for Writing and Rhetoric, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Designed and taught upper division course on comics, graphic novels, and rhetoric (Comics & the Graphic Novel)
- Designed and taught lower division honors course on new media and writing (New Media & Society)
- Utilized and instructed students on research technology
- Utilized and instructed students on visual tools (Infographic makers, Tableau)
Instructor 2018
College of Communication, Media and Information, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Designed and taught upper division course on qualitative and quantitative methods (Strategic Communication Research Methods)
- Utilized and instructed students on research technology (Qualtrics, SPSS, Excel)
- Helped students develop communication strategy documents for clients
- Provided instruction on interviews, focus groups and ethnographic research
- Communicated with students as well as grading assignments
Instructor 2016
Department of Media Studies and Program for Writing and Rhetoric, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Designed new course on comics and graphic novels for a joint program and certificate in Media Studies, English, and Writing and Rhetoric (Comics & the Graphic Novel)
- Integrated cultural and media studies theory with an interdisciplinary focus on the production elements as well as circulatory methods of comics
- Utilized media and instructional technology to inform pedagogical techniques
- Taught course, which included workshops on student’s assignments, assisting students with media skills, and daily communication
Instructor 2014-2016 Program for Writing and Rhetoric, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Designed and taught upper division courses on new media, civic engagement, and rhetoric (New Media & Civic Engagement)
- Integrated digital media technologies into assignments and readings
- Adapted and revised the course for the new Technology, Arts and Media program
- Utilized network analysis as well as multimodal writing to understand the impact and effects of new media while also developing students’ analytical skills
Instructor 2014-2015 Program for Writing and Rhetoric, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Designed and taught first year composition courses on rhetoric, new media and multimodal composition (First Year Writing)
- Integrated new media technologies with composition pedagogies
Teaching Assistant Positions
Teaching Assistant 2018
Department of Communication, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Teaching Assistant to Dr. Ruth Hickerson (Perspectives on Human Communication)
- Lead once-a-week recitations and guest lectures
- Communicated with students as well as grading assignments
Lead Teaching Assistant 2017 Department of Media Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Lead Assistant to Dr. Janice Peck in (Media and Communication History)
- Responsible for all TAs, created weekly lesson plans for TAs, guest lectured, and established grading consistency
- Lead once-a-week recitations, worked one-on-one with students and graded assignments
Teaching Assistant 2017
Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Prepared and composed all course tests and study guides (Creative Industries)
- Communicated with students and aided with course content
Teaching Assistant 2012-2014
Department of English, Concordia University
- Led weekly seminars on English Literature from 600-1600 AD and 1660-1900AD
- Graded all student assignments and gave student feedback on essays
AWARDS AND GRANTS
Canada-UK Artificial Intelligence Initiative (contributor & fellow) 2020
Canada Tri-Agency Research Council, $503,483
Doctoral Fellowship 2015-2019 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, $80,000
Graduate WACC Summer School Scholarship 2017
German Academic Exchange Service, $2000
Graduate Summer Research Fellowship 2017 Department of Media Studies, $2150
Travel Grant 2015
United Government of Graduate Students, $300
Graduate Scholarship 2012-2013 Graduate School Department, Concordia University, $7000
PUBLICATIONS
Kirtz, Jaime Lee. “Textiles and Technology: Needlework in Networked Spaces as Feminist Praxis.” Feminist Digital Humanities. Eds. Susan Schreibman and Lisa Rhody. University of Illinois Press. (Forthcoming).
Matviyenko, Svitlana and Jaime Lee Kirtz. “Echo Chambers of Paranoid Knowledge: On Cyberwar Epistemology,” Discourse. (Forthcoming).
Kirtz, Jaime Lee, Zeerak Waseem, Christine Tomlinson, and Wendy Chun. “Succeeding to Fail: The Impact of the Specificity of Ambiguity in Content Moderation,” First Monday. (Under Review).
Kirtz, Jaime Lee. Remaking in the Revolution: Platforms, Precarious Labor and Intersectional Design. (In-Progress).
Kirtz, Jaime Lee. “Breaking the blackbox: Recovering female labor through circuit bending ROM chips,” Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology, no. 13 (2018).
Kirtz, Jaime Lee. “Gaga over Google: Problematizing Democratization of Information in Capitalist Communication,” Media Development 12, no. 3 (2017): 16-20.
Kirtz, Jaime Lee. “Computers, Comics and Cult Status: A Forensics of Digital Graphic Novels,” Digital Humanities Quarterly 8, no. 3 (2014). http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/8/3/000185/000185.html
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Peer-Reviewed Conferences
“Glimpsing Gender: Interrogating Embedded Gender Bias in Plugs, Sockets, and Electronic Ephemera.” European Network for Cinema and Media Studies Conference 2021. (delayed)
“Run, Don’t Walk: The FitBit, Health Discourse and User Deep Mining.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, 2020. (cancelled)
“Discrimination and Data.” Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Seattle, WA, Jan 9-12, 2020. Special Session for the Association For Computers and the Humanities.
“Imagining Feminist Media Through Hacking.” International Communication Association Conference, Prague, CZ, May 24-28, 2018.
“All about Algorithms: Bias and Fake News in Social Media.” Media Research and Practice 2017 Colloquium, Boulder, CO, Dec 6, 2017.
“Electrical Extensions: Applying Media Archaeology to Communication History.” International Communication Association: Communication History Division Conference, San Diego, CA, May 25- 29, 2017.
“Plugging into Gender: Hidden Histories of Electric Media Outlets, Gender and Media Infrastructure.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, March 22-26, 2017.
“Scanning as Global Media.” Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Austin, TX, Jan 7-10, 2016.
“To Download or Not to Download? An Examination of Academic Publishing and Knowledge Dissemination in an Internet Era.” HASTAC 2015 Conference, East Lansing, MI, May 27-30, 2015.
“Digital Paratextuality as Subversion: How New Technology Alters Traditional Processes of Textual Production and Reading.” American Comparative Literature Association Annual Conference, Seattle, WA, March 26-29, 2015.
“Anonymity and Authorship in Modern Graphic Novels.” University of British Columbia, Graduate Conference, Vancouver, BC, May 10-11,2013.
“Computers, Comics and Cult Status.” University of Maryland, At the Mercy of the Masses: Popular Culture and Academia Graduate Conference, College Park, MD, April 12-13, 2013.
“Collaborative (de)reconstruction.” Simon Fraser University Graduate Conference, Vancouver, BC, May 21-23, 2013.
INVITED TALKS
Panelist. “The 2020 U.S. Election, A View from Canada.” Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto, ON, Oct 29, 2020.
“Archives as Processes of Production: Interrogating Archival Infrastructure, Labor and History” Ischool, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Nov 28, 2016.
“Interrogating the Standard.” Input/Output Symposium, Montreal, QC, Nov 24-25, 2016. (Plenary Speaker)
“What is Media Archaeology?” 300 Level Media Theory Course, Boulder, CO, Nov 15, 2016.
UNIVERSITY SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE
Reviewer 2019-Present
New Media and Society Journal
- Reviewed submissions for articles about critical infrastructure studies and games
Curator 2014-2019 Media Archaeology Lab, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Educating visiting student groups and faculty
- Collecting, re-animating, and organizing collections of media technologies
- Working with visiting researchers and artists
Assistant Developer 2017-2019 Department of Media Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Collaborating development of the digital portion of the Hypermediations project with scholar- in-residence Nathan Schneider
Digital Historian and Archivist 2017 Graduate Student Association, Department of Media Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Creating digital databases for archival purposes
- Assisting the association with IT and communication support
Outside Productions Coordinator 2011 Creative Writing and Publishing Department, Simon Fraser University
- Co-ordinated the annual department anthology and employed specialized publishing software to produce final drafts
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Summer School Participant 2017 Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg
- Attended and contributed to a week-long workshop and summer school on communication rights in the global digital society
Summer School Participant 2016 Residual Media Depot, TAG Lab, Concordia University
- Attended and participated in a collaborative course on media archaeology led by Dr. Darren Wershler, Dr. Stephanie Boluk, and Dr. Patrick Lemieux
- Produced hacked video games through reprogramming vintage Nintendo cartridges
- Published daily blog entries on theoretical and practical readings
HASTAC Scholar 2015-2016 HASTAC Scholars Program
- Contributed blog posts about digital media and materialism
- Attended yearly conference
Workshop Participant 2015 Digital Humanities Summer Institute, University of Victoria, BC
- Collected research from special archives at the University of Victoria
- Conducted research on connections between pre-digital and digital interfaces
- Completed the Pre-Digital Book Workshop
Discussion Leader and Participant 2010-2012 Lacan Salon, Simon Fraser University
- Attended biweekly meetings to discuss and translate the works of Jacques Lacan
- Prepared presentations, seminars, and papers for group discussion
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Editor 2013-2014 Lemon Hound Literary Journal, Concordia University
- Composed articles on creative writing and rhetoric
- Selected and edited poetry submissions electronically
Federal Intern 2010 House of Commons, Government of Canada
- Conducted research on ecological literature and policies
- Helped write proposed bills for the ecological preservation of BC coastlines from oil tankers
Academic Archivist 2010 City of Vancouver, BC
- Appointed by the poet laureate, Brad Cran, for the Vancouver 125 Poetry Conference
- Conducted research through interviews, observations, and pre-reading of text with contemporary poets
- Assimilated research and interviews for the digital City Archives
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
- Society of Cinema and Media Studies
- International Communication Association
- International Association for Media and Communication Research
- Modern Language Association
- Association of Writers and Writing Programs
- Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations
TECHNICAL SKILLS
- Data Collection: Qualtrics, Twitter Analytics, YouTube Reporting, Google Trends, Facebook Page Insights
- Data analysis: SPSS, Excel, Gnuplot
- Data Visualization: Piktochart, SPSS
- Word Processing: Office Suite
LANGUAGES
English: Fluent
French: Proficient at writing and reading
Jaime Lee Kirtz, PhD 