Papers by Elizabeth Rodwell
Practicing Anthropology, 2024
User Experience (UX) research and design have quickly gained popularity as specialties within the... more User Experience (UX) research and design have quickly gained popularity as specialties within the tech industry. Having a “good UX process” has been considered essential to successful innovation since user experience pioneer Don Norman defined the field’s relationship to “radical” and “incremental” innovation (2013). Nonetheless, UX work remains largely invisible to those outside of the echo chambers of technology and innovation. This especially applies to one subset of UX, which is still emergent and negotiating its way out of and through sandboxes: conversational user experience design. This work requires practitioners to determine what constitutes a “usable” conversation between people by testing and designing dialogue for conversational AI tools like Alexa, ChatGPT, Cleverbot, Siri, or Replika. As artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are considered critical touchpoints in a modern innovation strategy, we run the risk of conversational UX professionals being trained only in the language of technology and not in the sociocultural aspects of conversation to which anthropology can effectively speak. In this paper, I examine how social science training and cultural sensitivity are essential to building conversational AI that can support and engage its human users. Voice-controlled AI already suffers from an incapacity to understand a broad range of accents or languages. It disciplines its users to talk to it in ways that can be counterintuitive. To innovate intelligently in this area, we need user experience professionals who understand social interaction as a cultural exchange.
Routledge eBooks, Sep 30, 2022
The Routledge Companion to Media Anthropology, Sep 16, 2022
Science, Technology, & Human Values, 2016
Do fundo do meu ser, oferto a minha gratidão ao Grande Pai Céu, á Grande Mãe Terra, ao Avô Sol, à... more Do fundo do meu ser, oferto a minha gratidão ao Grande Pai Céu, á Grande Mãe Terra, ao Avô Sol, à Avó Lua e todas as forças da natureza, que me guiaram por caminhos de luz e me permitiram caminhar em beleza, buscando paz, justiça e sabedoria para a conclusão deste estudo. Aos cirandeiros e cirandeiras, caminhantes solidários dessa luta, pela garra, entrega, força, coragem, cuidado. Pela poesia, pela musicalidade, pela teatralidade, pelas palhaçadas, pela plasticidade, pelo toque, pelos questionamentos, pelas longas discussões e pela produção maravilhosa que tivemos: teórica, artística, social e humana. À memória do meu pai Cipriano por acreditar na educação como caminho de superação. À minha mãe, Francisca, lutadora incansável sempre a mostrar caminhos e possibilidades. Aos meus filhos Samuel, Mayana, Raímia e Uirá, pela presença incondicional, pelo apoio, pelos questionamentos e pela solidariedade. Aos meus netos Isaac, João Pedro e Amandy, pela alegria da vida e por me permitirem resgatar em mim a criança sempre pronta a viver o novo.
Science, Technology, & Human Values, 2015
In recent years, a dramatic increase in the study of infrastructure has occurred in the social sc... more In recent years, a dramatic increase in the study of infrastructure has occurred in the social sciences and humanities, following upon foundational work in the physical sciences, architecture, planning, information science, and engineering. This article, authored by a multidisciplinary group of scholars, probes the generative potential of infrastructure at this historical juncture. Accounting for the conceptual and material capacities of infrastructure, the article argues for the importance of paradox in understanding infrastructure. Thematically the article is organized around three key points that speak to the study of infrastructure: ruin, retrofit, and risk. The first paradox of infrastructure, ruin, suggests that even as infrastructure is generative, it degenerates. A second paradox is found in retrofit, an apparent ontological oxymoron that attempts to bridge temporality from the present to the future and yet ultimately reveals that infrastructural solidity, in material and sy...
Culture and Computing, 2022
Journal of Contemporary Anthropology, 2011
This article presents a survey of admissions processes employed by 43 American anthropology depar... more This article presents a survey of admissions processes employed by 43 American anthropology departments. Motivated by a desire to begin a dialogue about how candidates can be better prepared to submit an application, and to assess how individual departments make admissions decisions, I conducted a survey of faculty within these departments using both email and a web-based survey tool. Additionally, I spoke to prospective doctoral student users of a particular online forum-thegradcafe.com-to assess their understanding of the process and their confidence about admissions. Herein, I further attempt to explain why a transparent admissions process is in the interest of anthropology graduate programs, and suggest how we can emulate efforts made by our colleagues in the humanities to improve the experience for both applicants and faculty.
Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 2021
This article is part of an ongoing ethnography of the Japanese television industry focusing on it... more This article is part of an ongoing ethnography of the Japanese television industry focusing on its attempts to experiment with live, interactive content that was manipulable via smart devices, laptops, and remote controls. Based on 18 months of fieldwork in the Japanese television industry in four major TV network offices and two production companies, it also incorporates interviews with more than 30 broadcast company employees. I use two case studies of early interactive television programming to discuss the strategies producers have used to create community and promote identification among audiences of these shows: ‘ Arashi Feat. You’ was a live music event that courted a large audience through the involvement of a massively popular boy band and promoted the idea of ‘turning viewers into users’ by allowing them to play musical instruments along with the band. ‘ The Last Award’ allowed participants to submit and evaluate each other’s videos live through a dedicated user interface. ...
Information, Communication & Society, 2021
This article is part of an ethnography of Japan's ;independent journalism movement, with a focus ... more This article is part of an ethnography of Japan's ;independent journalism movement, with a focus on the establishment and dissolution of the Free Press Association of Japan (FPAJ). Based on 13 months of fieldwork within this organization and other internet news broadcasters (i.e., the Independent Web Journal, Our Planet TV) I argue that the conventional taxonomies applied to journalists and journalistic praxis don't easily apply to Japan. Even in the period of heightened political activism following the March 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster, the country's stalwart kisha (press) club infrastructure proved too great an obstacle for comparatively informal challengers such as the FPAJ. While resistance movements and protest groups have made much use of the internet here, as in other parts of the world, the FPAJ's attempt to provide direct streaming access to official sources of information largely failed to attract official sources to its press conferences and to generate consistently newsworthy material. The FPAJ attempted to argue that anyone in Japan could be a journalist, but its eventual bankruptcy and dissolution ultimately wound up serving the argument for a professional and official journalistic class put forward by the colleagues whose monopoly over information they were fighting against.
Practicing Anthropology, 2021
While there is insufficient scholarly literature on UX pedagogy in general, there is a particular... more While there is insufficient scholarly literature on UX pedagogy in general, there is a particular lack of work on how to construct a UX Research degree program, rather than one in UX Design. Therefore, this article examines what the requirements for such a program would be, the impediments to building it, and whether a distinct program emphasizing research is necessary. Based on my experience working as a UX Researcher and as an Assistant Professor teaching UX/Applied Anthropology, I argue that the industry would benefit from interdisciplinary UX Research programs that harness the strengths of several departments to teach the skill set involved in this role.
Science, Technology, & Human Values, 2015
In recent years, a dramatic increase in the study of infrastructure has occurred in the social sc... more In recent years, a dramatic increase in the study of infrastructure has occurred in the social sciences and humanities, following upon foundational work in the physical sciences, architecture, planning, information science, and engineering. This article, authored by a multidisciplinary group of scholars, probes the generative potential of infrastructure at this historical juncture. Accounting for the conceptual and material capacities of infrastructure, the article argues for the importance of paradox in understanding infrastructure. Thematically the article is organized around three key points that speak to the study of infrastructure: ruin, retrofit, and risk. The first paradox of infrastructure, ruin, suggests that even as infrastructure is generative, it degenerates. A second paradox is found in retrofit, an apparent ontological oxymoron that attempts to bridge temporality from the present to the future and yet ultimately reveals that infrastructural solidity, in material and sy...
Information, Communication & Society, 2021
This article is part of an ethnography of Japan's "independent" journalism movement, with a focus... more This article is part of an ethnography of Japan's "independent" journalism movement, with a focus on the establishment and dissolution of the Free Press Association of Japan (FPAJ). Based on 13 months of fieldwork within this organization and other internet news broadcasters (i.e., the Independent Web Journal, Our Planet TV) I argue that the conventional taxonomies applied to journalists and journalistic praxis don't easily apply to Japan. Even in the period of heightened political activism following the March 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster, the country's stalwart kisha (press) club infrastructure proved too great an obstacle for comparatively informal challengers such as the FPAJ. While resistance movements and protest groups have made much use of the internet here, as in other parts of the world, the FPAJ's attempt to provide direct streaming access to official sources of information largely failed to attract official sources to its press conferences and to generate consistently newsworthy material. The FPAJ attempted to argue that anyone in Japan could be a journalist, but its eventual bankruptcy and dissolution ultimately wound up serving the argument for a professional and official journalistic class put forward by the colleagues whose monopoly over information they were fighting against.
Convergence, 2021
This article is part of an ongoing ethnography of the Japanese television industry focusing on it... more This article is part of an ongoing ethnography of the Japanese television industry focusing on its attempts to experiment with live, interactive content that was manipulable via smart devices, laptops, and remote controls. Based on 18 months of fieldwork in the Japanese television industry in four major TV network offices and two production companies, it also incorporates interviews with more than 30 broadcast company employees. I use two case studies of early interactive television programming to discuss the strategies producers have used to create community and promote identification among audiences of these shows: 'Arashi Feat. You' was a live music event that courted a large audience through the involvement of a massively popular boy band and promoted the idea of 'turning viewers into users' by allowing them to play musical instruments along with the band. 'The Last Award' allowed participants to submit and evaluate each other's videos live through a dedicated user interface. Through these examples, I argue that participation alters the nature of television spectacle and results in changes to the way producers address and inscribe audiences as cocreators of content. The rhetoric used by interactive television accordingly defaults to 'we' and 'us' and features accessible and relatable celebrities as surrogates for the audience.
An article from positions: east asia cultures critique (working papers)
This article presents a survey of admissions processes among 43 anthropology departments in the U... more This article presents a survey of admissions processes among 43 anthropology departments in the U.S. With the goal of assessing how individual departments make decisions and begin a dialogue about how candidates can be better prepared to submit an application, I conducted a survey of faculty within these departments using email and a web-based survey tool. Additionally, I spoke to prospective doctoral student users of a particular online forum– thegradcafe.com– to assess their understanding of the process and their confidence about admissions. Herein, I further attempt to explain why a transparent admissions process is in the interest of anthropology graduate programs, and suggest how we can emulate efforts made by our colleagues in the humanities to improve the experience for both applicants and faculty.
Conference Presentations by Elizabeth Rodwell
the 60 th anniversary of television broadcast in Japan, and the country's oldest broadcasters, NH... more the 60 th anniversary of television broadcast in Japan, and the country's oldest broadcasters, NHK and NTV, want to do something big, something to usher in the next 60 years of television history. Their plan is rather ambitious: a two-day, live interactive television broadcast, a collaboration between the networks and a small upstart of a Tokyo company called, Bascule. "60 Ban Shōbu" (60-Year Battle), as the program is dubbed, is heavily promoted; a large banner announcing its broadcast hangs over the famous Shibuya "scramble" intersection.
2) A young woman, Dan Mitsu, enters a room, clad in a bathrobe. Her hair appears damp, as if she ... more 2) A young woman, Dan Mitsu, enters a room, clad in a bathrobe. Her hair appears damp, as if she has recently bathed. Eyelids half-lowered, she pouts for the camera, and slowly allows her robe to fall away-revealing the sheer white bra and underpants beneath. Her skin glows, softly, golden, in the warm lighting of this soundstage. As Dan slowly mugs for the camera in a manner resembling nothing if not soft-core porn, a voice-over tells the audience that we're about to play a game. And the game will take place in her body. The word LIVE shimmers across the screen, top left. To its right: "ketsuekigata rēsu (blood type race) BLOODY TUBE".
Uploads
Papers by Elizabeth Rodwell
Conference Presentations by Elizabeth Rodwell