Lift 2019 Fall

https://commons.erau.edu/lift-magazine/1034/thumbnail.jp

Carrying others: A feminist materialist approach to research-creation

Everyone is connected and operates with or alongside a maternal structure. As psychologist Bracha L. Ettinger states, we all hold within us an imprint or memory of being carried — carried across landscapes, across time, into destinations unknown (Ettinger, 2006). This doctoral dissertation takes up these poetics through an interdisciplinary investigation of Feminist Materialist Research-Creation practices and strategies. Referencing recent traditions of Art Intervention, Performance Art, Land Art, and the canon of feminist art history, this research mirrors, connects with, and critiques digital imaginaries and considers how the maternal body responds to the agency of things in the world. This research makes a unique contribution to the humanities, feminist scholarship, and Research-Creation practices by exploring strategies and subjectivities, new positions of theorization, and analyses that unsettle contemporary approaches to artistic research. This includes a series of theoretical texts, experimental framing, and a portfolio of eight artworks that were individually and collaboratively created and produced between 2016–2019: Traces of Motherhood; Domestic Cupboards; Magical Beast: The Space Within, Out and In-Between, Hunting Self; Mothering Bacteria: The Body as an Interface; Floating in the In-Between; Carrying Others; and Nostalgic Geography: Mama and Papa have Trains, Orchards and Mountains in their Backyard. Showcased with the artwork are digital and technological ephemera, including curatorial conversations, exhibition and submission text, process documentation, links, posters, and other preparatory information. This document also introduces a series of interludes and refections that construct and demonstrate alternative ways of approaching the central ideas, themes, and methodological and theoretical ideas explored in the thesis. Cumulatively, these creative articulations foreground the complexities, process, and nuances of Feminist Materialist approaches to Research-Creation. This document also presents the three main themes which include: 1) Materiality; 2) the Optical Unconscious; and 3) the Technological Unconscious; and, take up the three salient concepts and theories: 1) Carriance; 2) Feminist Materialism; and, 3) Research-Creation. In particular, I argue that Carriance aligns with ideas of care, co-production and becomes a creative way of thinking about connection. Each of the eight artworks demonstrate aspects of Carriance, collaboration, and connection and present emergent ways to consider creative methods, methodologies, and expanded feminist expressions. By discussing a variety of projects and creative forms, this dissertation is a speculative art-making investigation that foregrounds human and non-human relationships, ecofeminist perspectives, and mothering, opening up the term Carriance in a variety of ways to show how it can be more than one method, form, or approach with much potential to challenge, encourage and elicit embodied ways of knowing

COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

An extensive body of environmental justice literature has demonstrated repeatedly what impacted communities have long known from experience, that environmental pollution including groundwater threats, diesel particulate matter, toxic releases, pesticide use, and hazardous waste sites, disproportionately burdens people of color and low-income communities. The environmental justice movement seeks to bring about equal protection of all people from environmental hazards, including equal enforcement of environmental laws and regulations. Advocacy within the movement has frequently adopted oppositional framings with respect to the state; however, collaborative approaches to environmental justice problem-solving have become more common, especially as states increasingly recognize environmental justice in policy. This thesis investigates a California community-based environmental reporting network called Identifying Violations Affecting Neighborhoods (IVAN) through interviews and participant observation in two sites: the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco, and the Imperial Valley in Southern California. The paper argues that IVAN functions to build relationships and trust between community members and government bodies, impose accountability on regulatory agencies, foster social learning that benefits all stakeholders, and solve pollution problems that affect public health, quality of life, and the physical environment. By creating and sustaining a forum that addresses community concerns related to the environment, IVAN acknowledges the validity of residents’ experiences, invites meaningful participation in the process of enforcement of environmental regulations, and, to a limited degree, reduces the pollution burden in low-income communities of color. I argue that in this way, IVAN’s collaborative approach to problem-solving is effective in bridging multiple dimensions of environmental justice

Supporting Participation Through Live Media

Throughout the past century, live media has grown to play a significant role in how we experience the world. Live media connects people in real-time with events happening around the world and helps people establish shared social realities. Recent live forms enabled by the internet are shifting the paradigm away from just passively watching to actively participating. This has significant implications for how we engage in critical aspects of society, including education, politics, work, play, and everyday life. In this work, we focus on understanding emerging live media phenomena and designing new forms to support participation. We do this through two core approaches: qualitative investigations and live media probes. To build an understanding of practice and communities, we conduct qualitative investigations of two situated live media contexts: the video game live streaming site Twitch and massive open online courses (MOOCs). Using Marshall McLuhan’s concept of hot and cool media, we explore how live streaming as a medium affords building these online communities through participation in shared experiences. Building on these findings, we design, deploy, and evaluate live media probes. These probes implement new forms of live media, with the goal of eliciting new forms of live experience and participation. We first design Rivulet, a live media probe supporting new participatory modalities and multiple simultaneous live streams. Through our investigation of Rivulet, we discover how, by incorporating new modalities, we can support higher-impact forms of participation in live experiences. Next, we design Collaborative Live Media Curation (CLMC), a new live media form enabling the collaborative real-time assemblage of web media including text, images, sketch, and live video and audio. We deploy LiveMâché, a CLMC probe, in four situated online learning contexts to support participatory learning activities. We find that CLMC supports new forms of real-time conversational grounding and participation. In conclusion, we summarize and discuss our findings and discuss future directions for live media research

Towards a typology of virtual events

Despite the mounting prominence of COVID-induced virtual substitutes to face-to-face events, the boundaries and terminology between different types of virtual events have not been clearly defined. Theoretical misconceptions exist surrounding the diffusion of virtual reality and existing virtual events into the tourism, hospitality and events sectors, with conceptual ambiguity generating contention. Consequently, this paper develops a typology of virtual events designed to clarify theoretical misconceptions and establish clear limits whereby all virtual events can be classified. Integrating the three dimensions of social presence, virtuality of environment, and location, the SPEL cube is presented as a conceptual model. This paper contributes to understanding the extant literature and practices of virtual events, providing implications for the management of events in the tourism, hospitality, and events sectors; and delivering a foundation for future research into optimal adaptations of immersive technologies

Green Cities Artificial Intelligence

119 pagesIn an era defined by rapid urbanization, the effective planning and management of cities have become paramount to ensure sustainable development, efficient resource allocation, and enhanced quality of life for residents. Traditional methods of urban planning and management are grappling with the complexities and challenges presented by modern cities. Enter Artificial Intelligence (AI), a disruptive technology that holds immense potential to revolutionize the way cities are planned, designed, and operated. The primary aim of this report is to provide an in-depth exploration of the multifaceted role that Artificial Intelligence plays in modern city planning and management. Through a comprehensive analysis of key AI applications, case studies, challenges, and ethical considerations, the report aims to provide resources for urban planners, City staff, and elected officials responsible for community planning and development. These include a model City policy, draft informational public meeting format, AI software and applications, implementation actions, AI timeline, glossary, and research references. This report represents the cumulative efforts of many participants and is sponsored by the City of Salem and Sustainable City Year Program. The Green Cities AI project website is at: https://blogs.uoregon.edu/artificialintelligence/. As cities continue to evolve into complex ecosystems, the integration of Artificial Intelligence stands as a pivotal force in shaping their trajectories. Through this report, we aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of how AI is transforming the way cities are planned, operated, and experienced. By analyzing the tools, applications, and ethical considerations, we hope to equip policymakers, urban planners, and stakeholders with the insights needed to navigate the AI-driven urban landscape effectively and create cities that are not only smart but also sustainable, resilient, and regenerative.This year's SCYP partnership is possible in part due to support from U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, as well as former Congressman Peter DeFazio, who secured federal funding for SCYP through Congressionally Directed Spending. With additional funding from the city of Salem, the partnerships will allow UO students and faculty to study and make recommendations on city-identified projects and issues

Investigating the Safety Challenges of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the Construction Environment

The technologies associated with Unmanned Aerial vehicles (UAVs) have revolutionized the construction industry, simultaneously demanding a comprehensive understanding of the underlying safety implications in order to reduce the risk of personal injury, property damage, lost productivity, and financial damage. Construction is one of the most hazardous sectors, with a wide range of complexity inherent in the nature of its activities, and widespread integration of UAVs without adequate safety management expertise, training, and strategies may exacerbate existing hazards. An increasing volume of research is being conducted on the potential benefits of UAV utilization. However, there is a scarcity of knowledge and development of UAV-based safety frameworks, which might have an impact on the construction sector in the near future. This study aims to investigate the potential safety risks presented by UAV use in the construction environment. In the lack of quantitative and structured data on the effects of UAV-related incidents in the construction environment, the workforce is exposed to an array of unwarranted safety risks. The data was collected through a questionnaire survey that was constructed by a series of designed questions to provide quantitative results in a context aligned to the original research goal. The findings identify a variety of potential and actual risks associated with UAV integration, as well as a substantial perception difference concerning UAVs across industry practitioners. Collision with person and property, trespassing, system malfunction, and inexperienced pilot are the safety risks of high importance with high potential to cause substantial damage and halt productivity. The study further created a construction-specific UAV safety training program that addressed the identified risks and hazards, with the goal of increasing familiarity with UAV uses in conjunction with construction dynamics. Adopting the research study’s results and improvements would allow construction practitioners to rapidly detect UAV-based safety concerns with the help of special training and excel in construction safety performance without compromising productivity