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Miriam E. Sweeney, PhD

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It's official! Book contract with Polity Press

12/21/2022

 
I'm excited to announce that I have officially signed a book contract with Polity Press for a critical project about voice assistants, surveillance capitalism, issues of design, ethics, and the future of voice as a ubiquitous interface. The book is provisionally titled, Voice Assistants, until I find that catchy, sexy title that eludes me at the moment. A brief summary of the book contents for those interested:

This book traces the development of voice assistant technologies melding technical, social, and political-economic perspectives to consider issues such as: the underlying big data infrastructures that voice assistants both depend on and shore up; the design and marketing of voice assistants as domestic/caregiving technologies; how ideologies of gender, race, and class are embedded in the design of voice assistants; the imagined uses (and futures) of voice assistants by the tech companies that design them; the extended data-gathering and reach of voice assistants both within and outside of the home; the ethical and privacy implications of voice assistants; the political economic landscape that frames voice assistants as ideal technological solutions for personal and home management; and the possibilities for reimagining and resisting voice assistants and the paradigm of surveillance capitalism they are imbricated in.

Stay tuned for updates on the project!

Console-ing Passions 2022

7/1/2022

 
My first time attending the Console-ing Passions conference last week was an absolute delight. Returning to an in-person conference after several years of virtual attendance felt really exciting, and meeting this  incredible group of feminist and queer media researchers made the environment feel welcoming, safe, and full of possibility (in a moment where that feeling is *desperately* needed).

Big shout-outs to the conference organizers Mel Stanfill and Anastasia Salter and their team of exceptional graduate students for pulling off a fun and informative event. You all crushed it.

The abstract and talk for my conference paper, Refacing Gender in Digital Assistant Technologies, is now available online.

​Looking forward to seeing everyone in Calgary next year at Console-ing Passions 2023!

Illinois Information Literacy Summit- keynote available!

5/3/2022

 
I had the pleasure of keynoting the 20th Annual Information Literacy Summit on April 29th. The symposium theme, "Expanding the Conversation: Digital, Media, and Civic Literacies In and Out of the Library" was really generative and drew out an amazing group of attendees (over 500 registrants) from all over the country. The abstract for my keynote, "Facing Your Computers: Algorithmic Literacy as Praxis" is below- I will post the link to the recorded talk when it is available for the organizers. The recorded talk and transcript are now available on the conference website.

Big thank you to the organizers for this event- they were some of the kindest folks I've worked with. 
Facing Our Computers: Algorithmic Literacies as Praxis | Transcript
Miriam E. Sweeney, Associate Professor, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alabama
“Facing Our Computers: Algorithmic Literacies as Praxis” is a call to turn our attention to the current technological environment, characterized by increased reliance on algorithmic technologies, and grapple with it as part and parcel of the broader social, political, and economic landscape. Borrowing from Paulo Freire’s (1972) definition of praxis as “reflection and action directed at the structure to be transformed”, I invite us to consider how ”facing our computers” (i.e. developing critical algorithmic literacies as a reflective tool) might help LIS “expand the conversation” around algorithmic culture in our professional roles in order to better formulate actions and responses that lead us to better collective futures.

C&IS Board of Visitors Award for Teaching Excellence

4/29/2022

 
Picture of Dr. Sweeney against UA logo reading: C&IS Board of Visitors Award of Teaching Excellence
C&IS BOV Teaching Excellence Award
I was honored to be awarded the 2022 C&IS Board of Visitors Award for Teaching Excellence. This award is given annually to a C&IS faculty member who is innovative and effective in teaching a wide range of courses, prioritizes diversity in teaching, and demonstrates a commitment to student engagement and mentorship beyond the classroom. 

This was a special award for me. I love the students here at the University of Alabama and making meaningful connections with them is some of the most rewarding work I get to do. Thank you to the award committee and, of course, to all of the students who go out in the world and do the hard work with their communities. 

New article out in American Quarterly

4/4/2022

 
I'm excited to announce that Melissa Villa-Nicholas and I have a new article published in American Quarterly: "Digitizing the 'ideal' Latina Information Worker." This research represents the evolution of our thinking through issues related to interface design and labor histories throughout several collaborative works. I want to thank my co-author for being the most generous and brilliant collaborator, and the editors and reviewers who helped us improve the paper throughout the publication process. Please consider reading, assigning, and citing this research!



Latina AVA installed at Long Beach airport, pictured in Airus Media’s brochure.
Latina AVA installed at Long Beach airport, pictured in Airus Media’s brochure.
Abstract:
Recent examples of virtual assistant technologies designed as Latina information service workers are noteworthy objects of study for their potential to bridge analyses of Latinas’ labor history and information technology. Latinas in the United States have traditionally worked in blue-collar information technology sectors characterized by repetitive labor and low wages, such as electronics manufacturing and customer service. Latina information service workers, though fundamental to technoscience, have been largely invisible in histories of computing. Latina virtual assistants mark a shift in this labor history by relying on the strategic visibility of Latina identity in/as the technology interface. Our research explores Latina virtual assistants designed by Airus Media and installed as airport workers in airports along the southwestern border of the United States. We situate the technocultural narratives present in the design and marketing of these technologies within the broader histories of invisible Latina information labor in the United States. We find continuities between the ways Latinas have historically been positioned as “ideal” information workers and the use of Latina identity in the design of virtual assistants. We argue that the strategic visibility of Latina virtual assistants is linked to the oppressive structures of invisibility that have traditionally organized Latina information service workers.

Cite as: Sweeney, M. E., & Villa-Nicholas, M. (2022). Digitizing the “Ideal” Latina Information Worker. American Quarterly, 74(1), 145–167. https://doi.org/10.1353/aq.2022.0007. (Pre-print available at http://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/7549.) 

Voices for Information Equity talk

4/23/2021

 
I was so pleased to be an invited speaker as a part of the Voices for Information Equity webinar series put together by my esteemed colleague Dr. Melissa Villa-Nicholas and hosted by the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Rhode Island. 

My talk, Listening at the Library: Surveillance in the Stacks Gets Smart, discussed key privacy issues associated with integrating smart voice speakers and digital assistant technologies into library services and programming:

This webinar explores key privacy issues associated with emerging technologies in library services and programming. Building on a recent study about smart voice assistant integration in libraries, Sweeney identifies important questions about patron data collection, management, and use across the lifecycle of smart technologies. Tracing these concerns raises important questions for libraries about the need for pro-active engagement with data privacy in advance of technology adoption, and lays the ground work for libraries to set a broader professional agenda for data privacy that places community safety and tech accountability at the center of library services.*

We had a wonderful turnout of about 70 attendees; my MANY thanks to those who came, participated, and asked wonderful questions. I had a ton fun talking to everyone.



*You can read more about these issues in my related publications:

Sweeney, M.E. (2021). Digital Assistants. In Agostinho, D., D’Ignazio, C., Ring, A., Thylstrup, N.B., & Veel, K. (Eds.), Uncertain Archives. Baltimore, Maryland: MIT Press. (Pre-print available at ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/6348.)

Sweeney, M.E. & Davis, E. (2020). Alexa, are you listening? An exploration of smart voice assistant use and privacy in libraries. Information Technology and Libraries, 39(4). https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v39i4.12363. (Pre-print available at http://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/6783)
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Uncertain Archives (MIT Press) is available!

2/9/2021

 
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I was so thrilled to receive a copy of Uncertain Archives: Critical Keywords for Big Data in the mail a few weeks ago. This compilation edited by Nanna Thylstrup, Daniela Agostinho, Annie Ring, Catherine D'Ignazio, and Kristin Veel features  critical entries on big data from a wide range of prominent and upcoming media scholars, arranged glossary style. (And, what a beautiful cover!)

The volume contains my own entry, "Digital Assistants", and critically explores the  "commonsense" design practices of smart digital assistants and related technologies.

A pre-print of my chapter is available if you can't get your hands on this excellent book. Otherwise, I recommend taking the time to read through these provocative essays that provide a snapshot of the big data environment and suggestions for our data futures.

Thank you to the editors and authors whose time, labor, and generosity crafted this wonderful resource!

Alexa, are you listening... in the stacks?

12/22/2020

 
I'm happy to share a new article, "Alexa, Are You Listening? An Exploration of Smart Voice Assistant Use and Privacy in Libraries", published with co-author (and SLIS alum) Emma Davis about smart voice assistant use in libraries. Our research explores library use of smart voice assistant technologies in user services and programming, documenting many as-of-yet unresolved privacy issues that these technologies pose for patron communities and also library staff. We urge library workers to consider that smart voice assistants pose harm to many of our patrons as extensions of policing data networks, and argue that the LIS profession has a responsibility to actively engage questions of technological harms and data privacy before advocating adoption of emerging technologies like smart voice assistants in library services.

Read more in our full article, available open access:

Sweeney, M. E., & Davis, E. (2020). Alexa, Are You Listening? An Exploration of Smart Voice Assistant Use and Privacy in Libraries. Information Technology and Libraries, 39(4). https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v39i4.12363

Book review: The Smart Wife (2020, MIT Press)

9/12/2020

 
It was my pleasure to review Yolande Strengers and Jenny Kennedy's new book, The Smart Wife: Why Siri, Alexa, and Other Smart Home Devices Need a Feminist Reboot, for Science magazine.

Their book, published in 2020 by MIT Press, explores a topic close to my heart: gendered digital assistants and questions about feminized design, labor, culture, and technology. Their book offers a cheeky and provocative deep dive into the many forms, representations, and roles played by smart wife technologies, particularly as they perform cleaning, caring, home-making, companionship, and sexual labor in the home.

You can read my full review of their book in the September 2020 issue of Science magazine:

Sweeney, M.E. (2020). The Stepford wife gets smart. Science, 369 (6508), pp. 1169. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abd2192 
Book cover

NSF Grant funded

8/16/2020

 
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I'm excited to share the news that I have received a $299,997 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for an interdisciplinary project that I am a co-PI on: “Using Problem-Based Learning to Increase the Ethical Reasoning Skills of Electrical and Computer Engineering Students”

The grant will kick off a three-year study that 
explores how engineering students’ perceptions of social responsibility (used in this work to describe the obligation that professional engineers have to act with the welfare and interests of society at large) changes after participation in this ethics focused course, the persistence of these changes over time, and compare these perceptions against engineering students from other disciplines without the freshman ethics focus. 

We'll be integrating critical information and data perspectives in the training of engineering students to leverage inter-disciplinary skillsets that are often siloed outside of STEM and not represented in engineering ethics training.

Faculty investigators are Todd Freeborn (PI, Engineering), Claire Major (co-PI, Education), and myself (co-PI, Library and Information Sciences). 
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