1. From “Rebel Femmes” to “Feminist Thirst”: Lessons from Students’ ePortfolio Design in Gender/Sexuality Studies Courses   Crystal Jackson & Carmen Kynard John Jay College of Criminal Justice/CUNY

2. Our presentation stresses a central idea: digital technologies are never neutral.  
Social categories such as race, gender, class, sexuality, and ability are shaped by and direct technology. Thus the use of ePortfolios in our gender and sexuality studies courses emphasizes writing through new media where we critically engage with digital media objects as well as produce them. 
We treat our students’ digital materials in our courses as “ipso facto cultural phenomena” (Liu, 2012) related to their deep learning, agency, and visions. 

3. https://johnjay.digication.com/jackson-and-kynard or
We begin our session with an overview of our course syllabi with an emphasis on the ways we use ePortfolios to engage conversations about equity, representation, and digital culture.  We share web-based documents that offer participants syllabi and classroom lessons aimed at social justice, technical-aesthetic design, and anti-sexist/misogynist techno-logics.  
Our presentation materials are housed at: or

4. https://johnjay.digication.com/jackson-and-kynard/crystal
Crystal’s Class Sexualities & Activism Study Abroad 2016: A Cross-Cultural Exploration of LGBTQ+ Identities in the U.S. & Amsterdam   
For Crystal’s materials, go to:

5. https://johnjay.digication.com/jackson-and-kynard/carmen
Carmen’s Class A Curriculum Map: Introduction to Gender Studies and the Gender-Sphere Archive Project   
For Carmen’s materials, go to:

6. What is the role of visuality in the digital work you assign to students? 
What are the roles that visual rhetoric/visual design might play in gender justice? Given the ways that marginalized communities seldom control racist/ heterosexist/ phobic/ ablist images against them, how can spaces like gender studies give image-making back to them?
For the most part, students are expected to write traditional, alphabetic essays in their college classrooms that conform to modes of white, western logic and organization.  How does this model work with and/or against 21st century digital spaces?  
Who are students' audiences when they design/create/write for gender/sexuality justice in open, public, accessible digital spaces? How is that similar to/different from the usual protocol of writing for a teacher and classroom peer reviewers?  
How do OUR ePortfolio projects and processes--- as teachers--- express our desires and visions for alternative futures for our students and marginalized communities?
How do students’ ePortfolio projects and processes express THEIR desires and visions for alternative futures for themselves and marginalized communities?
What are the roles of sound and sonic philosophies in the digital work you assign to students? 
Given the role that music has played in resistance and protest (think Jazz, Soul, Hip Hop), how can spaces like gender and sexuality studies use protest music, etc in shaping how students digitally design justice and resistance?
What is the role of video-making in the digital work you assign to students? 
What are the roles that video-making might play in gender justice? Another way of asking this is: given the ways that marginalized communities seldom control racist/ heterosexist/ phobic/ ablist images against them, how can spaces like gender studies give image-making back to them?

7. https://johnjay.digication.com/jackson-and-kynard or
Our presentation materials are housed at: or