Invited Speaker

Using Critical Social Theories to Examine Digital Equity for Indigenous, Colonized, or Marginalized Peoples

Patricia Leigh - Iowa State University, USA

Abstract:

In this presentation, Dr. Leigh explores technology equity and digital divides as experienced by indigenous, colonized, or marginalized groups. She employs and encourages the use critical social theories to examine power relationships and address issues of oppression and domination. Typically, such theories illuminate instances of racism, classism, sexism, and/or other forms of discriminatory practices, behaviors, and policies aimed at specific social identity groups that have been historically underserved. Dr. Leigh specifically engages critical theory and critical race theory while also underscoring the importance of historical, political, sociological and economic factors that contribute to technological and digital inequities. Although her work centers on the plight of African Americans and other groups within the Black Diaspora, her recently published edited volume, International Exploration of Technology Equity and the Digital Divide: Critical, Historical and Social Perspectives, is a product of collaboration with various authors who explore these same phenomena around the globe.

Biographical Information:

Patricia Randolph Leigh is Associate Professor of Curriculum & Instruction and is affiliated with the Center for Technology in Learning and Teaching in the College of Human Sciences at Iowa State University. Dr. Leigh also provides leadership to the George Washington Carver Academy, a university undergraduate scholarship program. She teaches courses in the areas of educational foundations, multicultural education, and instructional technology, in which she embeds her social justice and equity scholarship. Dr. Leigh’s research is also informed by this expertise as she focuses on the impact of historical discrimination on technology equity in the digital age, the equality of educational opportunities historically afforded underserved children, and the impact that economic discrimination and residential segregation has had upon the public schooling of ethnic/racial minority children in the U.S. Dr. Leigh’s more recent work centers on globalization and social justice, particularly issues affecting those in the Africa Diaspora.