ONLINE: Don’t Feed the Trolls: How to Navigate the New Terrain of Social Media and Academia

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UW-Madison Department of Communication Arts

Lori Kido Lopez is director of the Asian American Studies Program at UW-Madison.

It's the wild west out there, folks, and there ain't no sheriff in town. The lawlessness of the internet, the harm that can be done through both direct harassment and insider memes amid other misinformation and innuendo, has certainly been underlined over the last four years. This Center for the Humanities panel discussion asks the question: "What happens when these platforms, and the trolls who lurk on them, encourage harassment or doxing of academics and graduate students?" We can all learn something about our safety and our free speech from this intriguing webinar. Register in advance for a link to the Zoom livestream.

media release: We all know that the internet, broadly speaking, is quick to generate and magnify controversy. At the same time, academics now regularly participate in social and digital platforms as well as online networks of communities around shared topics. What happens when these platforms, and the trolls who lurk on them, encourage harassment or doxing of academics and graduate students?

Rather than reanimate specific furor, this Humanities NOW conversation will examine this new and often inhospitable frontier where social media meets academia. Panelists will provide strategies for managing the fear around trolls. We’ll discuss the impact and risk facing women, people of color, and other minority communities. We ask, how might we better define and navigate the increasingly blurry space of public versus private, whether that be at a renowned research institution or in pursuit of other alternative career paths. We’ll also share resources to consult should you become the victim of this behaviors.

We’ll be joined by an esteemed panel, including:

• Samer Alatout, associate professor in community and environmental sociology
• Franciska Coleman, assistant professor of law and associate director of the East Asian Legal Studies Center
• Kathleen Culver, James E. Burgess Chair in Journalism Ethics, associate professor in the School of Journalism & Mass Communication, and director of the Center for Journalism Ethics
• Robert Howard, professor of rhetoric, politics, and culture in the Department of Communication Arts
• Lori Lopez, associate professor of media and cultural studies in the Department of Communication Arts
• Moderated by Rob Asen, professor of rhetoric, politics, and culture in the Department of Communication Arts

Please register in advance for this conversation here. You can also submit a question for the panelists.