This session will cover aspects of the social justice theme from the Framework for Visual Literacy for Higher Education (Framework for VL), available at https://acrlvltf.org/, currently awaiting final approval by ACRL. While the audience for this Framework for VL is higher education librarians, the document is multidisciplinary and easily adaptable to work for professionals in a variety of visual fields.
The Framework for VL acknowledges that “pursuing social justice can include decentering whiteness and hegemonic practices in visual collections and canons.” The panelists, two task force members behind the document’s creation, will expand on select knowledge practices and dispositions that can teach students to recognize, deconstruct, and disrupt visual canons.
Examples that will be included are:
- Evaluate how authorities establish what is or is not included in the visual canon of a field, elevating some voices and cultures while suppressing others.
- Consider if creation and/or use of a visual will constitute misappropriation, which dissociates visuals from their original contexts and deprives individual creators and cultural communities of agency and credit.
- Anticipate the ways in which algorithms, social media, and participatory technologies obscure or promote visuals and visual media creators, which may reflect commercial interests and reinforce existing social dynamics.
- Prioritize ethical considerations for cultural and intellectual property when creating, sharing, or using visuals.
- Reflect on the dual role that visuals may play in either fostering or subverting harmful, restrictive, social, or cultural norms.
The session will include reflection and discussion the role of the visual resources professional in promoting social justice and instructional techniques using real world examples of concepts to better connect theory to practice around social justice issues.
