Free Online Presentation: Reframing Data: Teaching Ethical Data Practices Centering the Experiences of Enslaved Africans and Their Descendants
Presenters: Dykee Gorrell
Live Session: Wednesday, June 17, 2026, 1:00-2:00 Central
Registration: https://ala-events.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QszFn0tRTlyM18dPa9ft4Q
Sponsored by the ACRL ULS Professional Development Committee
This session introduces an emerging instructional approach to teaching data management and visualization through a critical, human-centered lens that foregrounds the histories and lived experiences of enslaved Africans and their descendants. Traditional data frameworks often obscure or dehumanize the subjects they describe, perpetuating systemic inequities and epistemic violence. In contrast, this presentation explores how instruction in data ethics, curation, and visualization can empower learners to critically interrogate how data are created, categorized, and represented-and to develop community-informed principles for ethical data practice.
Drawing on examples from digital humanities, archival recovery projects, and data pedagogy, the session will model activities that prompt reflection on data provenance, power, and positionality. Participants will consider how to design learning experiences that connect technical data management skills (metadata, documentation, visualization) to ethical questions of representation, consent, and historical accountability. The session will also preview an ongoing initiative to develop a broader set of data principles for ethical stewardship, centering the experiences of enslaved Africans and their descendants.
Attendees will leave with instructional strategies, adaptable lesson models, and prompts to begin building or revising their own frameworks for equitable data teaching and practice.
This free presentation is sponsored by the ACRL University Libraries Section Professional Development Committee. It will take place on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, 1pm-2pm CT via Zoom. Register: https://ala-events.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QszFn0tRTlyM18dPa9ft4Q
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If you can’t make this session but wish to view a recording later, please register so that you’ll receive an email that includes a link to the video of the presentation. For security, a Zoom account is required to register for public webinars from ACRL. If you don’t have an account already, you can create one for free.
Please direct questions and concerns to Katie Perry (kperry8@calstatela.edu) or Jane Hammons (hammons.73@osu.edu) of the ACRL ULS Professional Development Committee. A full list of the committee’s past programs is available on the ULS website. —
Bonnie L. Fong (she/her/hers)
Director, Bloomfield College Library
Montclair State University