Current and Recent Research
PARTICIPATORY Design of Language and culture Archives FOR INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES
2015-present
I first engaged with archives through conversations with Shobhana Chelliah and other linguist collaborators who introduced me to language archives, and suggested that there was an opportunity to link my expertise in user-centered and participatory design with the needs of language archive managers and users.
More than half of the world’s 7,000 or so languages are at risk of no longer being spoken by the end of this century. Most belong to small Indigenous groups. The United Nations highlighted this issue by declaring 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages.
Online language archives can potentially play a valuable role in language preservation and revitalization. In 2016, I initiated a dialogue between the fields of language archives and user-centered design to improve diverse user groups’ experiences with language archives and make them more accessible and useful. The first step was a workshop that brought together representatives of key stakeholder groups (funded by collaborative NSF grants 1543763 and 1543828, PIs myself and Gary Holton, U Hawai’i Mānoa). Outcomes included 1) mapping the diverse perspectives of different stakeholder groups, 2) creating a typology of language archives and their varying relationships with user groups, and 3) identifying current access issues. Resources from the workshop can be found here.
Based on early findings, my research focus evolved in two ways:
The focus broadened from language archives to language and culture archives
My research focused on how community-based archives can be designed for Indigenous groups, using a participatory design approach.
Collaborators: Gary Holton, Heather Roth
Publications:
participatory Design of archiveS for indigenous communities in northeast india
2016-present
Boro students performing traditional cultural practices and displaying artifacts, Bishmuri village, January 2018; teacher: Keshab Mashahary
Northeast India has many Indigenous communities. In such communities, children still learn the traditional language at home. However, schools are mainly taught in English or a state language. Many linguistic and cultural practices are not being transmitted to children, as modernization and globalization change their worlds. Community members are concerned about passing on information about these practices to future generations.
I am currently consulting with members of the Bodo and Dimasa communities on the development of a community-focused archive. You can visit it at http://bododimasaarchive.org.
The Bodo team has been supported by the Nativers’ Institute of Bodology. The Dimasa team obtained a grant from the Indian Council of Social Science Research.
I have learned much from Shobhana Chelliah and her Lamkang Language Documentation Project.
Research activities so far:
Research with four contrasting user groups conducted by my Fall 2016 Design Anthropology class at UNT; client was founding director of CoRSAL Shobhana Chelliah
Prototype interfaces developed by Santosh Basapur's User Experience Design class at Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute of Design in Spring 2017, based on findings from my class
Interviews with eleven Lamkaang people living in Hyderabad, Summer 2017, conducted by Janette Klein and analyzed by M. Nicholas Orzech; interviews conducted on student research trip organized by Shobhana Chelliah and supported by research assistant Melissa Robinson
Research in Northeast India with the Lamkaang, Anāl, Dimasa, and Bodo communities, January 2018, supported by UNT India Venture Fund
Research in Northeast India with the Dimasa and Bodo communities, February 2020, supported by the UNT CLASS Scholarly and Creative Activity Award
Research in Northeast India with the Dimasa and Bodo communities, January 2023, supported by the UNT Global Venture Fund
Collaborators on the Bodo Dimasa Digital Heritage Archive: listed here.
Collaborators on Related Research Activities: Shobhana Chelliah, students in my 2016 Design Anthropology class, Santosh Basapur, students in Basapur's 2017 User Experience Design class, students in my 2020 Analysis and the Segue to Design class, Janette Klein, Emma Nalin, Sumshot Khular, Prafulla Basumatary, Dhrubajit Langthasa, Bihung Brahma, Jyotiprakash Tamuli, Jodi Williams, K.D. Bell, Sue McRae Stover, Alexis Palmer, Oksana Zavalina, M. Nicholas Orzech, Shannon Cronin, Florencia Forno, A.K. Martin, Lena Pham, Giselle Elizondo
Publications and Reports:
Hereditary chiefs conducting welcome ceremony for elders and youth visiting the traditional homeland of the ‘Nakwaxda’xw, April 2018
participatory Design of Archive for Gwa’sala- ‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations
2017-present
The Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations are a small community of people who mainly live on the Tsulquate Reserve at the northern end of Vancouver Island. Prior to 1964, they lived as two separate tribes in traditional homelands along the coast of British Columbia. They are considered part of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nations.
Like many other First Nations, generations of this community suffered significant loss of linguistic and cultural knowledge through Canada’s forced assimilation policies, including relocation and residential schools. The community is now engaged in efforts to reclaim their language, culture and territory.
As part of these efforts, community members, along with other collaborators, are developing an online resource that will make linguistic and cultural materials easily available and useful to the community. Materials include both pre-existing and new recordings and documents. I act as a consultant on participatory design with this group.
Collaborators: Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations, Daisy Rosenblum, Lucy Hemphill-Haché, Melissa Marsh, Reed Allen, Arynn King, Kelly Anderson
Meetings + Networks:
A New Approach to the Analysis of Participatory Decision-Making
2013-2015, tbc
http://meetingsandnetworks.wordpress.com/
Julia Gluesing and I combined our areas of expertise to develop a novel approach to the analysis of participatory decision-making that integrates methods for analyzing the meetings where decisions get made with methods for analyzing interactions among the broader social networks that influence what happens in the meetings. (Funded by NSF grant 1408169.)
Collaborators: Julia Gluesing, Elizabeth Sidler, Molly Shade, Ken Riopelle
Publications:
Gluesing, J., C. Wasson and K. Riopelle. 2017. Environmental Governance in Multi-Stakeholder Contexts: Integrating the Analysis of Decision-Making in Meetings with the Analysis of Network Interactions. In Networked Governance: New Research Perspectives, ed. Betina Hollstein, Wenzel Matiaske, and Kai-Uwe Schnapp. Berlin: Springer, 211-245.
Wasson, C. 2016. Integrating Conversation Analysis and Issue Framing to Illuminate Collaborative Decision-Making Activities. Discourse and Communication 10(4):378-411.
Wasson, C. and J. Gluesing. 2015. A Wicked Methodology for the Analysis of Wicked Problems: Integrating the Analysis of Meetings and Networks. Proceedings of the 59th Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences.
Ethnographic Research for Self-Driving Cars
2014-2018
I have led two studies on how people understand their cars and what their experience is with various types of road users. The client for both studies was the Nissan Research Center – Silicon Valley, which develops autonomous vehicles. The projects were conducted by the outstanding students in my Design Anthropology classes.
Road User Experience. In 2018, we examined how bicyclists, solid waste workers, and crossing guards experience other people’s driving behaviors, and what the implications are for self-driving cars. We also examined how a self-driving shuttle was experienced by its users, people who shared the road with the shuttle, and other stakeholders. Our findings took the form of five videos, available on the RoadUX Vimeo Channel identified below.
The Social Life of the Car. The goal of the 2014 study was to generate a foundational understanding of how people in the U.S. understand and drive their cars. This study laid the groundwork for future ethnographic research projects that would take a deeper look at more narrowly defined topics.
Collaborators: Melissa Cefkin, Laura Cesafsky, Brigitte Jordan, students in 2018 and 2014 Design Anthropology classes
Publications:
Road User Experience Vimeo Channel
Saintonge, Kenneth, Kingston Smartt-Nalli, Nick Jordan, Sarah Stutts, and Dazore Bradford. 2019. Navigating Roadways: An Ethnographic Exploration of Three Types of Road Users. Paper presented at Society for Applied Anthropology Annual Meeting. March 20, Portland, OR.
Brandt, Kelsey. 2019. Navigating Roadways: An Ethnographic Exploration of Community Interactions with a Self-Driving Shuttle. Paper presented at Society for Applied Anthropology Annual Meeting. March 20, Portland, OR.
Jordan, B. and C. Wasson. 2015. Autonomous Vehicle Study Builds Bridges between Industry and Academia. Proceedings of the 2015 Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference, 24-35.
UNT News Release: How Would Drivers’ Habits Change in Self-Driving Cars?
User Research on UNT Data Analytics and Reporting
2015-2021
Two studies have been conducted.
The goal of the first study in 2015 was identification of the key decision-making data needs of UNT’s Chancellor and Presidents, Cabinet Members, and Vice Chancellors, to inform the development of a complete redesign of UNT’s data warehousing system.
The goal of the second study in 2021 was to understand the key data and reporting needs of UNT World data providers, to inform the Data and Reporting Assessment Core Team’s recommendations on how to optimize services in the data and reporting landscape across UNT World.
Collaborators: William Moen, Heather Roth, Rama Dhuwaraha, UNT Data Warehousing/Analytics/Dashboards (D.A.D.) Initiative Team; Jessica Keller, Robert Jones, UNT Data and Reporting Assessment (D.A.R.) Core Team
Publications: