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Jessica Feldman

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Jessica Feldman

Assistant Professor

  • Department: Communication, Media and Culture
  • Personal Website: 

Professor Feldman joined the Global Communications faculty at 吃瓜tv in 2018. Before that, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University, after earning a Ph.D. in Media, Culture, and Communication from New York University in 2017. Her dissertation considered how advances in the surveillance of cell phone data, decentralized mobile networks, and vocal affective monitoring software are changing the ways in which listening exerts power and frames social and political possibilities. This research was funded in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation to support interdisciplinary research on privacy and democracy across the social sciences and engineering. She is also an artist whose work has been exhibited and performed internationally. She received an MFA from Bard in 2007 and taught media and sound art at Temple University and The New School from 2009-2012. She often collaborates with designers, and combines theory and practice in her teaching and her research.听

Feldman鈥檚 current book project, Radical Protocols: Designing Democratic Digital Tools in Social Movements, is a study of the ways in which democratic values are (or are not) inscribed in the design of emerging networked communication technologies. The book is the result ethnographic fieldwork with democratic social movements, especially the 鈥渕ovements of the squares,鈥� during which she studied these movements鈥� communications practices and the alternative digital tools that they designed to serve their political values. This is combined with a 鈥渧alues-in-design鈥� analysis of new decentralized communication, consensus, and trust models, such as mesh networks, blockchain, and algorithmic governance applications, which claim to have democratic values. The book asserts the promise that peer-to-peer tools have for democratic practice in a moment when representative democracy is in decay, while pointing out concerns about the ways in which illegitimate power and control could be inscribed into these communication tools at lower layers.听



Education/Degrees

PhD in Media, Culture, and Communication, NYU, 2017
MFA in Intermedia Art, Bard, 2007
MA in Experimental Music, Wesleyan, 2005
BA in Music, Columbia, 2001

Publications

  • Feldman, J. 鈥淭he street, the square, and the net: how urban activists make and use digital networks,鈥� in听Data Justice & the Right to the City听ed. Morgan Currie, Callum McGregor, Jeremy Knox (Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press, forthcoming 2021).
  • Feldman, J. and N. Oxely. "Utiliser les outils digitaux durant la crise sanitaire : strat茅gies et limites de la vie associative en ligne," [Use of digital tools during the pandemic crisis: strategies and limits for associative life online],听Juris Associations听(January, 2021).
  • Feldman, J., and N. Waltham-Smith. 鈥淟istening in a Time of Pandemic: New Mediations and Intimacies Between Solitude and Solidarity鈥�.听Sociologica, vol. 14, no. 2, Sept. 2020, pp. 1-4, doi:10.6092/issn.1971-8853/11522.
  • Feldman, J. 鈥淟istening and Falling Silent: Towards听Technics听of Collectivity鈥�.听Sociologica, vol. 14, no. 2, Sept. 2020, pp. 5-12, doi:10.6092/issn.1971-8853/11286.
  • Bernholz, L., J. Feldman, and A. Panezi. 鈥�?鈥�, research summary for the Ford Foundation, October 2020.
  • 听鈥溾�澨�Participo: Research and practice of innovative citizen participation, digest for the OECD Open Government Unit, medium.com, 27 April 2020.
  • Currie, M., Feldman, J., Himmelreich, J., and Niker, F, 鈥溾�� report to the AI100 project, May 2019.
  • 鈥淪trange Speech: Structures of Listening in Nuit Debout, Occupy, and 15M,鈥� International Journal of Communication Volume 11: The Nuit Debout Movement: Communication and the Production of Everynight Life, May 2018.
  • 鈥淭rusts and Testaments: Questions of Privacy and Ethical Listening in the Era of Ex-Ante Mass Surveillance,鈥� in Trust in The Digital Era // La confiance 脿 l鈥櫭﹔e num茅rique ed. Milad Doueihi and Jacopo Domenicucci (Paris: Editions Berger-Levrault & Editions rue d鈥橴lm, January 2018.)
  • 鈥淭he Problem of the Adjective: Affective Computing of the Speaking Voice,鈥� Transposition: Music et sciences sociales Issue Six: Listening Lines, Online Listening, 2016.
  • "Schedules," Proceedings of Lines and Nodes: Media, Infrastructure, and Aesthetics Conference, New York University, 2014.
  • 鈥淭he Trouble with Sounding: Sympathetic Vibrations and Ethical Relations in 鈥楽oundings: A Contemporary Score鈥� at the Museum of Modern Art,鈥� Ear/Wave/Event: A Journal of Sensuous Intelligibility Issue One, April 2014.

Conferences & Lectures

(recent, selected)

  • 鈥淐hannel: Technology and Infrastructure,鈥� Regenerative Feedback: On Listening and Its Emancipatory Potential, Rotterdam, 2019
  • invited talk, Department of Political Science, Trinity College, Dublin, 2019
  • 鈥淪trange Speech and Collective Noise: Structures of Listening in Nuit Debout, Occupy, and 15M,鈥� Politics of Listening Symposium, University of NSW, Sydney, 2018
  • 鈥淢aking Noise Matter: Audibility, Authority, and the Techno-Politics of Listening,鈥� International Communication Association Annual Conference, Prague, 2018
  • 鈥淎ffective Computing of the Speaking Voice and The Labor of Listening,鈥� presentation at 鈥淧roductive Sounds in Everyday Spaces: Sounds at work in science, art, and industry, 1920-present,鈥� Max Plank Institute for the History of Science (Epsitemes of Modern Acoustics Research Group), Berlin, 2018
  • 鈥淟istening In: Surveillance, Complaint, Audibility, and the Techno-Politics of Reception,鈥� Society for Cinema & Media Studies (SCMS) Annual Conference, Toronto, 2018
  • 鈥淭he Techno-Cultural History of MIDI,鈥� workshop with Stephan-El枚ise Gras and Martin Scherzinger, Digital Civil Society Lab, Stanford University, 2017
  • 鈥淚nternet Health: A Checkup for Civil Society,鈥� Digital Impact virtual roundtable, 2017.
  • 鈥淭he Problem of the Adjective:鈥� Affective Computing of the Speaking Voice,鈥� International Communication Association Annual Conference, San Diego, CA, 2017
  • 鈥淭estaments, Truth, Trust, and Totalitarianism: Old questions for new technologies,鈥� invited talk, 芦Le num茅rique : une crise de la culture ?禄 Journ茅e d鈥櫭塼ude de la Chaire Humanum Labex Obvil鈥� Sorbonne Universit茅s [鈥淭he Digital: A Crisis of Culture?鈥� Study Day at the Digital Humanities & Literature Lab, Sorbonne Universities], Spring 2017
  • 鈥淭he Problem of the Adjective:鈥� Affective Computing of the Speaking Voice,鈥� MVR Series on Human-Computer Interaction, Eyebeam @ Babycastles, NYC, Spring 2016
  • 鈥淭he Problem of the Adjective:鈥� Affective Computing of the Speaking Voice,鈥� Society for the Social Studies of Science, Denver, CO, 2015
  • 鈥淭he Problem of the Adjective:鈥� Affective Computing of the Speaking Voice,鈥� American Studies Association Annual Convention, Toronto, Canada, 2015
  • 鈥淢IDI: The cultural history and social life of a protocol,鈥� Media Ecology Association Annual Convention, Metropolitan State University, Denver, CO, 2015
  • 鈥淪enCell: A Prototype for Democratic and Secure Mobile Communications,鈥� Wind-Farm 0: People-Powered Nearby Networks, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA 2015
  • 鈥淭he MIDI Effect,鈥� Inertia: A Conference on Sound, Media, and the Digital Humanities, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 2015
  • 鈥淭he MIDI Effect,鈥� Bone Flute to Auto-Tune: A Conference on Music & Technology in History, Theory and Practice, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 2014
  • 鈥淪ound Feeling: Sound, Affect, Emotion, and the Making of the Post-Modern Political Self,鈥� Sound Signatures Winter School, Netherlands Institute for Cultural Analysis, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2014
  • 鈥渟peaking skin: finished/in-progress/future projects using electricity,鈥� Artist Talk, dorkbotnyc, ThoughtWorks, New York, NY, 2013
  • 鈥淭hinking Through Collapse,鈥� Graduate Student Conference, Department of Media, Culture, and Communication, New York University, New York, NY, 2012
  • 鈥淭he Occupation of Listening,鈥� Intersections: Occupations, York & Ryerson Universities, Toronto, 2012
  • Lead from Somewhere: Art, Artists, and Contemporary Civic Action, moderator and presenter, ICA (Institute for Contemporary Arts), Philadelphia, PA, 2012

Presentations

  • 鈥淪tate Apps & The Digital Citizen,鈥� The Digital State: Technology and Government in Pandemic Times, annual conference of the听Centre for Digital Culture at the Art and Humanities Research Institute, King's College, London, 2021
  • 鈥淲hat makes an open source project critical digital infrastructure?鈥� with Argyri Panezi,听Digital Infrastructure: Building Our Digital World, Ford Foundation, 2020
  • Radical Protocols: Designing Democratic Digital Tools in Social Movements鈥�,听Eindhoven University of Technology, Philosophy & Ethics group, 2020
  • Radical Protocols: Designing Democratic Digital Tools in Social Movements,鈥澨�Edinburgh Centre for Data, Culture and Society, University of听Edinburgh, 2020
  • workshop facilitator, governance of FOSS projects,听SustainOSS, Brussels, 2020
  • 鈥淩adical protocols and systemic failures: Designing digital tools in social movements,鈥� at the Annual Conference of the Institute for Protest and Movement Research,听Weizenbaum Institut for the Networked Society, Berlin, 2019
  • panel moderator, "Theater, Space, and Time,"听Digital Civil Society Conference, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 2019
  • "The Romantic Agon of the MIDI Protocol," with Martin Scherzinger,听SIGCIS (Special Interest Group for Computing, Information, and Society), Society for the History of Technology annual conference, Milan, 2019
  • "Inclusion, distribution, decentralization: How democratic social movements design communication technologies, and what they tell us about theory",听Democratic theory and practice听(Political Theory Specialist Group), Political Science Association of Ireland annual conference, Maynooth, Ireland, 2019
  • co-facilitator, "Coding Caring: Human Values for an Intimate AI,"听study-workshop,听Stanford University, Stanford, CA, U.S.A., 2019
  • presentation of "Hold Up Half the Sky,"听Akademie Schloss Solitude,听Stuttgart,听Germany, 2019
  • invited talk,听Department of Political Science, Trinity College, Dublin, 2019
  • "鈥淲e are Nature Defending Herself鈥�: Decentering the Human through Collective Listening and Coordinated Silence in Climate Protest," Voice and Environment,听ICI Berlin, 2019
  • invited talk, 鈥淩adical Protocols: Designing Digital Tools in Social Movements, from Tahrir to Occupy to R茅publique,鈥澨�Center for American Studies and Research, American University of Beirut, 2019

Research Areas

New Media Art, Algorithmic Studies/AI, Democracy Theory,听Emerging Media, Social Movement Studies, Science & Technology Studies, Privacy & Surveillance Studies, Sound Studies, Psychoanalysis & Affect Studies, Aesthetics

Awards, Fellowships and Grants

AWARDS and GRANTS听(selected, recent)

  • Laur茅ate, Cit茅 international des arts, Paris, 2020-21
  • Civic Media Lab (American University of Paris)听project grant, 2020-22
  • Institut听fran莽ais du Monde associatif, grant 芦听recherche sur le fait associatif听禄听(Co-PI), 2020-22
  • Ford Foundation, Critical Digital Infrastructure Research Grant (Co-Investigator), 2019
  • One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence (AI100), Study-Workshop Grant for Coding Caring: Human Values for an Intimate AI (co-PI), 2018-2019
  • AI in Medicine听(AIiMe) Stanford Seed Grant, for听Coding Caring听(co-PI), 2018-2019
  • Dissertation听Completion Prize,听NYU Department of Media, Culture, and Communication, 2017
  • Global Research Initiative, Dissertation Completion Fellowship, NYU Paris, 2016
  • National Science Foundation, CRISSP-INSPIRE Fellowship (The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Security and Privacy, Information Security and Privacy Interdisciplinary Research and Education), 2014-2017
  • NewHive Digital Artist Commission, NewHive.com, 2016
  • LeBoff Dissertation Research Grant,听NYU Department of Media, Culture, and Communication, 2015-2016
  • Doctoral Student Travel Grants, NYU Department of Media, Culture, and Communication, 2011-2015
  • Doctoral Student Travel Grants, NYU Steinhardt School, 2015
  • New York State Council for the Arts,听Grants for听caesura: a forum
  • Doctoral Fellowship, NYU Department of Media, Culture, and Communication, 2011-2017
  • EAF 12: Emerging Artist Fellowship, Socrates Sculpture Park, New York, NY, 2012
  • UC Humanities Research Institute Residency,听Art Inclusion: Disability, Design, Curation, Irvine, CA, 2012听New York State Council on the Arts Distribution Grant听for听The Glass Sea, 2011
  • Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Project Development Residency,听Governors Island, NY, 2010