The Skin You're In, Too: Students Explore Avatars and Race

What happens when you create a black-skinned avatar in Second Life?  Inspired by my post "The Skin You're In", college teacher Ignatius Onomatopoeia recently challenged his students to do just that, and report on their findings.  The fascinating results are summarized here.  "[W]hile no one had racial slurs hurled at their avatars,"  Professor O writes, "Kiaarra and more than a few of her classmates felt like Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man." All I can say is, when even Adam West Batman turns his back on you, something seems seriously wrong.  Read the rest here.

Comments

[Beeble Baxter]

Professor O. is a colleague and has been at the forefront of classroom application of SL and other digital technologies at our university, as well as in the wider realm of English Composition. Though resistant 'old-school' faculty may doubt the academic value of virtual realities, the compositional skills required are multiple and their interweaving is a complex intellectual challenge by any standard. Additionally, Iggy's work in SL has inspired theoretical reflections in many of my postings to Beeble's Blog.

Aside from their utility in composition, virtual realities like Second Life also raise a galaxy of interesting and relevant questions that can inspire fruitful thinking and writing about embodiment, identity, technology and human interaction. For the past few years the EDUCAUSE Horizon Report has predicted the use of such technologies in higher education and Professor Ignatius Onomatopoea is an avatar creatively surfing the crest of this coming wave.

2008 Horizon Report - http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2008/