Terms & Conditions

We are pleased to announce the 2024 edition of Intersections|Cross-Sections, an annual graduate student conference & art symposium hosted by students from the Joint Graduate Program in Communication & Culture at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) & York University. This year’s programming will be presented in person on Saturday, March 9th, 2024 at The Creative School Catalyst at Toronto Metropolitan University.  

This year’s theme revolves around digital ecosystems and human participation. The field of digital literacy emerged from Paul Gilster in 1997 as an essential movement towards building skills beyond computer
technology. Gilster viewed digital literacy “as the ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when presented via computers” (Gilster 1997).

However, conceptions of what it means to be ‘digitally literate’ have evolved in communication and media disciplines along with the technological development of a digital world. Richard Latham argues that being ‘digitally literate’ is to be “skilled at deciphering complex images and sounds as well as the syntactical subtleties of words” (Latham 1995).

In 2023, with the Western adoption of AI tools like ChatGPT, digital literacy has become ever-important with our increasing interdependence upon technological and digital communications. Possessing digital skills allows us to not only navigate the digital world accessible at our fingertips but also dictates our capability to create, use, and share content. The depth of our literacy also impacts our online identities and marks the tasks or performances we operationalize.

IS|CS calls for a critical reimagining of the future of digital ecosystems through a critical cognizance of prominent forces and efficacious drivers mastering the digital universe. From using our personal data to crafting our online identities, how are we understanding the terms & conditions of being in a digital world?

In bringing together graduate students, emerging scholars and artists from a diverse array of backgrounds, we look to provide a forum for reflection on digital citiznship and identity, with an emphasis on exploring our online status amidst changing algorithms, data, and technology.

#ISCS2024 #BYU2024