ACLS Digital Justice Seed Grants

We are a team of Indigenous (Amazonian Kichwa) Ecuadorian and U.S. scholars committed to supporting Indigenous peoples who wish to better govern data produced about them. We bring together two Amazonian Kichwa communities in Ecuador, Santo Domingo, where Valdivia and Grefa have a research relationship, and Venecia, where T. Swanson and E. Swanson have professional and family ties, to co-create digital products and prototype a digital website that represent Kichwa peoples from their standpoint. We use mapping and storytelling methods to train youth in digital data technologies to serve this purpose. Together, we explore how co-creating digital data about traditional ecological knowledge can foster intergenerational relationships for long-term Indigenous stewardship of riverine ecosystems.

We are a team of Indigenous (Amazonian Kichwa) Ecuadorian and U.S. scholars committed to supporting Indigenous peoples who wish to better govern data produced about them. We bring together two Amazonian Kichwa communities in Ecuador, Santo Domingo, where Valdivia and Grefa have a research relationship, and Venecia, where T. Swanson and E. Swanson have professional and family ties, to co-create digital products and prototype a digital website that represent Kichwa peoples from their standpoint. We use mapping and storytelling methods to train youth in digital data technologies to serve this purpose. Together, we explore how co-creating digital data about traditional ecological knowledge can foster intergenerational relationships for long-term Indigenous stewardship of riverine ecosystems.

This project addresses critical gaps in sexual health education for sexual and gender minority (SGM) teens by co-designing an inclusive, affirming AI tool using a custom large language model (LLM). Through participatory workshops and an iterative design process with a Youth Advisory Council of SGM teens, the project integrates their lived experiences to develop a dynamic resource tailored to their unique needs. The LLM is complemented by an AI literacy toolkit that equips teens with skills to engage critically with AI technologies, fostering empowerment and equity. This initiative not only tackles systemic biases in AI but also challenges the exclusionary structures of traditional education systems, advancing frameworks for responsible, community-centered AI development.

Dream Palaces — centers Black cinema spaces across Africa and the diaspora as sites of cultural autonomy and community through mapping, public interventions, and virtual screenings. The project focuses on 1. the materiality and architecture of the “dream palaces” (indoor versus outdoor, brick and mortar vs. mobile vans etc.), 2. the cinematic experience itself (price of entry, ticket design, types of films projected, oral histories by attendees), and 3. the geographies outlined by the cinemas in terms of their localization in specific urban or rural environments, their networks of distribution and relations, and the type of spaces represented on screen.

History with Grit: Recovering the Life of John E. Bruce and the Formation of Early Black Yonkers revives the legacy of Bruce, a trailblazing African American intellectual, journalist, and activist. Through archival research, digital storytelling, and media production, the project explores his contributions to Black history and Yonkers’ cultural heritage. In collaboration with academics, community partners, and WCC students, it produces a pilot documentary, educational resources, and digital assets. These efforts provide students with professional experience in media while fostering community pride and creating a “usable past” for Yonkers.

This project aims to reclaim mapping as a decolonial tool in promoting Indigenous traditions, knowledges, and land rights. Invoking the Indigenous adage - “ang lupa ay buhay” ("land is life"), our digital mapping project will collaborate with Indigenous partners in the Philippines who will “map back” to foreground their traditions and to support their ancestral land claims. We will develop a digital mapping dashboard that will consolidate indigenous narratives on land, locate them on map layers, strengthen local traditions, and promote community cohesion. Customizable maps will compare Indigenous land narratives with mainstream cartographic articulations of state territory, which may clarify Indigenous ancestral land claims and encourage critical conversations on Indigenous land rights.

The UF AI Climate Justice Lab is launching a project to support individuals at risk of homelessness due to climate-related emergencies. This project, conducted in partnership with New America and Bright Community Trust, uses advanced AI to gather data, inform policy, and connect individuals facing housing instability with critical resources. By examining how AI and data-driven approaches can help prevent housing loss, this project addresses the intersections of climate change, homelessness, and equitable access to resources, with significant potential to inform and shape policy responses.