Palimpsest: shifting the culture of computing

To better understand how to diversify computer science, we need to examine the multiple factors that shape identity and power in computer science culture. Axes of identity might include gender, race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality. The concept of intersectionality addresses how combinations of these axes can affect how an individual experiences power and oppression differently in different contexts. “Kyriarchy is a theory of power that describes the power structures intersectionality produces” (Osborne, 1). Kyriarchy is the Greek word for “sovereignty” in English. This document describes the creation of two cultural interventions designed to empower women of color and nonbinary people of color in computer science: a virtual reality (VR) game and a high school enrichment computer science curriculum. Both artifacts were developed at the Interactive Media & Games Division of the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California during the 2017-2018 school year with fellow classmate Allison Comrie for our MFA joint thesis project. ❧ In evaluating the successes and failures of our creations, I must acknowledge how my own identity as a white cisgender woman engineer struggling with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from sexual assault (SA) has contributed to both positive and negative feedback loops throughout the design and development process. Within the context of a South Central Los Angeles High School, I could very easily, unintentionally, occupy the role of an oppressor who triggers feelings of fear in my students. As a SA-survivor in a computer science classroom mainly populated by cisgender men, feelings of fear could be triggered in me (unintentionally, I believe) by predominantly male classmates, teachers, and TA’s. ❧ Proof of efficacy of the curriculum and VR game we created is beyond the scope of this document. What I intend to illustrate is the value of clearly and truthfully defining the problem in the myriad of asynchronous interactions that occur while engaging in cultural change. In order to gain control over not only our own actions, but how those actions operate in an evolving culture of shifting power dynamics, we must strive to be honest with ourselves about how we participate—intentionally or not—in patterns of oppression, often alternately as the oppressor and the oppressed depending on our actual and perceived environment. I have come to believe that the bulk of the “oppressors” in the culture of computer science actually perceive themselves as the oppressed, and thereby avoid, ignore, deny, or justify their own acts of oppression. Through interviews, research, project documentation and my own experience, I will define a first step towards reforming the deeply imbalanced culture of computer science via defining the problem within a personal context, and addressing one’s own fears therein.