Composing Digital Community Spaces: Design and Literacy Practices In/Of the Archive

1 COMPOSING DIGITAL COMMUNITY SPACES: DESIGN AND LITERACY PRACTICES IN/OF THE ARCHIVE A dissertation presented by Kristi Tillene Nadira Girdharry to The Department of English In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of English Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts August, 2016 2 COMPOSING DIGITAL COMMUNITY SPACES: DESIGN AND LITERACY PRACTICES IN/OF THE ARCHIVE by Kristi Tillene Nadira Girdharry ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities of Northeastern University August, 2016 3 ABSTRACT This dissertation offers a case study of Our Marathon: The Boston Bombing Digital Archive & WBUR Oral History Project by exploring the relationships between the creation of the archive, the use of the archive, and the narratives the archive tells on its surface and in its stories. More specifically, it looks at how Our Marathon adheres to/departs from traditional archives through its state as a digital archive, its attempt to both historicize and memorialize an event, and its focus as a community project. This dissertation takes advantage of offering a real-time examination of the digital archive’s role in capturing the artifacts and reflective practices of people affected by the tragic events of the Boston Marathon bombings through a mixed-methods approach; it draws upon primary research, the archive itself, and the researcher’s own participation in designing and building the space. To add to ongoing conversations on digital archives in Rhetoric and Composition scholarship, because of the complicated nature of the term “community” and because of a gap in understanding how these types of digital community sites function in the world, this dissertation aims to open up a conversation on building spaces for public writing and how the sponsors of these spaces impact participation and representation. Theoretically, this dissertation contends with literacy sponsors, decolonial archives, and discourse communities. Pragmatically, this dissertation offers scholars and other interested parties reflections on building such a space and recommendations for building digital community projects like Our Marathon in the future. 4 To the city of Boston—those who have felt pride in it, who have been challenged by it, and who have experienced disappointment in it— especially those who have shared their stories and left their marks. To paraphrase David “Big Papi” Ortiz, “This is our city.” 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is a product of my various communities and owes gratitude to many colleagues, family members, and friends. Most immediately, I would like to thank my committee: Chris W. Gallagher, Mya Poe, and Ryan Cordell. From my first day as a PhD student at Northeastern, Chris has listened to me, mentored me, and has always had this uncanny ability to remind me of who I am as a researcher even during my most uncertain times of graduate school; not only has he advised me for the past five years, but he has instilled a trust in myself to pursue personally meaningful research paths—including the change in my dissertation topic (first suggested by him during my Comprehensive Exams) and opportunities to research with students. While I was completing coursework I met Mya, and I am almost positive her first question to me was, “So how do you want to package yourself on the job market?” With her tenacity and pragmatism, she continues to be an example of the type of professor I want to be; her commitment to teaching and her determination to understand students’ experiences with writing are greatly admired by me and so many others. In addition to his generous actions of being both a dissertation committee member and research participant, Ryan hired me to work on Our Marathon, and I offer him this memory that did not make it into the final version of this dissertation: “We were waiting for the E Line back to Northeastern when I told Professor Cordell that I really wanted to be involved in the oral history part of the project. He approved of this decision as if he already knew I was going to ask.” Thank you, all, for believing in me, inviting me into your projects, and supporting me in mine. I’d also like to recognize Neal Lerner and Paula Mathieu. I was actually first exposed to Neal’s work when I was just an undergrad looking to get a job in a writing center; now I value learning from his insights as a teacher, researcher, administrator, and fellow creative nonfiction 6 enthusiast. On a similar note, I was inspired by Paula’s Tactics of Hope when I first read it some years ago and will undoubtedly be inspired again when I reread it soon; I am so fortunate that we connected through the Boston Rhetoric and Writing Network and that you agreed to be my outside reader. Thank you, both, for your scholarship and presence in my life. Northeastern has granted me the chance to work with many dedicated colleagues in the Writing Program, English department, and in our surrounding community. A very special thank you to my Our Marathon colleagues—especially Ryan Cordell, Elizabeth Maddock Dillon, Dave DeCamp, Liz Hopwood, Jim McGrath, and Alicia Peaker—for your time on the archive and as my research participants. I also thank Jayne Guberman and Joanna Shea-O’Brien for their guidance in the craft of oral history. There were two people who always made my life just a little bit easier and my days a little brighter whenever I went into the front office or sent a frantic email—Linda Collins and Melissa Daigle—you have been amazing. And I express gratitude to all of the grad students who have offered their kindness and curiosity with a special shout out to Charlie Lesh and Michael Turner—two friends who have inspired as much productivity as unproductivity in the past half decade of our lives. A very warm thank you to my family—especially my sister, Laurie, whose support has always been a blessing (I probably owe you a new couch from my UMass Boston years of crashing on yours instead of paying rent somewhere); to my bonus dad, Chuck, whose support included asking my favorite questions to answer (like when he came to our office and asked if someone had an animal: he was looking at a crumpled up sleeping bag on the floor that definitely looked like a place a dog would nap—it was our “sleeping nook”); to my dad, Arnold, who paved the path for his daughter by being an academic himself (who could offer advice from his experience writing his dissertation); and to my mother, Lorna, who has continually supported me 7 in all areas of my life (as well as consistently reminding me that it took my dad a really, really long time to write his dissertation). There are not enough pages in 10 dissertations to express my gratitude. Along with my family, I want to recognize my great friends from Leicester and UMass and, of course, Strawberry Julie—working on a project that causes you to often reflect on your own well being (and, let’s face it, mortality) is its own challenge; I’m lucky to have surrounded myself with such fun, funny, hardworking people and appreciate you all. Lastly, to my other half, Brent Christ: you opened your family, your home, and your heart to me. Not a day goes by that I am not reminded that everything is just better when we’re together. I really like falling in love with you. 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract 2 Dedication 4 Acknowledgements 5 Table of Contents 8 Chapter 1: Composing Digital Community Spaces 9 Chapter 2: The Digital and the Archive 54 Chapter 3: The Historial and the Archive 100 Chapter 4: The Community and the Archive 137 Chapter 5: Conclusion 172 Appendix 201 9 Chapter 1: Composing Digital Community Spaces Introduction On April 15, 2013, I was sitting in my old bedroom at my parents’ house and grading public writing projects from my online course. Along with Blackboard, I had my email tab open, and it wasn’t uncommon to instant message with friends in between commenting on student work. A little after 3pm that day, I received a message: “explosions at the marathon???” It came with a link to WCVB.com where I immediately read a very brief description of an explosion along the Boston Marathon route. I turned on the television and saw the smoke. At the time, I assumed it was an accident. I remember hearing something about a pipe bursting. After trying to make sense of what I saw and heard, I messaged the same link to my friend in California, this time with the eloquent text: “WTF” It was an attack. On April 15, 2013, two pressure-cooker bombs filled with shrapnel were detonated near the finish line of the world’s oldest annual marathon. The suspects—26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev and 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev—had put the homemade bombs into backpacks and placed them amidst the large cheering crowds on Boylston Street where the Boston Marathon culminates for professional and amateur marathoners alike. The blasts killed 3 spectators and injured 260 others. During the manhunt three nights later, one of the suspects would also kill a university police officer. From my own bed, I was able to watch, listen, and read different threads accounting for the terrifying activity around Boston. My best friend in London instant messaged me a link to a 10 local police scanner that someone was live streaming from his home.

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