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Fembot Collective

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Fembot Collective
Formation2011
FounderCarol Stabile
Founded atUniversity of Oregon
Main organ
Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology
Websitefembotcollective.org

The Fembot Collective is an international collective of feminist media activists, artists, producers, and scholars that publishes the academic journal Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology.[1] Fembot has been a catalyst for multiple large scale feminist digital projects, providing the digital and social infrastructure for FemTechNet,[2][3] publishing the podcast series Books Aren't Dead,[4] and hosting collaborative hack-a-thons and Wikipedia edit-a-thons with Ms. magazine.[5] Although having been funded and supported by multiple institutions including School of Journalism and Communication and the Center for the Study of Women in Society at the University of Oregon.,[6] Fembot is concentrated in the University of Maryland currently.

History

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The Fembot Collective was initially developed at the University of Oregon, where it was originally a research interest group led by Carol Stabile located in the Center for the Study of Women in Society.[4] Officially founded in 2011, the group grew out of conversations about the use of feminist ethics to guide transformations in open access and new media pedagogy that began as early as 2008.[1] Early projects for Fembot included the short zine series Laundry Day edited by Carol Stabile and Chelsea Bullock, and a feminist works series that spotlighted new media artists and critics.[7] Fembot launched its first issue of Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology in November 2012.[8]

Ms. FemBot edit-a-thon in Los Angeles in 2015

Since 2015, Fembot has established a partnership with Ms. magazine around writing women academics, theorists, and athletes into Wikipedia.[9][10] The organization is currently led by Carol Stabile.

Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology

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Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology is a feminist open access journal published in collaboration with the Fembot Collective.[11] It has been housed at UO Libraries and now is administered through the University of Maryland. Notably, the journal challenges conventional academic journal practices by using an open peer review process.[12]

In 2014, Gamergate supporters targeted Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology as a site of "feminist propaganda," arguing that "feminist scholars have used the journal as an outlet for propaganda, allowing them to avoid the peer review processes of traditional journals."[13] In response, Fembot members and others created a bibliography of critical resources for studying the gendered dimensions of the Gamergate controversy, published by the International Communication Association.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b Rhee, Margaret (17 March 2015). "Hacking Feminism". Bitch Magazine. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  2. ^ "About the [FemTechNet] DOCC". Pennsylvania State University DOCC. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  3. ^ Losh, Elizabeth (2014). The War on Learning: Gaining Ground in the Digital University. Cambridge: MIT Press. pp. 146–148. ISBN 978-0262323260.
  4. ^ a b Stabile, Carol; Sawchuk, Kim (2012). "Introduction: Conversations Across the Field". Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology (1). doi:10.7264/N3RN35SV (inactive 1 November 2024).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  5. ^ Rhee, Margaret (13 March 2015). "Gender-Balancing Wikipedia, One Article at a Time". Ms. Magazine. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  6. ^ "Fembot Conference: Multiplying Standpoints and Participatory Feminism". Center for the Study of Women in Society. University of Oregon. April 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  7. ^ Ekpo, Patricia (2013-03-22). "Currently Crushing On: Fembot Collective". Blue Stockings Magazine.
  8. ^ "Research Newsletter". University of Oregon School of Journalism & Communication. Archived from the original on 20 September 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  9. ^ Rhee, Margaret (17 March 2015). "Hacking Feminism". Bitch Magazine. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  10. ^ Adamovic, Lea (2016-03-08). "Fembot Initiative to again join Wikipedia Edit-a-thon". Around the O. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  11. ^ JOURNAL-TOC. "Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology". JournalTOC. Heriott-Watt University. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  12. ^ Fredette, Michelle (28 August 2012). "Rewriting the Journal". No. Academic Publishing. Campus Technology. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  13. ^ Straumsheim, Carl (11 November 2014). "#Gamergate and Games Research". Inside Higher Education. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  14. ^ Chess, Shira; Consalvo, Mia; Huntemann, Nina; Shaw, Adrienne; Stabile, Carol; Strommer-Galley, Jenny (November 2014). "GamerGate and Academia". No. 9. International Communication Association. ICA Newsletter. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.