Has a tool ever changed your life? One of the great things about getting together with people who are interested in technology is that you usually come away with useful tools to try. I propose a sort of show-and-tell session where participants share their favorite tools for teaching, research, and/or productivity.

As an urban anthropologist I’d like to get students to use the social media tool VINE in my courses to Provoke Deep Thoughts about urban change. I am inspired by what Vine claims on its web site (vine.co/):

“Vine is the best way to see and share life in motion.”

If this is even remotely true (and not simply a vehicle for teens to make selfies doing goofy things—not that there’s anything wrong with that!), then doesn’t “life in motion” = urban change??

I will bring some Vines about Phoenix to show you what I mean–and I hope you all can bring some Vines too.

Here’s a sample (run it more than once to get the loop effect:
DQ-JuliobertosConverso

Questions to start off:

• How can Vines capture “life in motion” in our neighborhoods and cities?
• How can these micro-movies provoke viewers to think critically about our changing urban environments—and about what is at stake in those changes?
• How can Vines help to expand our “right to the city”?

Prep: open a Vine account (hopefully we can access our online accounts on the Big Screen)

Bring: a smart phone to try Vines-on-the-spot, sample Vines you made, IDEAS (for community advocacy, scholarly visualization, classroom pedagogy…)