Exemplary work showcased for 14th-annual Digital Symposium
By Giana Nardelli
The Florida State University English department’s annual celebration of digital creativity returned for its 14th year by going live online March 1.
Since the beginning of this tradition in 2009, the Digital Studio proudly features the work of students in a yearly exhibit called the Digital Symposium.
The symposium is an online collection of undergraduate and graduate students’ presentations, which English department faculty members and teaching assistants nominate to be showcased. The projects can be multi-modal, consisting of images, texts, video, and other forms of media. Students are also able to submit their work to be considered every year.
The symposium organizers accept a wide range of artifacts that are scholarly in nature, with submissions ranging from students’ e-portfolios, academic works, projects that promote social justice, and more. This year’s symposium pays homage to the evolution of digital technology in the 21st century and “its ability to connect with others in a virtual space.”
“Technology has allowed us to evolve creatively and access new possibilities of design to create any digital work [that enables us to] reach and celebrate each other,” the Digital Symposium’s website adds, “This year, we commemorate the digital work that the Symposium showcases as it exemplifies hard work and its fueled exigencies.”
Emily Tomczak is a master’s student in FSU’s Rhetoric and Composition Program, and she is this year’s symposium coordinator. To her, the most important part of having a Digital Symposium is “its ability to bring attention to the value and creativity of digital composing.”
For students who want their work displayed, Tomczak adds they “should focus on creating strong [digital] projects in the English department.”
Although any FSU student from any discipline is eligible to be considered for the symposium, the nominations come mainly from English faculty and instructors for work that has been completed in an English course.
Tomczak, who in 2021 earned her bachelor's degree in English-Editing, Writing, and Media from FSU, also emphasizes that all works selected have strong attention to detail, setting good examples for students who are also currently creating and who will create in the future. (Explore Tomczak's presentation titled "Envisioning Textual Futures: Materiality and Readership in the Metaverse.")
Lillian Keller is one of 34 students whose projects were selected to be displayed this year. A high school experience inspired her her portfolio on the Ganges River, titled The Role of Religion in the Pollution of the Ganges River.
“In my senior year my environmental science teacher showed a documentary on the pollution of the Ganges River,” says Keller, a first-year undergraduate biological sciences major. “It really interested me, and in my first semester at FSU my instructor introduced a project. I immediately thought about using the Ganges River for my overarching topic.”
When creating her artifacts, Keller says she was not familiar with the Digital Studio. Her ENC2135 instructor emailed her and asked if she wanted her work to be nominated, and she immediately replied with a “yes.”
“The symposium is a great opportunity for people’s work to be displayed and appreciated,” Keller says. “I never thought I was very good at writing, so it feels very fulfilling to have people really enjoy my writing and learn something from a topic I am very passionate about.”
According to their website, this year’s Symposium organizers explain that “we hope that this serves as a source of inspiration to partake in the connectivity technology has built for our community.”
If you would like to submit a project to be featured on a future symposium, email english-rwc-ds@fsu.edu. For more information on the Digital Symposium Series going back to 2011, visit the main webpage.
Giana Nardelli is an English major on the editing, writing, and media track, with a second major in media/communication studies. In the fall of 2023, she begins her master's studies in FSU's Rhetoric and Composition Program.
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