08/18/2026
Writing instructors, rhetoricians, technical communicators! As you build your syllabi for the academic year make sure to check out a new DRPC resource, “From to Data to Information: Graduate Student Investigations into the Rhetorics of Digital Surveillance,” a new book edited by Dr. Lacy Hope from Utah Tech University and available on the DRPC website (drpcollective.com).
From the Foreword written by DRPC Advisory Board members Emily Gillo, Chase Woods (Charles), and Sarah Jackson (Young): "The ways humans are surveilled are multiplying rapidly. Flock cameras are monitoring movements, Artificial Intelligence (AI) webcrawlers are scraping data from the Internet, and Global Positioning System (GPS)-driven applications are creating vast troves of information which double as records of digital surveillance. Why does this matter, and how can we talk to our students about these issues? This matters because the means of surveillance enable, perpetuate, and amplify the asymmetrical power structures undergirding lived experiences across the world. In their book, From Data to Information: Graduate Student Investigations into the Rhetorics of Digital Surveillance, Lacy Hope, PhD, Assistant Professor at Utah Tech University, and her students offer a way for writing instructors to discuss these issues in their classrooms. Importantly, this book is for a wider audience than instructors and students – it is for anyone interested in learning about digital surveillance."
From the Introduction: "The chapters collected here illustrate how questions of data collection, surveillance, and privacy intersect with a wide range of social, cultural, and technological concerns. While grounded in the concepts explored during the seminar, each chapter extends those conversations into new contexts, demonstrating the breadth and relevance of current research on data and information practices. The volume is organized into three parts. Part I presents methodological approaches and rhetorical analyses of how digital platforms communicate data-collection practices to users. Part II examines the consequences of these practices for individuals and communities, with particular attention to marginalized populations. Part III explores the relationship between data collection, surveillance, and the rapidly evolving landscape of generative artificial intelligence."
PressBooks Link: https://uen.pressbooks.pub/fromdatatoinfo/
You can read the full Foreword and Introduction on the DRPC website: https://drpcollective.com/drpc-digital-resources/assignments-activities/
Reach out to [email protected] and let us know how you utilize it!
