Outstanding Senior

Award to a graduating DTC senior who exemplifies the technical, creative, critical, and culturally-aware goals of the Department of Digital Technology and Culture.

They are honored here as well as with other Outstanding Seniors from all the programs within the College of Arts and Sciences.

Instructor Pedagogy

Awarded to an instructor, graduate student instructor, or undergraduate student who actively works to improve the DTC mission, curriculum, and student experience through teaching and pedagogical practice.

From the Nominations

“It is without a doubt Landon is more than deserving of this award and if not is one of the best instructors at this University. He goes out of his way to make sure his students not only are pushing themselves beyond the surface level academically, but cares about their emotional well-being as well. Landon cares deeply about the DTC department and its impact on the lives of students here at WSU.

“Most importantly, as a student whose original intent to only pursue DTC as a UCORE, I am now minoring in DTC as his passion and enthusiasm for the subject inspired me beyond words. Landon is a professor that can teach any student, at any level.”

Grit

Acknowledging a DTC student who has overcome immense obstacles to finish their degree at WSU.

“Two years ago I had the hardest year of my life. Overall, my college career has been one of the most difficult times of my life. I started out in nursing at another school. After three years in nursing, I decided that digital technology was my passion. Throughout this year at WSU, I have continued to struggle with severe anxiety and depression. However, through my hard work and dedication, I will graduate on time in December with my BA in DTC…

Excellence in Service & Community Engagement

Awarded to students who provided exemplary service to the WSU community and beyond during the past curricular year.

From the Nominations

“As part of a DTC336 project that studied local spending and alternative currencies, these students worked in a small group and were paired with Eric Sorenson of Clumsy Crow Baking of Pullman, WA. They showed a high level of engagement with the long-term project, more than any of the other students in two sections of the class, spending a significant amount of time studying one specific aspect of Sorenson’s operation and using their research to create original designs.

“They obviously founded a positive relationship with their community member and showed great enthusiasm for what his small business contributes to the community. Their community partner attended their final presentation and also obviously had a positive experience with the group.”

From the Group

“Our group worked with Eric Sorenson of Clumsy Crow Baking to create artisanal currency notes for his business. We specifically chose to focus on his authentic lye-dipped German pretzels and the processes he uses to make them. Throughout the semester, we repeatedly visited with Eric to collect notes and photographs. We used our research to develop icons, patterns, and color schemes, which we then used to create our double-sided bills. Our group chose Aya’s bill [at right] as our final currency design.

“I learned a lot about baking from this project, and I loved the opportunity to get to work with such a neat local business.”

Excellence in Interactive Technology & Development

Awarded to a student who explores the principles of web design, coding, information architecture, and usability in a global cultural context.

From the Nominations

“Aidan’s passion for web design was evident this fall in DTC 355. In fact, for his final project, he asked to be allowed to design a new web site for the small business that he worked at over the previous summer. He asked questions, met with me, and pitched it to the business owner — and they loved it!

“His design is now their site, at SeattlePops.com.”

Excellence in Information Systems & Structures

Awarded to a student who focuses on inclusive strategies for and systems to design, curate, present, organize, and critique data and information and their functions, uses, and effects across multiple contexts.

From the Nominations

“Going above and beyond her DTC training, Bethany took on a challenge to work for The Daily Evergreen to initiate the use of Google Analytics so the paper could analyze their web traffic better.

Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion

Awarded to a DTC student whose work and actions exemplify the DTC goals of working toward a more just world for all.

From the Nomination

“Luis is a Residence Hall Director and member of Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity Inc. For his fraternity he is a member of the Social Justice committee, where he helped organize a campus-wide event annually called Rooms of Reflection. Luis’ part was to help organize the section that focuses on minority groups and raises issues to student participants that they may not already be aware of.

Excellence in Digital Cinema, Sound, & Animation

Awarded to a student who examines the history, development, and cultural impact of time-based technology such as sound, film and animation.

From the Nominations

“For the DTC 354 Digital Storytelling final, students were to create a narrative short-story video encapsulating everything they had learned throughout the semester. It could be about anything they wanted as long as it followed the traditional 3-act story structure. Students could work in a group or by themselves.

“Rachel decided to work alone, to create a stop-motion animation. She spent over 15 hours designing the backdrops and props in Illustrator. She used a miniature wooden figurine as her main character and the backdrops were tacked to a wall, and a desk served as the floor of the scene. For 30 hours she took photos, moved the character and props millimeters at a time between frames, then she imported more than one thousand photos into Premiere Pro.

“Then, after more than five hours of post-production editing, she finished her 6-minute long stop motion film, titled ‘Spare Change‘ (shown at right). This animation draws attention to the issue of homelessness in our country and takes the audience on an emotional journey that ends with a list of ways people can directly help. She entered the video in the WSU Art for Social Change competition and won.

“That was not the first time Rachel put over 50 hours into a DTC assignment. When she has an idea she goes all in, not for the grade, but for an end product that is something to be proud of. The DTC program emphasizes creative production and critical exploration of digital technology across multiple contexts and Rachel has embraced those components across numerous projects throughout her time at WSU.

“She exemplifies the kind of work ethic DTC encourages from students, and on more than one occasion her projects exposed digital divides and social inequalities. She has also invested countless hours helping other DTC students with projects.

Excellence in Collaboration

Awarded to students who work together on a project or projects in a cohesive manner.

From the Nominations

“Our DTC 497 Senior Capstone class worked with the Coeur d’Alene tribe and several of their enterprises through the Coeur d’Alene Resort and Casino. The students worked for ten weeks with individual departments to design and produce products in an iterative fashion to meet the specific needs of the department, the business, and the communities they serve. This group of DTC majors worked with the Chinook Lounge to help them rebrand the restaurant and lounge with a new Chef focusing on food sovereignty and sustainability to create a welcoming atmosphere for guests and to feature the unique history and status of the tribe. This group worked together to define the needs of the clients; created and updated user stories for each ‘ask’ from the clients; and met both in person and virtually with the clients several times.

“The result was a stunning set of videos that reflects the upbeat attitude the clients wanted with a focused tie into the community and the chef. The students used inclusive design methods we studied in class and they exemplified DTC’s mission to fulfill extend WSU’s land grant mission to work with tribal communities in our region. Furthermore, they were poised and professional, working together to continuously update the products to meet the evolving needs of the clients.”

From Group Members

“I really enjoyed this project as it gave us a big opportunity to work with real clients. One thing I learned from this is adaptability. There were some big changes that we had to work with and we kept on working to give them what they asked for.”

“I am really proud of how well my team worked together and that we all really wanted to succeed and give our best to the clients and the DTC capstone class.”

“I am extremely proud of my group for our execution for the videos! It’s difficult to come across groups who are as organized, passionate about the project, communicate well with everyone, and have a professional work ethic and our group did all of those and beyond. We were an amazing team and it really showed throughout the semester, when we would meet in person and when we moved online. Everyone was always on task with what needed to be completed, who would do what, etc. to make sure it all worked smoothly. Our final videos are a perfect representation of how well we worked as a team.”

Established Scholar

Awarded to a junior or senior DTC student who consistently produces exemplary work in the classroom and beyond.

From the Nominations

“Aracely is a WSU dual degree candidate in Anthropology and Digital Technology and Culture. She is also pursuing a minor in Fine Arts. She is a part of the McNair Program at WSU and has goals to pursue a PhD in Sociology after graduation. Aracely is currently a Research Assistance for Dr. Aaron Ansell at Virginia Technical Institute and Dr. Anne Pisor in the Anthropology Department at WSU. For her mentors, Aracely is working on conducting interviews with people who identify with the Latinx community to see how generations in the United States partake in their traditions She has presented her work at several conferences including MAOP Summer Research Internship Symposium, Virginia Tech’s Office of Undergraduate Research Summer Symposium, Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA), and UMD McNair Conference.