This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast, Charis' virtual event platform. This event is free, but registration is required for virtual attendance.

Charis welcomes Lauren Klein for a discussion of Data by Design: Visualization and Power from Abolition to the Dawn of Data Science, which illustrates how the history of data visualization holds the key to designing a more just future. Lauren will be joined by a panel of contributors to the book: Margy Adams, Shiyao Li, Tanvi Sharma, and Jay Varner. This panel will be moderated by Catherine D’Ignazio.

From maps of colonial empires to charts of national trade, data visualization has long been used to consolidate knowledge and power. But just as often, it has been used to uncover oppression and bring about change. Data by Design journeys across continents and over centuries to expose the power of visualization—and to show how it can be wielded back. 

A group of British antislavery activists who created a diagram of captives in the hold of a ship, accelerating support for the abolitionist cause. A Ñudzahui (Mixtec) painter who designed a map for a king, testifying to his people’s sovereignty and claims to the land. These are but two stories of many, each expertly analyzed and illustrated in full-color detail, that confirm how visualization can lead to a more liberatory world. A set of new images, created by Lauren Klein and her research team—also viewable on an interactive website—further expands our sense of what visualization, when used with intention and care, can achieve.

A book for those who love charts and graphs, and for those who create them, Data by Design offers historical grounding, ethical clarity—and the inspiration we need—to envision a more just future.

Lauren Klein is Professor of Data & Decision Sciences and English at Emory University, where she also directs the Digital Humanities Lab and the Atlanta Interdisciplinary AI Network. Her research brings together computational and critical methods to explore questions of gender, race, and justice, both in early America and today. Klein is the author (with Catherine D’Ignazio) of the award-winning Data Feminism (MIT Press, 2020), and the editor (with Matthew K. Gold) of Debates in the Digital Humanities (Univ. of Minnesota Press), among other books and papers. Her next book, Data by Design: Visualization and Power from Abolition to the Dawn of Data Science, is forthcoming from the MIT Press in October.

Margy Adams is a Black feminist writer, teacher, and artist based in Atlanta, Georgia. Her work combines Black sound studies, performance theory, Caribbean philosophy, and humor studies to investigate literary and cultural constructions of race and language in Black American and Afro-Caribbean literature. She received her Ph.D. in English from Emory University where her dissertation, now book manuscript, Sound Bites: The Sonics of Afro-Experimental Fiction, studies texts that exceed and challenge genre conventions through Black writers’ attention to sound.

Shiyao Li is a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at Emory University. His research explores how human/visualization design factors shape visualization interpretations through the lens of confirmation bias. Specifically, he looks into three questions:

How to elicit attitudes and beliefs more accurately and expressively?

How to identify confirmation bias in both static and interactive visualization?

Which types of interventions could we employ to mitigate biases?

Beyond his dissertation research, Shiyao has contributed to the Data by Design project as a data visualization researcher. His work includes prototyping interactive visualizations that honor the lives affected by the transatlantic slave trade between 1565 and 1858, as well as developing a dashboard that reveals both the visible and invisible labor involved in producing the Data by Design project.

Tanvi Sharma is a New York-based design technologist and art director working across data, visual culture, and the humanities. She is currently an Art Director at Apple and a Designer with the Atlanta Interdisciplinary AI Network (AIAI). She is also co-author of Data by Design: Visualization and Power from Abolition to the Dawn of Data Science (MIT Press, 2026). Previously, she worked as a Design Technologist at Pentagram, Public Policy Lab, and Spotify. She holds an MSc in Human-Computer Interaction from New York University and a BFA in Graphic Design and Political Theory from the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Jay Varner is a Lead Software Engineer at the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship (ECDS) at Emory University, where he builds usable and accessible applications that support scholarly research.

Catherine D’Ignazio is a hacker mama, scholar, and artist/designer who focuses on feminist technology, data justice and civic engagement. She has run women’s health hackathons, designed global news recommendation systems, created talking and tweeting water quality sculptures, and led walking data visualizations to envision the future of sea level rise. Her 2020 book from MIT Press, Data Feminism, co-authored with Lauren Klein, charts a course for more ethical and empowering data science practices. Her second book, Counting Feminicide: Data Feminism in Action (MIT Press, 2024) is an extended case study about grassroots data activism to end gender-related violence. Her forthcoming book, 10 Ways to Stop Technofascism (MIT Press, 2027), is a resistance manual for the general public to abolish Big Tech, refuse AI-fueled authoritarian violence, and build the technology that we deserve. D’Ignazio is an Associate Professor of Urban Science and Planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT where she is the Director of the Data + Feminism Lab.

The event is free and open to all people, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event.

Charis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking, two ramps, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website.

Please read the in-person event guidelines at the bottom of this page to be sure you can participate in the event. 

In-person event guidelines:

All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.

We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.

This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast.

As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event.

If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304.

Please contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don't hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org.

By attending our event, whether in person or virtually, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.

Data by Design: Visualization and Power from Abolition to the Dawn of Data Science by Lauren Klein