Teaching & Facilitation

Much of our information consumption occurs alone in front of a screen. Data Dialogues is an event format that combines the age-old power of group discussion with the unprecedented expository power of modern data systems and data visualizations. The result is a collaborative conversation that humanizes the data representations in question and fosters a deeper understanding of our relationship with data and with each other.

The series began at Data Through Design (DxD), an annual exhibition celebrating tangible, multimedia expressions of New York City’s Open Data, which Alexander co-organized and co-curated from 2019 to 2021. The first Data Dialogues, held in the 2020 exhibition, used exercises like “Where Do I Stand,” in which participants form human graphs that serve as springboards for conversation, and “Data Drama,” in which small groups critique works and report back through non-verbal performance. In 2021 it moved to Zoom, combining performance and discussion.

Data Dialogues continues as part of Alexander's role at C&EN, where he fosters data-first editorial and analytical practices that meet people where they are.