Citation
Graeff, E & Chowdhary, S. 2021. “Design Refusal as Public Interest Technology.” Presented at A Better Tech: Public Interest Technology Convention & Career Fair, New York University, virtual, Oct 15.
Tag: public interest technology
Care and Liberation in Creating a Student-Led Public Interest Technology Clinic (TSM)
Recommended Citation
S. Chowdhary, S. Daitzman, R. Eisenbud, E. Pan and E. Graeff, “Care and Liberation in Creating a Student-Led Public Interest Technology Clinic,” in IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 50-52, Sept. 2021, doi: 10.1109/MTS.2021.3101915.
Link
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9527371
Abstract
Engineers disengage from public welfare concerns during undergraduate engineering education [1]. In her widely cited study, Erin Cech argued that this arises from a culture of depoliticization in engineering that dismisses “nontechnical” concerns and competencies, reifying a false technical/social dichotomy and meritocratic ideology that justifies existing social structures. Our college, Olin College of Engineering, was part of that study, displaying similar patterns to more traditional schools. We are resisting that trend by embracing “public interest technology” (PIT) [2], which we believe offers a response to the culture of disengagement. In our application, PIT represents a community of practice that encourages engineers to fully engage with context, inequity, and uncertainty; to connect technical work to their own lives and environment; and to prioritize the common good while minimizing public harms.
The Responsibility to Not Design and the Need for Civic Professionalism
Citation
Graeff, Erhardt. 2020 (December 16). The Responsibility to Not Design and the Need for Civic Professionalism. BOW Big Ideas. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1qQCKGjpZg.
Presentation Recording
Slides
Real World PIT Applications For Students
Cumiskey, K, Garvin, L, Graeff, E, & Johnson, G. 2020. Panel: “Real World Applications for IT Students.” Presented at the Public Interest Technology University Network 2020 Virtual Convening, Nov 13.
Video
Care and Liberation in Creating a Student-Led Public Interest Technology Clinic (ISTAS)
Recommended Citation
S. Chowdhary, S. Daitzman, R. Eisenbud, E. Pan and E. Graeff, “Care and Liberation in Creating a Student-Led Public Interest Technology Clinic,” 2020 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS), 2020, pp. 164-175, doi: 10.1109/ISTAS50296.2020.9462188.
Link
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9462188
Abstract
The emerging field of Public Interest Technology contains the seeds for an engineering practice that embodies the ethic of care and undergraduate engineering educational experiences in the mold of liberatory education. We realized these opportunities by creating an undergraduate, student-led public interest technology clinic. Using autoethnography, we reflect on our effort to create the clinic and find that we prioritized emotions and relationships, embraced slowness and deliberation, and claimed student ownership. These practices define public interest technology and redefine engineering in ways centering care and equity, which enabled us to create the inclusive and effective engineering and public interest technology educational experiences we wanted for ourselves.