Book Commitment Issues? Join the Civics of Tech Book Club!
Announcement - Second Annual Civics of Technology Conference!
We are working on the theme and finalizing the dates for our second annual Civics of Technology virtual conference, so keep an eye out for the upcoming call! You can find the sessions from last year’s conference, Visioning Just Futures, here.
by Marie K. Heath
I am an eternal optimist when it comes to books. When I meet a book, I’m certain I’ll make time for it in my life. But the reality of my bookshelf (limit → ∞) is that I need encouragement committing to the read. For me, our Civics of Technology book club helps me fulfill my optimistic hopes by offering a deadline and a community of people with whom to chat about the book. Because I’ve learned that one of the things that I enjoy as much as the promise of a new book is making sense of a book with other people.
We kicked off our CoT book club series with last year’s March Madness “Must Read” Books (shout out to our winner, Dr. Earl Aguilera with his winning recommendation, Disruptive Fixation: School Reform and the Pitfalls of Techno-Idealism by Christo Sims). Since then, our book clubs have become a staple of our growing Civics of Technology community.
We’ve read and chatted about newly released critical scholarship, a graphic novel, and a few classics that shaped our understanding of everyday technologies. Here’s the list so far:
Power On! by Jean J. Ryoo and Jane Margolis, illustrated by Charis JB and led by Shaina Glass on Thursday, January 12th, 2023.
Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want by Ruha Benjamin and led by José Ramón Lizárraga & Tiera Chantè Tanksley on Thursday, November 17th, 2022
The Design of Everyday Things, Revised And Expanded Edition by Donald Norman and led by Jacob Pleasants on Thursday, September 29th, 2022
Re-Understanding Media: Feminist Extensions of Marshall McLuhan edited by Sarah Sharma & Rianka Singh and led by Michelle Ciccone on Thursday, August 25th, 2022
More Work for Mother: The Ironies Of Household Technology From The Open Hearth To The Microwave by Ruth Schwartz Cowan and led by Phil Nichols on Tuesday, July 26th, 2022
Most recently, we read Data Feminism, by Catherine D’Ignazio & Lauren F. Klein. We accidentally scheduled this book during many folks’ spring break (whoops! And also - we hope y’all were relaxing and recharging!). Those of us who were able to join the evening’s discussion enjoyed an intimate gathering to think through this excellent book.
If you haven’t had a chance to read Data Feminism yet, all of our participants highly recommended it. We found it to be a thoughtful and impactful read which encouraged us to reconsider data visualization and its role in how we see and feel data. We’d like to create some curriculum around the book -- perhaps a lesson to use with students in a math classroom or in a teacher education course. If you were similarly inspired by the book and are interested in co-crafting something like this, please reach out!
Upcoming Summer Series Book Club Books
One of my favorite ways to be with people is in spaces where we’re making sense of ideas together, which makes me extra thankful for the thoughtful people who join our book clubs every other month. I’ve found our Civics of Technology book clubs to be a powerful way to connect with other educators interested in technology, justice, and education. If you haven’t joined in yet, come on in! And if you’re interested in leading a discussion, please reach out.
Here’s what we’re reading next:
May 18, 2023 @ 8:00 p.m. Eastern
Design Justice: Community Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need by Sasha Costanza-Chock
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July 27, 2023 @ 8:00 p.m. Eastern
More than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech by Meredith Broussard
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September 21, 2023 @ 8:00 p.m. Eastern
Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy
By Cathy O’Neil
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We learn so much from y’all and from the books we read, and we’re looking forward to the next three books. Register and join us! We’ll help you with any book commitment issues. Or at least, you can help me with mine.