Join Us to take Liberatory Tech Action at our 2nd Annual Civics of Technology Conference
We are excited to announce that our second Civics of Technology annual conference will be held online from 10-3pm EST on both August 3rd and 4th, 2023!
The second annual conference theme is Liberatory Tech Action. Last year the conference centered on Visioning Just Futures, and this year we'd like to turn toward the work of enacting these futures. This theme builds on our project motto, “Technologies are not neutral and neither are the societies into which they are introduced.” Many of our blog posts, monthly Tech Talk sessions, and book clubs have advanced liberatory tech action. For example, the discussion in our most recent book club on Sasha Costanza-Chock’s Design Justice focused heavily on how we make change. Marie identified a connection between Costanza-Chock’s book and Ruha Benjamin’s Viral Justice in that both advocated for making small changes that re-pattern and create groundswell over time. We hope the conference helps participants answer the question on our home page, how can we advance technology education for just futures?
As with last year, this conference will be fully virtual and free to attend. It includes concurrent sessions, workshops, round tables, un-conference spaces, and two exciting keynotes presentations:
Thursday, August 3rd at 10am EST/9am CST/8am MST/7am PST: Dr. Luci Pangrazio
Dr. Luci Pangrazio is a Research Fellow in digital literacies at the Centre for Research in Educational Impact (REDI) at Deakin University, where she is studying datafication, data literacies and the gig economy. You can see her work on the Materialising Data project here: https://materialising-data.org/. Dr. Pangrazio’s keynote will kick-off the conference. We regret the time will be so early (7am PST) for our west coast friends, but it was the best time we could find considering the Australian time difference.
Friday, August 4th: Dr. Roxana Marachi
Dr. Roxana Marachi is a Professor of Education at San José State University. Her recent and current research interests are on the intersections of privatization and technology, strategies for the prevention of data harms, and the bridging of research-to-practice gaps in the integration of emerging technologies in education. Dr. Marachi will conclude the conference with her keynote.
Call for Proposals
We seek proposals that advance the conference theme of Liberatory Tech Actions. This may include proposals which create spaces to engage in individual, pedagogical, or collective community actions for just technology; share existing action opportunities for data justice, pedagogical justice, or other liberatory technology actions; or engage with research which offers opportunities for more just technological futures.
We welcome proposals that utilize a variety of formats, including presentations, workshops, round table discussions, panels, or other creative options.
Proposals are due by June 26, will be reviewed, and invitation letters will be sent the first week of July.