Databite No. 102: Mark Ackerman, Tega Brain, Ingrid Burrington, Zara Rahman

Databite 100 Series

A major milestone is fast approaching: Data & Society's 100th Databite! We're gearing up to cross the #100 marker with Databites 100 Series, a three-part talk series unfurling over the course of June 2017.

These eclectic talks will feature ten of our 2016-2017 Fellows class speaking about their work. Each Databite will showcase the wide-ranging interdisciplinary connections and a few of the provocative questions that have emerged from our fellows cohort this year:

Databite No. 102

• Mark Ackerman on Contested Truths in Online Communities;
• Tega Brain on The Entropy of a System;
• Ingrid Burrington on Apocalypse, Still Buffering;
• Zara Rahman on Inform/Transform: Translating Critical Tech Perspectives

WHEN: Wednesday, June 21, 2017. 3:30pm Doors open. 4-5pm Public talk + Q&A. 5-7pm Reception.

WHERE: Data & Society, 36 W. 20th St., 11th Floor

RSVP is required for entry.

Data & Society's Databites speaker series is geared toward engaging our network and the broader public on unresolved questions and timely topics of interest to the D&S community.

Can't attend? Livestream here.

Questions about Databite No. 102? Contact Data & Society Research Institute

About the Speakers

Mark Ackerman investigates the lived experience of data, so as to help people gain control of and better use the information that is being generated about them. He is the George Herbert Mead Collegiate Professor of Human-Computer Interaction and a Professor in the School of Information, the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and the Science Technology and Society program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His major research area is Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), primarily in social computing and in health. Mark is a member of the CHI Academy (HCI Fellow) and an ACM Fellow. Mark has degrees from the University of Chicago, Ohio State, and MIT.

Tega Brain is an artist, environmental engineer, and researcher whose work intersects art, ecology, and engineering. As an artist, she makes dysfunctional devices, eccentric infrastructures and experimental information systems. She is an Assistant Professor at SUNY Purchase and holds degrees in environmental engineering and fine arts. She also contributes to open source software initiatives of the Processing Foundation. Her current research addresses the relationship between computational systems and the environment. How is computation both shaping environmental systems and changing our perception of them?

Ingrid Burrington is an artist who writes, makes maps, and tells jokes about places, politics, and the weird feelings people have about both. She’s the author of Networks of New York, an illustrated field guide to urban internet infrastructure, and has previously written for The Atlantic, The Nation, The Verge, and other outlets. Her work has previously been supported by Eyebeam Art and Technology Center, the Center for Land Use Interpretation, and Rhizome. She also runs the Data and Society speculative fiction reading group.

Zara Rahman is a researcher, writer, and linguist who is interested in the intersection of power, race, and technology. She has travelled and worked in more than 25 countries in the field of information accessibility and data use in civil society, and speaks four languages fluently. She worked for OpenOil, investigating the use and availability of open data in the extractive industries, then worked for Open Knowledge, primarily with School of Data on data literacy for journalists and civil society. Now, she is a Research Lead at The Engine Room where she leads their Responsible Data Program, supporting the responsible use of data in advocacy and social change. Her work at Data & Society looks into creative and artistic ways of boosting critical data and tech literacy.

Other Databites Series 100 events

June 7 2017 - No. 100 - Daniel Grushkin, Alice Marwick, Rebecca Wexler

RSVP: https://db100grushkinmarwickwexler.eventbrite.com

Livestream: https://youtu.be/Pa_dEZjqMVc

June 14, 2017 - No. 101 - Suchana Seth, Ravi Shroff, Anne Washington

RSVP: https://db101sethshroffwashington.eventbrite.com

Livestream: https://youtu.be/qIpWdn0lL1Q