[Ssnet_list] Fwd: "All that you touch, you change" | 'Technology for the People' | Reminders

[Monika Sengul-Jones via Ssnet_list]

*Dear STSS/SS network, apologies for cross-posting. A version of this is
posted on the Society + Technology at UW listserv. *

Hey everyone,

Tuesday's Pop-Up Working Group on *Science, Society, and Justice
<https://depts.washington.edu/societytech/wordpress/2025/02/03/register-now-st-at-uw-pop-up-working-groups-on-science-society-justice/>*
focused on *collaboration*. Initially, we discussed “science
communication,” discomfort with our present imaginaries. This bled into
how, when, where, and to whom, to share stories. And which
stories—histories—to share. An enlivening session, thank you to all who
attended.

In discussing our next steps, host Tim Brown (Bioethics and Humanities) and
I debriefed and found ourselves veering deeper into discomfort and turning
into fiction. For instance, we’ve both read Octavia Butler’s *Parable of
the Sower *and *Parable of the Talents*. If you haven’t read these books, I
recommend—they’re tremendous! Written in the 1990s and set in the 2020s,
Butler is darkly prescient in writing a story of survival in crisis, where
a far-right president who uses the uncanny slogan, "make America great
again." Yet, survival isn’t the only theme, hope forms the backbone for
Butler’s protagonist, Lauren Olamina, who has hyperempathy syndrome, an
imaginary disease of extraordinary feeling that informs her spirituality.
"All that you touch, you change," Olamina (Butler) writes. I won't share
more (you might like to read the books), but my conversation with Tim
spurred me to consider the ways can dis-ease be a gift?



The final pop-up session in this important pop-up series is on *Creating*—
register
<https://eventactions.com/eareg.aspx?ea=Rsvp&invite=01byzvb56uved3kp3zhdbj22ysma7wrybd75fwe7jehr35m0fe0u>
to
join!



--



* 'Technology for the People' - A New Salon Debut on Monday, April 14 from
6 pm - 8 pm*

The S+T at UW salon series continues with *Technology for the People *on
Monday, April 14 from 6 pm - 8 pm. Join us in Seattle for an evening
discussion about empathetic efforts for community engagement and
technology. Moderated by *Adrienne Russell *(Communication), the event
brings together *Dharma Dailey* (Computing & Software Systems, UW
Bothell), *Carmen
Gonzalez* (Communication, UW Seattle), *Esther Jang *(Computer Science, UW
Seattle), and *Divya C. McMillin* (Global Media Studies, UW Tacoma) to
discuss efforts around digital equity and information access in the Puget
Sound region.

*Technology for the People* is co-hosted with the Center for Media,
Journalism, and Democracy and sponsored by the Tech Policy Lab, the
Department of Communication, and the Office of the Provost. It's free to
attend and refreshments will be provided, but registration is required.
Learn more and register!
<https://depts.washington.edu/societytech/wordpress/2025/02/26/technology-for-the-people-salon/>

--




*'A Spotlight on Rumors’- Recording of Professor Kate Starbird’s UW Faculty
Lecture   *Earlier this week, Kate Starbird (HCDE), who was on the 2022
Task Force that led to the creation of Society + Technology at UW, gave the
2025 University Faculty Lecture. A recording of her talk is now available
<https://www.youtube.com/live/YnJ5o09zucI>.


--

*Next Monday! | First Monday STSS Reading Group | March 3, 2025 | The Dark
Sides of Anthropomorphism (Online)*


*Monday, March 3, 2025* | *10:30 – 11:20 AM (PT)* |

*Online March* *Host:* Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad (Computer Science, UW
Bothell)

* Reading:* *The Dark Side of AI Anthropomorphism: A Case of Misplaced
Trustworthiness in Service Provisions* (Read the paper
<https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/items/685cd4e6-0161-4abd-8bb0-5fe84dec94a0>
)


Our popular reading group on science, technology and society studies (STSS)
is discussing a computing paper about how AI anthropomorphism can lead to
misplaced trust.


*About First Monday STSS*


Co-facilitated by Monika Sengul-Jones and Leah Ceccarelli, this
participant-led monthly reading group fosters an intellectual community for
faculty, students, and staff across UW’s campuses and the School of
Medicine. We use a rotating host model. Anyone at UW who is STS-curious is
welcome! Learn more

<https://depts.washington.edu/stsst/first-monday>To join the group, email
mmjones at uw.edu for an invitation.


--


*[Register Now!] | STSS Research Mixer | March 13, 2025 | In-Person*



*Monday, March 13, 2025* | *3:30 – 5:30 PM (PT)* |

*In-Person Hosts:* Monika Sengul-Jones and Leah Ceccarelli (Director, STSS,
Department of Communication)

Come for the in-person research birds-of-a-feather activity and
announcements, stay for the snacks, no-host happy hour, and intellectual
community. This mixer is for the science, technology, and society studies
faculty, staff, and students across all three campuses.



*Learn more and register*
<https://eventactions.com/eareg.aspx?ea=Rsvp&invite=gn8a0hmf39jr5rmu8j51x5wmcvbwr5djfx2dc6t74p740x9z8pcg>



–



*[Register Now!] | Dr. Evelynn Hammonds: “The Long Road to Equity in
Research” | Walker-Ames Room, Kane Hall | UW Seattle*

*Monday, March 17, 2025* | *9:30 AM (PT)*



We're pleased to share the good news that the Office of Research is
welcoming *Dr. Evelynn Hammonds*
<https://histsci.fas.harvard.edu/people/evelynn-hammonds> for a lecture on
the persistent challenges of achieving equity in STEM and higher education.
Dr. Hammonds is Harvard University’s Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor
of History of Science, Professor of African and African American Studies &
Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the T. Chan School of Public
Health.



*Visit the lecture site & register*
<https://www.washington.edu/research/or/diversity-in-research/office-of-research-task-force-equity-in-research/equity-in-research-for-excellence-symposium-2025/>

Share this event widely with colleagues, students, and staff.

--

So many updates for you, and I'll end with saying this. Hope everyone is
hanging in there.

Yours,

Monika Sengul-Jones

on behalf of *Society + Technology at UW*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman13.u.washington.edu/pipermail/ssnet_list/attachments/20250227/43bec5d0/attachment.html>