Black Mirror: Race, Technology, and Justice (CD or SA)

Subject associations
AAS 339 / EGR 339
Term
Spring 2023
Instructors
Ruha Benjamin
Registrar description

Are robots racist? Is software sexist? Are neural networks neutral? From everyday apps to complex algorithms, technology has the potential to hide, speed up, and even deepen discrimination. Using the Black Mirror TV series as a starting point, we will explore a range of emerging technologies that encode inequity in digital platforms and automated decision systems, and develop a conceptual toolkit to decode tech promises with sociologically informed skepticism. Students will apply design justice principles in a collaborative project and learn to communicate course insights to tech practitioners, policymakers, and the broader public.

AAS Subfield
AACL
RPP