The OSU Center for Ethics and Human Values and the Mandel Humanities Center at Cuyahoga Community College are co-hosting a conversation with Dr. Ruha Benjamin entitled "The Color of Technology." The talk, also co-sponsored by OSU's Office for Diversity and Inclusion, will be moderated by Dr. Ayanna Howard, dean of the Ohio State College of Engineering.
Dr. Benjamin is professor of African American Studies at Princeton University), founding director of the IDA B. WELLS Just Data Lab; author of two books, People’s Science and Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Crow; and editor of Captivating Technology. She has studied the social dimensions of science, technology, and medicine for over 15 years and speaks widely on issues of innovation, equity, health and justice in the U.S. and globally. She is a faculty associate in the Center for Information Technology Policy, Program on History of Science, Center for Health and Wellbeing, Program on Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Department of Sociology. Additionally, she serves on the Executive Committees for the Program in Global Health and Health Policy and Center for Digital Humanities.
Dr. Benjamin's book Race After Technology examines the relationship between machine bias and systemic racism, analyzing specific cases of “discriminatory design” and offering tools for a socially-conscious approach to tech development. It was awarded Brooklyn Public Library’s 2020 Nonfiction Prize.
