May 17, 2019
Mira Mirsky, “On social media, hate speech takes a dangerous turn”
“Online hate has been identified as a serious problem that has gotten out of hand. But whose is it to solve? Should the government step in more authoritatively, or do social media and tech companies need to take more responsibility? Do we turn to technological solutions or human ones? Or must speech be protected at all costs?What to do about online hate is a knotty question at the crossroads of ethics and technology. “These are questions that, again, go far beyond anti-Semitism,” said Deutsch, who co-led a discussion called “Anti-Semitism and the Internet” earlier this month in Mountain View. “But anti-Semitism is a big part of it.”
May 13, 2019
Rachel Myrow, “No Lone Shooter: How Anti-Semitism Is Winning New Converts on the Internet”
“Conspiracy theories have been at the core of anti-Semitism, and the internet is a fertile breeding ground for conspiracy theorists. Exactly how this genre is evolving was the subject of an event held last week at the Computer Science Museum in Mountain View by UC Santa Cruz’s Data and Democracy initiative.“Anti-Semitism is one of the oldest hatreds in the world,” said Rachel Deblinger, co-director of the Digital Jewish Studies Initiative and director of the Digital Scholarship Commons at UC Santa Cruz. “The internet provides the tools of creation and dissemination to everyone.”She argues, as do others, that social media platforms of all kinds are effectively resurrecting and refreshing ideas and visual tropes — or “memes” — stemming back to Medieval Europe.”
April 11, 2019
Scott Rappaport, “‘Hi-Phi Nation’ philosophy podcast host to launch humanities residency at UC Santa Cruz“
“Barry Lam—an associate professor of philosophy at Vassar College and host of the philosophy podcast Hi-Phi Nation on Slate—is coming to UC Santa Cruz this week to begin a two-week residency.Lam comes to the campus as part of The Humanities Institute’s Scholars-in-Residence program. He is the writer, editor, and producer of Hi-Phi Nation, billed as the first podcast weaving philosophy with narrative storytelling, investigative journalism, and sound design. It is also the first philosophy show to be picked up by a major podcast network.”
February 14,2019
Scott Rappaport, “Diller Lecture to feature talk on the history of Jews, human rights, and global democracy”
Loeffler will revisit the history of the modern Human Rights movement and examine the relationship between the Holocaust, the legal framework of Human Rights, and the struggle to find justice on a global scale.
His lecture will also address the challenges and opportunities for minorities and stateless peoples by focusing on Jewish human rights pioneers who saw the Jewish state as an expression of global democracy.
January 28, 2019
James McGirk, “Lise Getoor talks Data Science at UC Santa Cruz in advance of public lectures“
As the risks and benefits of insights developed by data science spread through society, Getoor sees a growing need for data science literacy and recognition that there are serious limits to what artificial intelligence and algorithmic insights can have.
“Algorithms aren’t a magic bullet for all society’s ills,” she said. “Doing good data science requires a collaborative and curious outlook so you’re collaborating with the people who know how users will be affected by the decisions, and understanding what the powers and limitations of data science are. And it’s important to communicate that at all levels.”
January 18, 2019
Scott Rappaport, “Questions That Matter public humanities series to spotlight ‘Data and Democracy’ at Kuumbwa Center”
The Questions That Matter series is designed to bring together UC Santa Cruz faculty with community residents and students to explore the big questions that matter to everyone. It is part of a strategic initiative of The Humanities Institute to champion the role and value of the humanities in contemporary life.
“We’re going to look at what are some of the core elements of modern democracy, the way that data has changed and who has access to it, and how this has the potential to transform our democracy,” said Deutsch. “I think there has to be a collaboration between humanists and technologists to address these issues,” he added.
October 30, 2018
Nick Ibarra, Social media is destroying Democracy, tech pioneer tells Santa Cruz audience, Santa Cruz Sentinel
Ahead of the scheduled evening lecture, Lanier met with a small group of first year students from the College Scholars Program and, at one point, invited the students to quit social media for six months as an experiment. But, the students weren’t necessarily on board. Ibarra writes, “Kora Fortun, a freshman linguistics and math major, told Lanier that she agrees with many of his premises but sees a different path forward. ‘I see more hope in a new generation of social media users being aware and thus maintaining some control of the platforms we use,’ Fortun said.”
October 19, 2018
Scott Rappaport, “Visionary tech pioneer Jaron Lanier to deliver Peggy Downes Baskin Ethics Lecture” UCSC News
Event kicks off a year of programming on ‘Data and Democracy’ by The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz
October 17, 2018
Wallace Bain, “Jaron Lanier to Santa Cruz: Quit Social Media Now,” Good Times
“On Monday, Oct. 29, Lanier comes to UC Santa Cruz as part of the Peggy Downes Baskin Ethics Lecture Series, co-sponsored by UCSC’s Humanities Institute and Bookshop Santa Cruz, with a message that cannot be better articulated than the title of his book. He’s making the case that the social media world robs people of free will, distorts relationships, creates destructive addictions, destroys political compromise and progress, and alters the functioning of the human mind, particularly young and developing minds. The most efficacious way out of this emerging hellscape is to delete your social media accounts. All of them. Permanently. Right now.”