A chatbot that learns language via Twitter and, within hours, begins posting antisemitic, racist, misogynistic, and transphobic tweets. Algorithms that are meant to help provide support for children and families but instead end up targeting, surveilling, and criminalizing people living in poverty. Facial recognition software that can’t detect the faces of Black and dark-skinned people. There are seemingly endless examples of how digital technologies reinforce inequities and harm marginalized groups of people—even technologies intended to work around or remove the systemic inequities baked into our social processes and institutions. In this FYRS section, we will become familiar with some of these examples, and we will also look to individuals’ and groups’ ongoing innovation and resistance in order to imagine more just digital futures.
We’ll read, listen to, and view a range of texts in different genres and mediums coming from authors/scholars/activists such as Sasha Costanza-Chock, Meredith Broussard, Joy Buolamwini, Ruha Benjamin, Safiya Umoja Noble, and Virginia Eubanks.
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Here are some example searches on your class topic in the library catalog. To conduct your own searches, go to the library homepage.
Use broad reference materials to find out background information about your topic. This will help you narrow your future searches and will also give you keywords to find the most relevant sources. Credo can be a good place to start for that first step in research.
Credo Reference provides access to a large number of encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and other reference books. Subjects covered include art, biography, history, literature, music, religion, and science and technology.
Below are suggested databases with scholarly articles on these topics.
Need more options? Library Databases A-Z
Opposing Viewpoints In Context is a rich resource for debaters and includes pro/con viewpoints, reference articles, interactive maps, infographics, and more. A category on the National Debate Topic provides quick and easy access to content on frequently studied and discussed issues. Periodical content covers current events, news and commentary, economics, environmental issues, political science, and more.
Log into your Transy Google account in a Chrome browser for full-text access to articles.