The abolition of systemic racism with and within sociotechnical systems requires a range of voices to come together in service of a shared goal. Specifically, this center can serve as a nexus bringing together various constituents from across campus (e.g. social science and technical disciplines), industry, and local community to address widescale problems at the intersection of race and technology. Through a focus on collaboration, creating community, and generating visibility centered around this larger mission, the center has four primary program areas:

Collaborative Research

  • Identifying collaborators across campus
  • Engaging in multi-disciplinary scholarship to explore, understand, and combat racism with and within sociotechnical systems
  • Develop collaborative research projects and grant proposals from across campus units

Promotion and Dissemination

  • Hold monthly invited speaker events to learn from area experts in the field
  • Develop once a semester workshops/conferences bringing together colleagues from across campus and abroad (e.g., other institutions and industry) to engage in productice conversation and exploration of topic areas centered around race, media, and technology

Student Services

  • Create a space that is inclusive and safe for students at all levels to engage in important research, conversation, ideation, and community-building
  • Generate a sustainable PhD fellowship fund for Black and Ingenious people of color (BIPOC) scholars in service of pursuing reflexive research at the intersection of Race and Technology
  • Normalize research experiences for undergraduates—through an annual undergraduate research opportunity program (UROP). The goal will be to dualistically support Black and Indigenous students of color in gaining valuable research experiences while simultaneously supporting the engagement of reflexive research centering the everyday experiences of BIPOC communities

Curricular Initiatives

  • Developing a world-renowned curriculum across CMCI focused on the everyday experiences of Black and Indigenous people of color centered around Media and Technology
  • Build minors, majors, and certificates with different areas of emphasis
  • Create curricular bridges across campus