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Justice and Equity in Technology Policy
  • Level Foundation
  • Duration 38 hours
  • Course by University of Michigan
  • Offered by

About

More than ever, technology is shaping, and being shaped by, public policy. This has an enormous impact, particularly for marginalized communities. The artificial intelligence and computer algorithms increasingly driving government and industry decisions—from the allocation of social services to hiring—are reflecting and reinforcing social biases towards women, people of color, and disabled people, among others. Global climate change is having a disproportionately negative impact on low- and middle-income countries, and on historically disadvantaged communities of color in the United States. Communities are increasingly concerned they are not benefiting from government research funding, and that the regulation of emerging technologies is inadequate. The interconnectedness of technology, policy, and equality raises crucial questions for scientists, technologists, and leaders in public policy, civil society, and industry. How can technology be built, implemented, and governed more equitably? How can the concerns of marginalized communities be integrated better into technology and related policies? How should community knowledge and concerns be integrated with technical expertise and scientific evidence in the development of public policies? This course aims to help learners understand how inequity and injustice can become embedded in technology, science, and associated policies, and how this can be addressed. Combining real-world cases with scholarly insights, this course introduces learners to these challenges and offers tools for navigating them. You will learn about: - The landscape of technology policymaking - How technology, and related policies both reflect and reinforce social values, biases and politics - The power and limitations of technology in solving social problems - New ways to think about “experts” and “publics” - The politics of innovation policy The course is designed for people from diverse professional, advocacy, and academic backgrounds. No scientific, technical, or policy background is necessary.

Modules

Welcome to the Course!

    • 3 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
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1 Discussions

  • Introduce Yourself

3 Readings

  • Welcome & Meet your Instructor
  • Course Syllabus
  • Course Pre-Survey

Social Values

    • 2 Videos
    • 4 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Social Values Quiz

2 Videos

  • Introduction to Equity and Justice in Technology Policy
  • How do Values Shape Technology?

4 Readings

  • Tips for Reading Academic Articles
  • Do Artifacts Have Politics?
  • Assessing the social impact of direct-to-consumer genetic testing: Understanding sociotechnical architectures
  • Science in Abortion Politics and the Failure of One Laptop Per Child ft. Morgan Ames

Political Priorities

    • 3 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Political Priorities Quiz

3 Readings

  • The Ethics of Invention
  • Algorithmic Colonization of Africa
  • The UN is holding a summit on building a sustainable future for food and ag. Why are so many people upset about it?

Impacts of values, biases and assumptions shape the design

    • 3 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Impacts of Values, Biases and Assumptions Quiz

1 Discussions

  • Week 1 Writing Assignment

3 Readings

  • Explainer: what is surveillance capitalism and how does it shape our economy?
  • What is Surveillance Capitalism?
  • Surveillance capitalism in the age of Covid-19

Traditional Goals and Values

    • 1 Videos
    • 3 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
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1 Discussions

  • How have different values, biases and assumptions shaped technology?

1 Videos

  • Connecting Technology and Equity

3 Readings

  • Marginalized Aadhaar: How the World’s Largest Digital Identification Programme Led to the Exclusion of Marginalized Communities
  • How a Popular Medical Device Encodes Racial Bias
  • Oximeters Used to Be Designed for Equity. What Happened?

Hiding Bias and Inequities in Language

    • 4 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Hiding Bias and Inequities in Language Quiz

4 Readings

  • Facial Recognition, Algorithmic Inequality, and a Racial Reckoning ft. Virginia Eubanks
  • An algorithm that screens for child neglect raises concerns
  • San Francisco Rations Housing by Scoring Homeless People’s Trauma. By Design, Most Fail to Qualify.
  • Why it’s so damn hard to make AI fair and unbiased?

Hidden Assumptions and Embedded Inequalities in Technology Design and Development

    • 4 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Hidden Assumptions and Embedded Inequalities in Technology Design and Development Quiz

1 Discussions

  • Week 2 Reflection

4 Readings

  • South Africa’s private surveillance machine is fueling a digital apartheid
  • Luxury Surveillance
  • When an Algorithm Gets It Wrong
  • Optional: Big Tech Entrenches US Power with Michael Kwet

Social Values and Political Priorities Shape Policy

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Social Values and Political Priorities Shape Policy Quiz

1 Videos

  • Understanding Innovation Policy

2 Readings

  • How State Funding Built Silicon Valley with Margaret O’Mara
  • Innovation Policy, Structural Inequality, and COVID-19

Institutions and Patents

    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Institutions and Patents Quiz

2 Readings

  • Private Patents, Public Health
  • Overpatented, Overpriced

Science and Technology Policy and Equity

    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Science and Technology Policy and Equity Quiz

2 Readings

  • The Practices of Objectivity in Regulatory Science
  • Why does the state allow environmental inequalities to persist?

Hiding Bias and Inequities in Technology Regulation

    • 1 Videos
    • 3 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Hiding Bias and Inequities in Technology Regulation Quiz

1 Discussions

  • Week 3 Reflection

1 Videos

  • Understanding Regulatory Policy

3 Readings

  • Saving Science, The New Atlantis
  • The Return of Biological Race? Regulating Race and Genetics Through Administrative Agency Race Impact Assessments
  • Optional: Racism is baked into patent systems

Rethinking Expertise

    • 1 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Rethinking Expertise Quiz

1 Videos

  • Rethinking Expertise

1 Readings

  • Misunderstood misunderstanding: social identities and public uptake of science

Expertise and Public Mistrust

    • 3 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
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1 Discussions

  • Experiential Expertise Discussion

3 Readings

  • ACT-UP: A History of HIV/AIDS Activism
  • How and Why Patients Made Long Covid
  • ‘We Do Not Want Fake Energy’: The Social Shaping of a Solar Micro-grid in Rural India

Expanding Expertise

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 PeerReview
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Expertise, Mistrust and Expanding Expertise Quiz

1 Peer Review

  • Week 4 Assignment

1 Videos

  • Valuing Non-Traditional Expertise in Technology Policy

2 Readings

  • A global observatory for gene editing
  • Integrating Public Deliberation into Engineering Systems: Participatory Technology Assessment of NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission

Rethinking Design

    • 1 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
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1 Discussions

  • Rethinking Design Discussion

1 Videos

  • Considering Equity Upstream

2 Readings

  • What is Design for Social Justice?
  • Rethinking Success and Failure in Community-Oriented Engineering

Community Based Design

    • 1 Videos
    • 3 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Community Based Design Quiz

1 Videos

  • Rethinking Design for Equity and Justice

3 Readings

  • Designing Accessible Fashion for People with Disabilities
  • Assessing Watershed Scarcity and Watershed Development in Maharashtra, India: A Case Study of the Baliraja Memorial Dam
  • Rooted in Recognition: Indigenous Environmental Justice and the Genetically Engineered Chestnut Tree

Framework for Responsible Innovation

    • 4 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 PeerReview
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1 Peer Review

  • Week 5 Assignment Peer Review

1 Discussions

  • Framework for Responsible Innovation Reflection

4 Readings

  • NASEM Fostering Responsible Computing Research--Foundations and Practices
  • Developing a Framework for Responsible Innovation
  • [Optional] Case Study: China
  • [Optional] Power to the People? Opportunities and Challenges for Participatory AI

Rethinking Technology Policy For Equity

    • 1 Videos
    • 4 Readings
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1 Videos

  • Rethinking Technology Policy For Equity

4 Readings

  • [Optional] Innovation as a Force for Equity
  • Industrial Policy's Comeback
  • Mariana Mazzucato and Raghuram Rajan on Building Back Post-Pandemic
  • [Optional] Maximizing Good Innovation

Democratic Engagement

    • 3 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Rethinking Technology Policy for Equity and Democratic Engagement Quiz

3 Readings

  • Examining the Black Box: Tools for Assessing Algorithmic Systems
  • The Citizens' Biometrics Council
  • What's in the Chatterbox?

Change in Governance of Technology

    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 PeerReview
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1 Peer Review

  • Final Assignment

1 Discussions

  • Multiple Perspectives Activity

Course Conclusion

    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
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1 Discussions

  • Share what's next for you!

2 Readings

  • Course Post-Survey
  • Continue learning from the Ford School of Public Policy and the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program

Auto Summary

Discover "Justice and Equity in Technology Policy," a foundational course designed to explore the intersection of technology, policy, and social justice. Led by Coursera, this course delves into how technology and public policy impact marginalized communities, addressing topics like AI biases, climate change, and equitable innovation. Ideal for professionals, advocates, and academics from all backgrounds, the course spans 2280 minutes and offers Starter and Professional subscription options. Engage with real-world cases and scholarly insights to understand and navigate the complexities of creating just and equitable technological policies.

Shobita Parthasarathy
Instructor

Shobita Parthasarathy