Institute for Policy, Ethics, and Culture (IPEC) News Blog

Now Streaming: Alexandra Morrison on IPEC Presents

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In our new season of IPEC Presents, we contemplate ethics as it relates to interdisciplinary research.

Our first guest this season is Dr. Alexandra Morrison, an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Humanities here at Michigan Tech. Alexandra is also the Ethics and Philosophy minor Advisor, overseeing undergraduate students from all across campus. Her main research areas include 20th century Continental Philosophy, especially Phenomenology. She also publishes in Feminist Social and Political Philosophy, and the Philosophy of Technology and STEM Ethics pedagogy and is currently working on several interdisciplinary projects in STEM ethics, as well as a manuscript that makes a phenomenologically based critique of recent approaches to an ethics of AI.

Tune in on Spotify and Apple Podcast!

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This Week’s IPEC Programming

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This week, IPEC is co-sponsoring the event Speaking Truth to Power: Poets, Writers, Resistance and Resilience

Event Details

PRESENTER | Michigan Tech Art
VENUE | East Reading Room, Van Pelt and Opie Library
WHEN| February 1, 2024 | 12-1 P.M.

Free, light refreshments will be available.

Leading up to the Rozsa Art Gallery exhibition, Simple Machines: Poetry, Letterpress, and the Art of the Little Magazine, please join special guest, Ukrainian poet, Yuliya Musakovska for a poetry reading followed by a panel discussion with Musakovska and Michigan Tech professors Richard Canevez, Stephanie Carpenter, and M. Bartley Seigel. This event is free and open to the public.

CONTENT GUIDANCE | strong language, war, poetry, activism, small press, publishing, printmaking

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Now Streaming: Stefka Hristova and Soonkwan Hong on IPEC Presents Podcast 

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The fourth episode of IPEC’s monthly podcast is now streaming on Spotify and Apple Podcasts! Our guests, IPEC Director Stefka Hristova and Associate Director Soonkwan Hong discuss how their research relationship has developed over time and spanned university service-related projects, publication collaborations, and research development. Taking a critical perspective on AI and algorithms, we dive deep into the power relations at play in today’s techno cultural environment. Join us for a riveting discussion and learn how, as a general AI user, we can better educate and protect ourselves when interacting with these black box technologies.

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This Week’s IPEC Programming

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We have two great events scheduled this week!

  1. Guidance for (Land) Acknowledgement Statements in Ojibwa Homelands
    • CANCELED Thursday, November 30 from 5:00-6:30pm in Walker 120A
    • See event page for more information.
  2. Algorithmic Culture Brown Bag with Stefka Hristova and Soonkwan Hong
    • Friday, December 1 from 12:00-1:00pm in Peterson Library (Walker 3rd Floor)
    • Description: The sheer presence of algorithms poses existential questions about how deeply computational mechanisms have come to permeate everyday life. Join IPEC’s Director and Associate Director in discussing biases and unintended consequences of algorithms and AI.
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IPEC Seed Research Grant Application Now Open

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We are excited to announce the opening of our Seed Research Grant Application for IPEC members!

Seed Grants are awarded to individuals and groups to conduct preliminary research that will lead to a larger external grant proposal. Proposals should be in the following research areas without any priority: (1) Social Media and Society; (2) Human Machine Culture; (3) Justice and Security in Energy Transitions; (4) Ethics in STEM; and (5) Algorithmic Culture. 

Evaluation criteria include (a) Potential for future/continuous external funding;  (b) Previous research experience and productivity; (c) Scholarly merit of the proposed research project; (d) Potential for extended/continuous research program; (e) Potential for future collaborative work.

Interested applicants shall submit their applications by Feb. 16, 2024. The maximum funding amount is $5,000 with an expected average of $2,500.

Awardees are expected to submit a report upon completion of the project.

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This Week’s IPEC Programming

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Cayuse Training, 11/14 9-10:00 AM, Library Room 242

Join us tomorrow from 9-10:00 AM in Library Room 242 for Cayuse Training! Register for the session to attend.

Research Proposal Writing Workshop, 11/16 6:30-7:30 PM, Walker 107

On Thursday, we’re collaborating with the Graduate Student Government and Ecosystem Science Center for a Research Proposal Writing Workshop, geared toward Graduate Students. Visit GSG’s website for more information about the event.

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Now Streaming: Dr. Jason Archer on IPEC Presents Podcast 

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The third episode of IPEC’s monthly podcast is now streaming on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!

Our guest, Dr. Jason Archer, discusses his research in human machine communication and haptics. Jason is an Assistant Professor of Communication and Media Technologies here at Michigan Tech. Jason serves on the executive committee of IPEC and leads our Human Machine Culture research area. This research area focuses on the developing dynamics between humans and machines — the ways humans and communicative machines sense and make sense of the world together, and the cultural impacts of those formations.

Together, we talk about our next sense-revolution: touch. Listen now!

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This Week’s IPEC Programming

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Dr. Jason Archer’s Guest Appearance on IPEC’s podcast streams tomorrow, November 7! In our third episode, host Kendall Belopavlovich and Jason discuss his research in human machine communication, haptics, and sensory studies. Check out our podcast page for more.

On Thursday, the Graduate Student Government will be facilitating a 3 Minute Thesis competition. The finals will be held from 6-8:00pm, November 9, at the Great Lakes Research Center.

Finally, Friday is set to see IPEC members Charles Wallace and Susanna Peters facilitate a Computer Science Colloquium from 3-4:00pm in Rekhi 214. This event is also available as a webinar. See the event page for more details!

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