Technology Impact Lab

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

The Tech Impact Lab course is a collaboration between the Georgetown Law Center and the Communication, Culture, & Technology department. In this innovative interdisciplinary course, students from across Georgetown work together in teams on high-impact projects aimed at bending the path of technological progress toward human flourishing, justice, and equality, and away from suffering, injustice, and bias. Students in the course will consult with and serve partners such as nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and individuals, selected to maximize both pedagogical value and societal and individual impact. This will be an advanced and intensive course. Students will work closely in teams to conduct the research requested by our project partners, as shaped and elaborated by the professors. All students will produce a work-product portfolio which will require the student teams to reflect upon and write clearly about all of the following: (a) a concise summary of their findings; (b) a description of the history of prior work by others relating to the question explored; (c) a reflection on the impact of the findings for the work of their partner organization; (d) a reflection on the impact of the findings for the field in general; (e) a list of potential future follow-up studies. This course requires an application and instructor approval. Please contact Prof. Meg Jones (Meg.Jones@georgetown.edu). As a committee, we select students based on their tech policy expertise, professional experience, technical skills, passion, and other relevant backgrounds in order to create unique interdisciplinary teams. We don't expect students to have all of these and will assemble interdisciplinary teams of complementary students.