Tech Policy Signature

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This undergraduate course explores the relationship between technology and public policy. The course will be structured around the way that technology—both historical changes and modern innovations like AI—is embedded within public policy institutions that impact people across many policy domains. After an overview of frameworks for understanding the relationship between technology and public policy, we will examine policy domains including medicine, with technology shaping patients’ and clinicians’ experiences of birth, death, and major life events in between; housing, with technology shaping the way that people search for housing and the ways that landlords screen prospective tenants; the criminal justice system, with technology influencing how law enforcement is deployed, how defendants’ risk of violence is assessed, and how people are monitored and surveilled upon release to the community; the civil justice system, with technology impacting areas such as debt collection and family law; environmental policy, with technology shaping forecasts of climate change and assessments of environmental impacts; schooling, with technology being used by teachers as an aid to student learning and by districts to monitor student behavior; and more. The seminar will be structured around readings that feature a mix of real-world case studies and academic perspectives, guest visitors who will share behind-the-scenes insight into the role of technology in shaping policymaking in their area of expertise, and hands-on student projects. By the end of the course, students will gain the skills to think critically about technology’s impact on policymaking, both its benefits and its pitfalls. Students will leave the course with a portfolio of project-based work that shows their engagement with the policy debates around technology that are currently unfolding.