TOPICS: HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES in Spring 2021 (LW4091A)

When we speak of digital technology, our focus is often prohibitively narrow. Taking our cues from scientific research models, we examine the parts, rather than the whole, inadvertently isolating software from hardware, the technological frameworks from their actual use, or the costs of the digital revolution from the benefits. This course joins two seemingly disparate disciplines – law and science – in an attempt to understand more fully the dense, multidimensional nature of the digital revolution and how we are going to live with it. While it is somewhat risky to predict the outcome of a revolution, we find the application of a human rights framework extremely useful in highlighting many of the connected aspects of this technological transition. We have designed our course as an interdisciplinary primer, a guide to examining the critical issues that shape our use of digital technology; by elaborating specific case studies, we ground our general arguments in lived experiences across diverse geographic contexts.