Santa Clara University

Forum Series

Center for Science, Technology, and Society and the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Events

May 14th, 2007: Friends, Lovers, Trust, Safety: The Present and Future of Social Networking

  Networking communities have become the digital equivalent of hanging out at the mall for today's teens and young adults, who load their sites with photos, news, music and detailed profiles of their likes and dislikes. MySpace, Facebook, Multiply, Facebox, Bebo, Vox, Ning… the list goes on and on.
  These social networking sites build on the idea of establishing friendships or romantic relationships through people they already know. Sounds safe enough, right? But, as online relationships develop, do we really know who those ‘friends’ are?

Jim Squires, Vice President of Product Management and Co-Founder of Ning
Marian Liu, SJ Mercury News, Multimedia Entertainment Critic
Shannon Vallor, Assistant Professor, Philosophy Department, Santa Clara University
Kaitlin Thompson, Undergraduate Student, Santa Clara University

March 26th, 2007: Virtues and Vices of Open Source Software

Listen to issues surrounding the two principal software development models- the commercial model, where customers pay developers for their work versus the open source model, where developers contribute to the commons.

Featuring: Eben Moglen, Professor, Columbia Law School General Counsel, Free Software Foundation Chairman, Software Freedom Law Center Principal Drafter of the General Public License (GPL)

Listen to audio from the event
Read the transcript

May 16th, 2006: Traces of Ourselves: The Politics and Ethics of Databases

On May 17th, 2006, over 100 attendees were present at Traces of Ourselves: The Ethics and Politics of Databases. Mitch Kapor, John Arquilla, and S. Leigh Star presented and debated critical issues, including legal frameworks, economic ramifications, and policy implications involved with databases. Find out more about the event:

Streaming Audio
Transcripts
Read an Op-Ed by Center Director Geoffrey Bowker
Ethical Questions to Consider
View event flyer

February 27th, 2006: Ethics and Politics of Search Engines

On February 27, 2006, despite a heavy downpour, 170 people attended "The Ethics and Politics of Search Engines," a seminar sponsored by Santa Clara University's Center for Science, Technology, and Society and Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.

Panelists included Peter Norvig, Director of Research at Google, Terry Winograd, Computer Science Professor at Stanford University, and Geoffrey C. Bowker, Executivie Director at the Center for Science, Technology, and Society (STS) at Santa Clara University. Susan Leigh Star, Senior Scholar at STS introduced the panelists and offered some questions to consider surrounding the topic. Kirk Hanson, Executive Director at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics moderated the discussion.

Listen to audio from the panel!
View panel transcript!

Introduction by Susan Leigh Star, President of the Society for
Social Studies of Science and Professor and Senior Scholar,
Santa Clara University
Moderator, Chad Raphael, Associate Professor of Communication,
Santa Clara University
Panelists:
California Assemblyman Leland Yee, Author of a recent measure
to prevent the sale of violent games to minors
Mike Antonucci, Popular Culture Writer,  San Jose Mercury News 
Kristin Asleson McDonnell, CEO of LimeLife, which
develops and publishes mobile phone games for women and girls
Caroline Ratajski, Student and Video Gamer, Santa Clara University

The Tech Museum of Innovation, in partnership with Santa Clara University, presented a unique panel session and open forum discussion on ethics and gaming. The evening focused on topics such as violence, gender issues and addiction as they relate to young gamers.

For the panel transcript 
Listen to audio clips from the event