Ethics and the Appeal to Scientific Consensus in the Climate Change Debates

Dr. Jean Goodwin (North Carolina State University) // November 14th, 2017 // 2:00pm-3:30pm // Belo Center for New Media (BMC) 5.208 What are the ethical choices being made when arguers claim that there is a scientific consensus backing their stance on climate change? Is this a simple claim to make, or a complex ethical choice […]

The Preference for Idealized Imagery in the Media and Detrimental Self-Perceptions Among Women – When does it Begin?

Dr. Kate Pounders (The University of Texas at Austin) // January 30th, 2018 // 3:30pm-4:30pm // Jesse H. Jones Communication Center (CMA) 5.136 A large body of work has documented exposure to idealized and unattainable imagery in the media in the form of body size has a negative impact on young women. Previous research has […]

Engaging Newsrooms in the Digital Age

Dr. Talia Stroud (The University of Texas at Austin) // February 22nd, 2018 // 3:30pm-4:30pm // Belo Center for New Media (BMC 5.102) Some think our democracy is in trouble, and that our news media hold the key to fixing our problems. How can our scholarship guide news media in such a role? Does what […]

The Real Ethics of Fake News

Dr. Scott R. Stroud (The University of Texas at Austin) // February 27th, 2018 // 2:00pm-3:15pm // Belo Center for New Media (BMC) 5.208 Is fighting fake news as simple as it seems to be? What ethical challenges will our efforts to stomp out fake news create? More and more attention is being directed at […]

Hacking Big Data: Discovering Vulnerabilities in a Sociotechnical Society

Dr. danah boyd (Microsoft Research, Data & Society) // March 6th, 2018 // 5:00pm-6:30pm // Belo Center for New Media (BMC) 1.202 Data-driven and algorithmic systems increasingly underpin many decision-making systems, shaping where law enforcement are stationed and what news you are shown on social media. The design of these systems is inscribed with organizational […]

Making Politics Go Viral (Like Puppies): CME SXSW Panel

March 10th, 2018 // 5:00pm-6:00pm // JW Marriott Austin Donald Trump and other politicians are using social media to bypass the media and get their message straight to the public. So what can news organizations do to get their political content noticed? In this interactive session, panelists will share their experiences and research on what […]

How to Survive the Robot Apocalypse

Dr. David J. Gunkel (Northern Illinois University) // April 3rd, 2018 // 2:00pm-3:30pm // Belo Center for New Media (BMC) 5.208 Whether we recognize it or not, we are in the midst of a robot invasion. The machines are now everywhere and doing virtually everything. We chat with them online. We play with them in […]

The Ethics of Virtual Reality

Dr. Donald Heider (Loyola University Chicago) // April 10th, 2018 // 3:30pm-5:00pm // Jesse H. Jones Communication Center (CMA) 5.136 Virtual Reality gives participants the chance to enter immersive and interactive media environments. As with many new technologies, the tools might require our consideration of the implications of these tools. What are ethical implications of […]

Media Criticism in Turbulent Times: A Panel Discussion

Dr. Rod Hart (The University of Texas at Austin), Dr. Trish Roberts-Miller (The University of Texas at Austin), Dr. Michael Butterworth (The University of Texas at Austin), Dr. Barry Brummett (The University of Texas at Austin), Dr. Trish Roberts-Miller (The University of Texas at Austin) // April 25th, 2018 // 3:30pm-4:30pm // Belo Center for New Media (BMC) […]

Feeling Rules, Media Ethics, and the Moral Foundation Dictionary

Dr. Sven Joeckel (University of Erfurt, Germany) // September 19th, 2018 // 2:00pm-3:30pm // Jesse H. Jones Communication Center (CMA) 5.136 What does psychology have to tell us about the impact of media on our emotions and moral judgments? Does media make us better moral agents? In this discussion, two visiting researchers from Germany will […]