Researchers receive $2.9M to study intersection of technology, power and society

The UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry has been selected by the Australia-based Minderoo Foundation to receive $2.9 million to participate in an international network of scholars committed to challenging the unjust impact of digital technologies on society through research, education and the arts.

The funding will be used to create the Minderoo Initiative on Technology and Power at the center, which will nurture a hub of research at UCLA exploring the intersection of technology, power and society. The initiative will be led by the center’s co-directors and co-founders, Safiya Umoja Noble and Sarah T. Roberts.

“The new Minderoo Initiative situates us as part of a global network of scholars, journalists, makers and artists who care deeply about the issues of technology and power,” said Noble, an associate professor of information studies at the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Infomation Studies. “We are at a critical juncture where abolitionist and restorative interventions must be considered in the face of mounting social harms from internet-based technologies. Now is the time to support scholars addressing the most pressing harms stemming from digital technologies. We hope this gift is the first of many transformational investments that will help us make a long-term impact for change and repair.”

Read the full news release.

Build the New Counterculture (featuring Safiya Umoja Noble and Sarah T. Roberts) from Future Says_ on Vimeo.