Houston Daily

The University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs is launching a new lecture series focused on the influence of technology and digital innovation on daily life. The series, titled “Rebooting Our Relationship with Tech,” is presented by the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Center on Ethics and Leadership and begins September 18. The events are open to members of the Houston community as well as UH students, staff, and faculty.

“This tech series highlights how and in what ways our increased use of technology intersects with and affects our lives on a daily basis,” said Brandon M. Williams, director of the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Center and an instructional assistant professor in the Hobby School. “That includes everything from individual mental health to our social interactions to our very democracy.”

The program will include four free lectures featuring nationally recognized speakers addressing topics such as the effects of phones and social media, internet privacy laws in Texas, artificial intelligence’s role in reinforcing oppression, and social media’s impact on democracy.

Speakers include Catherine Price, best-selling author and journalist; Tyler Bridegan, director of privacy and tech enforcement for the Texas Attorney General’s office; Safiya Umoja Noble, best-selling author and social scientist; and Siva Vaidhyanathan, cultural historian and media scholar.

Each event will consist of a lecture followed by a question-and-answer session with attendees. Registration is encouraged through the Hobby School’s website due to limited seating for some sessions. Recordings for select lectures will be made available online after each event.

In addition to organizing public lectures, the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Center has provided more than $150,000 in research grants to University of Houston faculty since its founding in 2020. It has also awarded over 30 scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students at UH.

“The aim of the series is both to help people be better informed about these topics and these issues, but then also to take action, when possible,” Williams said. “Now, whether that means throwing your phone away, I don't know. But often, action follows awareness. You can't take action before you're aware.”