Mission Statement
The ESC key was added to the computer keyboard to interrupt a program when it produced unwanted results, allowing the system to be critically examined. In the same way, the Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing (ESC – pronounced “escape”) is dedicated to intervening when digital media and computing technologies reproduce inequality, exclusion, corruption, deception, racism, or sexism. ESC is a research center and a collective of scholars committed to feminist, justice-focused, inclusive, and interdisciplinary approaches to computing. We are invested in the social, cultural, and political dimensions of digital technologies. We intercede in structures of power and inequality. We work with educators, workers, industrial practitioners, and policymakers.
Get Involved
Come to our free, open mixers for faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students to learn more about ESC. See the events page. Also see our Faculty Affiliation Policy (requires UM login).
Sponsors
The center is sponsored by the School of Information; the Center for Political Studies at the Institute for Social Research, and the Department of Communication & Media in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan.
Contact
Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing
Institute for Social Research, Suite 4200
426 Thompson Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1248
Tel: (734) 764-5361
Fax: (734) 764-3341
[email protected]