Online Session Locator

View Session

W434·DISTINGUISHED LECTURE: To: Society From: Tech, with Love
Special Liberal Education/Engineering & Society Division (LEES)
Wed. June 26, 2024 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
A105, Oregon Convention Center
Session Description

In a recent intimate discussion of her book Viral Justice, Dr. Ruha Benjamin commented that “you cannot teach someone you do not love.” Sitting with the power of this comment, I was pushed to reflect on how such translates to the field of engineering, its processes, products, people, and innovations. Specifically, I wondered how each of these aspects would be impacted if pursued through the lens of love. Historically, ideologies underpinning technical advancement have been treated disparately from constructs of love, justice, power, equity, and access. Yet, it is at the seams of engineering, technology, and these constructs where the greatest possibility of galvanizing a paradigm shift toward attainment of a sociotechnical future where all can thrive lies. Calling upon bell hooks’ conceptualization of love across the components of knowledge, care, commitment, respect, trust, and responsibility, I interrogate how this framing can inform sociotechnical innovation for realizing a reimagined future. In this dialogue, connections will be made to understanding how engineering’s pedagogical approaches, research agendas and development for good, partnering in purpose, and thinking in terms of global systems and impact can be re-envisioned through the lens of love.

Please join me in this discussion as we dream together the possibilities of innovating through love.

Speaker
  1. Dr. Brooke Charae Coley
    Arizona State University, Polytechnic Campus

    Dr. Brooke Coley, an Assistant Professor of Engineering at Arizona State University, is a pioneering force in disrupting the status quo of engineering to create a more equitable and inclusive field where all individuals can thrive. As the Founding Executive Director of the Center for Research Advancing Racial Equity, Justice, and Sociotechnical Innovation in Engineering (RARE JUSTICE), Dr. Coley leads transformative efforts to challenge systemic barriers and promote equity in academia. Her research focuses on amplifying the lived experiences of racially minoritized scholars, dismantling anti-Blackness in STEM, graduate student education, and fostering awareness of, and ultimately, accountability for, the lived realities of minoritized individuals navigating STEM through immersive virtual reality experiences. Collaborating with mental health experts, she also is intentional to integrate a head-on focus on the implications for wellness and wholeness in academic environments. Dr. Coley's transparent and culturally responsive approaches, coupled with her dedication and fortitude, have positioned her as a recognized leader in the field. Since 2017, she has secured millions of dollars in grant funding from the National Science Foundation, employing critical qualitative and arts-based methodologies in her work. She received the William Elgin Wickenden and Betty Vetter Awards in 2024 and was named a Virtual Visiting Scholar by the ARC Network in 2023. Launching from the Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh oriented to the challenges of navigating STEM as an underrepresented and minoritized scholar, she continues to lead change and advocate for institutional transformation and accountability through novel applications and approaches.