2025
Thursday, October 16, 2025 RKC 111 5:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Feeling Data: Art in Pursuit of Social Change explores the intersection of science, data, and visual art as a means of confronting the climate crisis and inspiring collective action. Drawing from personal experiences in the Pacific Northwest and the American Southwest, Tyler W. Green’s practice transforms data sets, climate records, and mapping tools into conceptual frameworks for photography and installation. By pairing empirical evidence with emotional resonance, his work exposes the hidden scars of industrial logging, intensifying wildfires, prolonged drought, and the loss of old-growth forests. Projects such as illuminating ancient stumps, creating artificial dust clouds, and painting climate data onto fire-scarred landscapes bridge measurable realities with felt experience, translating scientific knowledge into human terms. This fusion of art and science not only documents environmental change but also creates a space for grief, empathy, and reflection, making complex issues more accessible while challenging audiences to engage in difficult conversations. By embedding scientific data into artistic practice, Green demonstrates how art can humanize abstract information, expand the reach of science communication, and serve as a catalyst for awareness, trust, and meaningful social change. Tyler W. Green (b. 1985) is an American artist whose work concerns the relationship between humans and the natural world. His photographs confront the tension between human activity and ecological impact, challenging the notion that humans exist apart from nature. With a background in journalism and data analysis, Green approaches art through both observation and science. This foundation refines his emotional response to environmental crises, allowing his work to bear witness — not only to personal experience, but to what research reveals — communicating complex ideas and provoking earnest reflection. Concerned with humanity’s dominance over nature, Green examines the altered landscape. Using artificial light and intervening directly within the landscape, his photographs take on a conceptual form, responding to the emotional weight felt while confronting climate change and ecological devastation. Green extends this dialogue through materials using the photogravure printing process. Using inks crafted from pigments gathered at the very sites he photographs, his prints form a physical bond with the land itself — an echo of what has been lost and a reminder of what remains at stake. Green has exhibited at the University of New Mexico, Blue Sky Gallery, Ocotillo Arts Center, Corvallis Art Center, Fraction Magazine and internationally at Casa Regis in Italy. He is a 2025 Durham Arts Council Artist Support Grant recipient and, in 2023, received a Fulcrum Fund award from 516 Arts. His news photography has been recognized by the Associated Press, the New Mexico Newspaper Association, and the National Press Photographers Association. Green earned an Associate degree from the Art Institute of Seattle in 2005 and resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. |
Tuesday, September 16, 2025 Preston Theater 3:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Mainstream technologies often exclude or marginalize transgender users. Trans Technologies describes what happens when trans people take technology design into their own hands. Oliver L. Haimson, whose research into gender transition and technology has defined this area of study, draws on transgender studies and his own in-depth interviews with more than 100 creators of technology, including apps, games, health resources, extended reality systems, and supplies, to explain what trans technology is and to explore its present possibilities and limitations, as well as its future prospects. Join us for tea and conversation with Oliver Haimson! Enjoy an informal discussion in the Preston Study Lounge (Room 122) at 2:30 PM, before the main talk. |
Thursday, May 15, 2025 Join our graduating seniors as they present their work! Download: Senior Project Poster session booklet S25-1.pdf |
Thursday, May 1, 2025
A talk by Linda Tigani, '08
Chair and Executive Director of the NYC Commission on Racial Equity RKC 101 10:10 am EDT/GMT-4 In November 2022, NYC voters declared that our city is a multiracial democracy that integrates racial equity in government practices such as rule-making, decision-making processes, and investment of public funds. However, this is an aspiration. As the use of technology grows in government practice, public service practitioners must align the pathway toward a multiracial democracy and the processes, decisions, and application of artificial intelligence. Racial equity assessments to identify and remove negative racial bias is a key promising practice that aligns with addressing questions of ethics, human rights, and racial inequities in society. This talk will explore the current use, according to the law, and the challenges associated with integrating racial equity into the local government process. Linda Tigani is the Chair and Executive Director of the NYC Commission on Racial Equity (CORE), where she leverages over a decade of government experience to work with New Yorkers to create meaningful change and advance racial equity. Prior to this role, Tigani was the acting Chief Equity and Strategy Officer for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where she led the Race to Justice team, an internal initiative to transform the agency into an anti-racist organization. She worked with New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan and across the health department to implement an equity-focused strategic plan in all agency programming and operations. Tigani also served as Senior Director for Children, Youth, and Families in the Office of Community Mental Health and as an Education Policy Advisor for First Deputy Mayor Fuleihan. Along with her proven track record in government, Tigani has demonstrated her dedication to New York City communities through her work with youth, parents, and community-based organizations. She provided direct services to families in need, ensuring that those most impacted by longstanding inequities informed the development of interventions and research addressing the impact of racism and poverty. Tigani's background as a social worker and long-time community advocate centering racial equity within education, health, environmental justice, and youth development prepared her for her government roles. Tigani is a native New Yorker. She holds a Bachelor's degree from Bard College in Sociology and a Master's degree in Social Work from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. |
Thursday, April 17, 2025 Reem-Kayden Center Laszlo Z. Bito '60 Auditorium 4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Trust is a multifaceted concept that is a necessary component in most of our interactions, whether they be social, team-based, or goal oriented in nature. As robots enter our world, we need to understand what it means to trust a robot and what factors and situations have an impact on human-robot trust. This talk will introduce an overview of trust before discussing two types of trust that can be used to categorize the way human-robot interaction researchers define, investigate, and measure trust. The speaker will also present a study that looks at whether and how trust in robots transfers between environments. |
Tuesday, March 11, 2025 In the 21st century, fueled by technology, data, and algorithms, math determines who has the power to shape our world. The math documentary COUNTED OUT explains how, “…whether we know it or not, our numeric literacy—whether we can speak the language of math—is a critical determinant of social and economic power.” Please reserve your ticket as space is limited. |