CRITICAL MEDIA LAB
technology investigating technology
technology
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DESIGN
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Responsible innovation
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Digital Media
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We are critical about responsible innovation.
The Critical Media Lab (CML) is a cross-disciplinary, research-creation initiative developed in the English Department at the University of Waterloo. The CML fosters the creation of new media projects that explore the impact of technology on society and the more-than-human world. It was launched quietly on campus in the fall of 2008, before occupying various locations in the city of Kitchener, Ontario. The CML is currently located in the Communitech Hub, at 151 Charles Street West.
The CML also houses Critical By Design, a SSHRC-funded project that studies the integration of responsible innovation into technological design practices. We offer a searchable database of tools for researchers, professionals, and teachers.
Events
Critical Tech Talk
Critical Tech Talk is a series of honest dialogues about technological innovation. From data harvesting to the conflict minerals in our smartphones, critical thinking is shifting the momentum towards positive change – towards Tech for Good®.
Season 2: Fall 2023 – Spring 2025
SOLAR POWER STUDIO
- Critical Tech Talk Popup: An Energy History and Future of Big/Little Tech – Anne Pasek
- Solar Futures Hands-On Workshop
- Visualizing the EV3 Solar Panels
11. Speculative Imaginaries and Technological Design – Sherryl Vint
10. Ecomedia and the Cost of Technological Progress – Cajetan Iheka
09. Perspectives on Accelerating AI Adoption – Distinguished Panel
08. Humility as a Value in Engineering and Design – Kari Zacharias
07. On Black Media Philosophy and Beyond – Armond R. Towns
CTT Pop-up November 2023: How to Build Anything Ethically – Suzanne Kite
Season 1: Fall 2021 – Spring 2023
06. Clean Energy, Climate Justice, and Indigenous Rights – Eriel Deranger and Jen Gobby
05. Artificial Wombs: The Disobedient Future of Birth – Claire Horn
04. Shaping Technology with Moral Imagination – Batya Friedman
03. AI Five Ways – Distinguished Panel
02. Discriminating Data – Wendy Chun
01. The Digital Frontier and its Limits – Nicole Aschoff
More Events
View our upcoming events here
Stay connected with us on Twitter
More Event Recaps + Other Important Information On Our Blog!
Our Courses
See Recent Courses ↗
- Digital Media and Feminist Activisms: Rhetorics, Theories, and Praxes
- Critical Design Methods
- Critical Media Infrastructures
- City to “Smart” City: On Storytelling Space
- Feminist Maker Cultures: Reimagining Gendered Labour through Technological Design
See Past Courses ↗
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