CRITICAL MEDIA LAB

technology investigating technology

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technology

DESIGN

Responsible innovation

Digital Media

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 1: Fall 2021 – Spring 2023

01. The Digital Frontier and its Limits – Nicole Aschoff
02. Discriminating Data – Wendy Chun
03. AI Five Ways – Distinguished Panel
04. Shaping Technology with Moral Imagination – Batya Friedman
05. Artificial Wombs: The Disobedient Future of Birth – Claire Horn
06. Clean Energy, Climate Justice, and Indigenous Rights – Eriel Deranger and Jen Gobby

Season 2: Fall 2023 – Spring 2025

07. On Black Media Philosophy and Beyond – Armond R. Towns 08. Humility as a Value in Engineering and Design – Kari Zacharias

CTT Pop-up November 2023: How to Build Anything Ethically – Suzanne Kite


More Events

View our upcoming events here

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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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