Hyperconnected: Knowledge Production in the Age of Social Media

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Event

Hyperconnected: Knowledge Production in the Age of Social Media

Virtual October 13, 2021 at 7:00 pm ET Public Event

Missed this event? Catch it below!

Wednesday, October 13 at 7:00 p.m. ET

Outrage, social pressure, clickbait, and the sheer pace of social media create intense pressure on scholarly inquiry, shaping what questions are asked and how conclusions are shared. While platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube can connect thinkers and help spread information, they can also affect what constitutes acceptable discourse, and even play a role in determining what is taught in institutions of higher learning.

Join HxA Faculty Fellow Ilana Redstone, Associate Professor in Communication Lindsay Hoffman, and Professor of Sociology and Public Policy Chris Bail to explore the impact of social media on knowledge production and how we can improve our practices in the age of unprecedented information exchange and exposure.

HxA Members and Graduate Affiliate Registrants: You’re invited to participate in an exclusive post-event discussion led by Professor of Electrical Engineering, Law, Public Policy, and Management John Villasenor, starting at 1:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, October 14. Not yet a member or an affiliate? Join today to participate in the post-event conversation.

About the speakers:

Ilana Redstone is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has a joint Ph.D. in demography and sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. Ilana is the founder of Diverse Perspectives Consulting, the co-author (with John Villasenor) of “Unassailable Ideas: How Unwritten Rules and Social Media Shape Discourse in American Higher Education,” a Faculty Fellow at Heterodox Academy, and the creator of the “Beyond Bigots and Snowflakes” video series, based on her course by the same name
Chris Bail is Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Duke University, where he directs the Polarization Lab. A Guggenheim and Carnegie Fellow, he studies political tribalism, extremism, and social psychology using data from social media and tools from the emerging field of computational social science. His latest book is “Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing.”
Lindsay Hoffman is Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Delaware. Her research examines how citizens use technology to become engaged with politics and their communities. Hoffman’s research is theoretically grounded in political communication, mass communication, and public opinion. Her research also examines the components of mediated messages that encourage individuals to participate in — or distance themselves from — political activities such as voting, news viewing, or simply expressing opinion. Hoffman holds a joint appointment in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, and is the Associate Director of UD’s Center for Political Communication. She is also the Director of the annual National Agenda Speaker and Film Series. She teaches courses in political communication, politics and technology, media effects, and research methods.

About the discussion leader:

John Villasenor is professor of electrical engineering, law, and public policy at UCLA, where he is also the faculty director of the UCLA Institute for Technology, Law, and Policy. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Villasenor’s work considers the intersection of technology, law, and policy. Among other topics, he has examined how social media technologies have impacted discourse—a topic explored in his co-authored (with Ilana Redstone) 2020 Oxford University Press book “Unassailable Ideas: How Unwritten Rules and Social Media Shape Discourse in American Higher Education.” He holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

Heterodox Academy hosts a variety of events throughout the year, ranging from panel conversations to skill-building member workshops to awards dinners. Please note that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all our events are currently taking place virtually. HxA also strives to host inclusive, accessible events that enable individuals to engage fully.

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