Ethics Lab kicks off inaugural Student Fellowship

The Friday before Halloween, as costumes were being finalized and midterms relentlessly continued, a group of undergraduates gathered to kick off Ethics Lab’s inaugural Student Fellows program.

The fellowship brings together a diverse cohort of eight students to help shape the University’s forthcoming suite of undergraduate programs in Tech, Ethics, and Society. This year’s group includes first years through seniors, with majors ranging from Computer Science and Biochemistry to Psychology and International History.

Together with the Ethics Lab team and Faculty Fellows, the Student Fellows will generate and test new ideas for student-centered ethics exercises in a creative and playful environment (aka “Bad Idea Lounges”).

Ethics Lab team members Jonathan Healey, Julie Sayo, and Joel de Lara facilitated October’s kick-off session, beginning with introductions and the creation of a community contract to establish expectations and guardrails for the fellowship. The Student Fellows promised one another to be open-minded and vulnerable, to contribute with purpose, and to listen with compassion.

Then, de Lara invited students to engage in a timely creative task—to draw their ideal candy bar without lifting the pen. Each Student Fellow’s invention demonstrated personality and ingenuity, and through this warm-up and bonding exercise, they prepared for their first Bad Idea Lounge.

Following a short break, Fritz Fellows Meera Kolluri and Joyce Yang introduced their research project on biometric surveillance technology, asking the Student Fellows to play a game of word association with the words ‘control’ and ‘care.’ The participants took a few moments to jot down their thoughts on sticky notes then shared with the group. With input from Ethics Lab team members, including Fellow and Associate Professor Meg Leta Jones, the students framed their conception of the topic. After defining and contextualizing the two terms, they emphasized the gray space in real-life scenarios. This exercise proved useful for the Fritz Fellows, as it reinforced and expanded their work.

The Student Fellows will continue to meet throughout the academic year. In the next Bad Idea Lounge, hosted by Ethics Lab Director Maggie Little, they’ll turn their attention to the Tech, Ethics, & Society programs and its foundational coursework.

In the spring, the Student Fellows will also help to plan and host several student-centered events related to the intersection of tech, ethics, and society.