Faculty Affiliates

Fellowship Announcement

Ethics and Technology invite full-time faculty to apply for the second ET Faculty Fellows cohort program for Academic Year 2021-2022. The ET seeks scholars from all academic areas and all backgrounds to contribute to the conversation around the responsible use of digital technology, broadly construed. Ethics and Technology goal of the program is to provide financial, administrative, and content support to faculty members who wish to begin or cultivate a research agenda in that area. Part of the program will include some technical content instruction in digital technology, but no technical background is necessary or expected.

Purpose of Ethics and Technology

Ethics and Technology is a new undertaking of Seattle University, funded by a generous donation from Microsoft. Rapid developments in digital technology bring an abundance of opportunities but also raise challenges related to employment, health care, privacy, trust, safety, inclusiveness, and accountability. Ethics and Technology are engaging community members and elevating the conversation about artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, and other modern digital technologies. Ethics and Technology are also developing educational resources for companies and non-profit organizations that seek to improve their ability to develop or deploy new technologies in an ethical way that fosters human flourishing. More information about it is available at https://www.seattleu.edu/ethics-and-technology/

Benefits of the Program

  • All Fellows will receive a stipend of $3000 for the academic year. Half is distributed in September 2021, and half in June 2022.
  • All Fellows will have access to graduate student research support, beginning in January 2022 and continuing through June 2022.
  • Fellows will benefit from the feedback, accountability, and encouragement of a research cohort.
  • At the conclusion of the academic year, all who complete the program will be named “Faculty Affiliates” of the Ethics and Technology.
  • Any Faculty Affiliate has the opportunity to lead workshops sponsored by Ethics and Technology. These workshops are on the responsible use of digital technology, broadly construed, and are designed for diverse types of organizations, including for-profits, nonprofits, and governmental organizations. The leadership of workshops is paid.

Eligibility

Any full-time faculty member at Seattle University can apply to be a Faculty Fellow.

Commitment

  • Fellows will attend a meeting once per month, September-June, for a total of 10 meetings. These meetings are planned for a virtual format, pending a change in conditions for meeting. Meetings are scheduled at our mutual convenience and are about two hours.
  • Each fellow will be responsible for leading one monthly meeting during the year, in the style of a research workshop. Typically, this includes both a presentation of research ideas and the opportunity to workshop those ideas with colleagues.
  • Participation in each monthly meeting is estimated to require an average of 5 hours of preparation.
  • Scholars will be expected to submit for publication to a journal of their choice by June 2022 one article of scholarly quality on a topic related to the theme of the responsible use of digital technology, broadly construed.
  • Prior to the program (in the summer months), Scholars will be expected to view a series of videos on ethics and digital technology, requiring about 5 hours of viewing.
  • Prior to the course (in the summer months), Scholars will be expected to read the book A Human Algorithm: How Artificial Intelligence is Redefining Who We Are by Flynn Coleman. The book will be provided. This book should be thought of as background and to establish a common language and baseline for the cohort. The year-long cohort is not intended to be a book discussion group.

Application and Deadline

Faculty interested in applying to be an ET Fellow should submit an application by Friday, May 28, 2021. A complete application includes a brief research and teaching biography and a statement of interest in the program, including how you expect to benefit from and contribute to the program. This statement may also contain a description of your potential area of research, although this is not required, as it is expected that several cohort members will use the program as a way to initiate a research agenda. The above items may be combined in a single document of no more than one page. Additionally, we request an updated copy of your CV.

Applications should be emailed to Nathan Colaner at colanern@seattleu.edu

Selection Process

A selection committee composed of the ET Oversight Committee, the Executive Director, and the Managing Director will meet to evaluate each application. Faculty fellows will be selected based on the potential to benefit from and contribute to the program, with the additional selection criteria of maintaining the diversity of academic areas. The ideal cohort will have 8-10 faculty representing several schools at Seattle University.

Contact for Additional Questions

Nathan R Colaner, PhD, MBA

Managing Director, Initiative in Ethics and Technology

SEATTLE UNIVERSITY

901 12th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122-1090

colanern@seattleu.edu | (206) 296-5628 | (206) 296-5628

Faculty Affiliates