Departments and Research Centers

Science, Technology, and Public Policy program

The Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) program is a unique research, education, and policy engagement center concerned with cutting-edge questions that arise at the intersection of science, technology, policy, and society.

Showing 31 - 60 of 397 results

News

Who owns your face? NYT reporter Kashmir Hill discusses privacy in the era of facial recognition

Oct 10, 2024

How much control should we have over our likeness? Our anonymity?Nearly 200 attendees confronted these questions at a Ford School event with New York Times technology reporter Kashmir Hill, in conversation with Science, Technology, and Public...

News

STPP brings interdisciplinary, historical perspectives to public interest technology issues

Sep 12, 2024

Many of the research projects housed at the Science, Technology and Public Policy program (STPP) in the Ford School focus on climate issues for a simple reason, explains Managing Director Molly Kleinman. "None of this technology operates without...

News

Hassan awarded U-M anti-racism grant

Sep 10, 2024

Ford School assistant professor Yousif Hassan has been chosen for a University of Michigan research grant for his work that explores how AI innovations and data can center social justice and address racial and economic inequalities in African...

News

Hassan named Anti-Racism Research & Community Impact Faculty Fellow

Aug 29, 2024

Ford School assistant professor Yousif Hassan is among six faculty members chosen for Anti-Racism Research & Community Impact Faculty Fellowships. The National Center for Institutional Diversity selected faculty from the University of Michigan’s Ann...

News

Ford School events highlight policy, civic engagement, and Conversations Across Differences

Aug 28, 2024

The Ford School has an exciting and diverse series of events this fall, designed to encourage policy debate, civic engagement, and Conversations Across Differences in a number of ways for students, faculty, staff, and the wider U-M and general...

News

STPP weighs the costs of new policing technologies

Aug 20, 2024

Policing technologies are increasingly being used to surveil the public with the stated goal of making communities safer and decreasing crime.New policy briefs from the Ford School of Public Policy’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy program...

In the Media

Raimi: Americans are often scared of climate migrants

Aug 7, 2024 CoreLogic

Kaitlin Raimi, Ford School professor, discussed how climate change communications color how people view climate migrants. She explained, climate migration is "people moving because of climate change," either catastrophic events or slower effects...

In the Media

Rabe explains Tim Walz's position on climate and energy

Aug 6, 2024 Axios

Barry Rabe, Ford School professor, explained in an Axios article what Tim Walz's positions are on climate and energy issues. Rabe said that Walz "would be very comfortable talking about this and championing how he's reinvented or repositioned his...

News

STPP awarded MIDAS grant to advance equitable AI research

Jul 23, 2024

A research project from the Ford School’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) program was selected by the Michigan Institute for Data and AI in Society (MIDAS) as part of its 2024 Propelling Original Data Science grants to accelerate...

Publication

STPP releases analysis of Biden’s Executive Order on Safe AI and the EU AI Act

Jul 8, 2024

As artificial intelligence technologies proliferate in industries across the globe, governments around the world are working to regulate how and when these technologies are used.In October 2023, President Joe Biden signed the Executive Order on Safe...

Illustration of US and EU flags combined

In the Media

Companies should take responsibility on deepfake pornography - Parthasarathy

Jul 2, 2024 Michigan Advance

Shobita Parthasarathy, Ford School professor director of Science, Technology and Public Policy Program, discussed the Michigan bill lawmakers are working on to address the rise of non-consensual deepfake pornography. She said, “I worry about placing...

Publication

Prioritizing equity among the great challenges of AI, says Parthasarathy

May 29, 2024

As generative artificial intelligence becomes ubiquitous, University of Michigan expert Shobita Parthasarathy says technical revisions to the mechanics may address some harms built into the technology so far.Yet, she argues, “it will always be...

News

OVPR awards 3 Ford School staff members for research, leadership

Apr 26, 2024

The Office of the Vice President for Research will recognize three of the Ford School's research center staff—Jasmina Camo-Biogradlija (Education Policy Initiative), Molly Kleinman (Science, Technology and Public Policy program), and Kyle S. Kwaiser...

Headshots of Jasmina Camo, Molly Klienman, and Kyle Kwaiser

State & Hill

Meet new assistant professor Yousif Hassan

Apr 24, 2024

Expert in AI, equity, and science and technology studies joins the facultyMy story has been shaped by many lived experiences at different events and places,” says Yousif Hassan, who, after seeing members of his family safely conveyed from war-torn...

State & Hill

Faculty Findings, spring 2024

Apr 24, 2024

Inclusive innovation—the idea of introducing technologies designed for and by the poor to boost economic growth in impoverished communities—often misses the real problems facing these communities and champions solutions that benefit entrepreneurs at...

Colorful illustration of many different women

News

Bold AI policy proposals awarded at Ford + Munk case competition

Apr 22, 2024

Fifty-one students engaged on pressing AI-related policy questions during this spring’s Ford+Munk case competition. Held annually, the Ford+Munk conference has students from the Ford School and the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global...

A group of students at the annual Ford+Munk conference

News

Highlights from the Dean's Symposium

Apr 21, 2024

Two days of panels, chats, and keynotes focused on examining and seeking solutions to some of the biggest challenges we face in Michigan, in the United States, and across the globe. More than 400 students, faculty, staff, and friends attended in...

News

Stacey Abrams, other policymakers and leading scholars to join Ford School symposium

Mar 12, 2024

The Ford School of Public Policy is happy to announce the Dean’s Symposium, which will take place April 11 and 12 at Weill Hall, with the theme, “Policy Innovation for Our Times.” The two days will feature keynote appearances by voting rights...

Publication

A tale of two perspectives on innovation and global equity

Feb 13, 2024

Publication

When good intentions aren’t enough: Creating more equitable partnerships between technical and community experts

Feb 6, 2024

Register for the Community Partnerships Playbook webinarAs the popularity of community engagement grows among technologists and academics, it is vital to ensure that they engage communities in ways that benefit the people they claim to serve and do...

Community partnerships playbook. How to create equitable partnerships between technical and community experts. Logos on right: Detroit Disability Power, Detroit Justice Center, Ford School Science, Technology, and Public Policy at the University of Michigan. We the People Michigan Action Fund.

State & Hill

The Last Word: Molly Kleinman

Dec 12, 2023

Molly Kleinman (MSI ’07, PhD CSHPE ’18) joined the Ford School’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) program in 2018 and became managing director in 2021. She received her STPP certificate in 2014 and served as Paul Courant’s special...

News

Parthasarathy named to prestigious French council

Dec 8, 2023

Ford School professor Shobita Parthasarathy has been named to the scientific council for ANSES, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety. ANSES is a public administrative body reporting to the Ministries of Health,...

News

Parthasarathy comments on one year of ChatGPT

Dec 6, 2023

One year ago, OpenAI launched ChatGPT, a chatbot built on the large language model GPT-3. Since then, knowledge workers in all sectors have been grappling with the potential uses of it and similar artificial intelligence models—as well as the...

News

STPP influence in New York report about facial recognition technology in schools

Oct 30, 2023

The New York State Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) has outlined the ethical issues with the state’s use of facial recognition technology (FRT) in schools. The report titled “Use of Biometric Identifying Technology in Schools” found...

In the Media

Kleinman on the hazards of facial recognition technology in schools

Oct 4, 2023 City & State

“One thing that’s different from a lot of these earlier kinds of surveillance technologies is the way that the data travels so far beyond the school where it’s coming from,” Kleinman said in an interview. “The student data in these databases is...

In the Media

"Appropriative" patents a long-term problem - Parthasarathy

Sep 1, 2023 NPR Planet Money

The way that a lot of pharmaceutical companies got their knowledge was often from going to other countries and finding out about Indigenous knowledge and then coming back and testing that. So there's a famous case of Eli Lilly patenting a treatment...

A person gesturing while speaking at a podium in front of a blackboard, in a lecture hall.

News

Ford School welcomes Yousif Hassan as faculty

Aug 21, 2023

Yousif Hassan will join the Ford School faculty as an assistant professor in January 2024. Hassan’s work examines the social, economic, and political implications of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) and data focusing on...

News

Ford School welcomes new faculty that bridge research and policy engagement

Aug 21, 2023

A former foreign minister to Mali, a leading educational economist, a tech entrepreneur who explores indigenous technoscience are among the outstanding new faculty that add depth to the Ford School and connect student education, rigorous academic...

In the Media

Kleinman casts doubt on Detroit Police Department's use of ShotSpotter

Aug 1, 2023 Bridge Detroit

Molly Kleinman, managing director of the Science Technology and Public Policy Program at the University of Michigan, said the data Bridge Detroit obtained through FOIA doesn’t put accuracy concerns to rest. Kleinman said relying on DPD to flag...

News

STPP to explore best practice in community engagement

Aug 1, 2023

As technologists and scientists increasingly engage with communities in order to enhance the societal benefits of their work, and demonstrate its public value, it is important to ensure that such engagements benefit the people they claim to serve....