The conference will explore how internet technologies and digital public spaces are shaping norms of citizenship and popular ideas about government. What does it mean for our republic to have citizens formed by and beholden to educational, informational, and social apparatuses owned by multinational corporations? To what extent does the centralization of data and identity information (and its sharing with the state) constitute a threat to our rule-of-law traditions? How are our ideas about each other, our government, and our democracy changing in light of radically new ways of relating and communicating with each other? What does the Internet mean for our Republic?

The conference will be hosted from 10a-4p at the National Press Club, with morning and afternoon panels and L.M. Sacasas as a luncheon keynote speaker. One panel will focus on how digital public spaces are re-shaping norms of citizenship, and one panel will focus on the changing relationship between the citizen and the state.

Introduction: 10 – 10:15a

Society Panel: 10:15a – 12p
(Burton, Keiper, Barba-Kay)

Lunch & Keynote: 12:30 – 2p

Citizenship Panel: 2:15 – 3:45p
(Lehman, Rinehart, Holland Michel)

Conclusion: 3:45 – 4p

Coffee and lunch will be served.

RSVP for the conference now.

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NOTE: This form will only be used for the purpose of collecting RSVPs for this event. It will not be used for mailing or other purposes.

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L. M. Sacasas is a writer and fellow at the Greystone Theological Institute and the director of its Center for the Study of Ethics and Technology.

Tara Isabella Burton is a writer and scholar of religion. Her latest book is Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World (PublicAffairs, April 2020).

Anton Barba-Kay is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America.

Adam Keiper is a writer and consulting editor for Issues in Science and Technology. He was formerly the editor of The New Atlantis and Books & Arts editor of The Weekly Standard.

Will Rinehart is Director of Technology and Innovation Policy at the American Action Forum.

Charles Fain Lehman is a staff writer for the Washington Free Beacon.

Arthur Holland Michel is the founder and co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College and author of Eyes in the Sky: The Secret Rise of Gorgon Stare and How It Will Watch Us All (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019)

Moderators:

Jon Askonas is a Fellow at the Center for the Study of Statesmanship and Assistant Professor of Politics at The Catholic University of America.

Ari Schulman is the editor of The New Atlantis.