Notice Board

Please join the Department of New Media for a public lecture by Dr. Roberto Gonzalez (San Jose State University) on the complexities of academic involvement in militarized research. 

Monday, April 13, 2026
6:30 - 8 p.m.
PE 275

About the lecture: From dual use research during World War II and the Cold War to embedding social scientists in the active military units in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more recently the development of AI-enabled military technology, academics have engaged with national militaries and defense contractors for over a century. However, as Dr. Gonzalez's lecture will highlight, these collaborations have been ethically, morally, and academically fraught. As Canadian researchers move forward in increasingly unstable times, Dr. Gonzalez's work reminds us that critical understandings of military collaborations are vital. 

About Dr. Gonzalez: Roberto J. González is a cultural anthropologist whose work focuses upon science, technology, and society; militarization and culture; processes of social and cultural control; and ethics in social science. Professor González has authored several books including Anthropologists in the Public Sphere: Speaking Out on War, Peace, and American Power (2004), American Counterinsurgency: Human Science and the Human Terrain (2009), Militarizing Culture: Essays on the Warfare State (2010), and the co-edited volumes Up, Down, and Sideways: Anthropologists Trace the Pathways of Power (2014) and Militarization: A Reader (2019). His most recent books are Connected: How a Mexican Village Built Its Own Cell Phone Network (2020) and War Virtually: The Quest to Automate Conflict, Militarize Data, and Predict the Future (2022), and Ciencia Zapoteca: Agricultura y Alimentación en la Sierra Norte de Oaxaca (2024). He is currently completing a book on algorithmic policing technologies in the United States. Professor González was recently awarded the 2026 Comitas Institute Award for Public Knowledge and Engagement. He also serves as President-Elect of the American Ethnological Society.

We thank both the Jarislowsky Chair in Trust and Political Leadership (Dr. Susan Dieleman) and the Canada Research Chair in Digital Extremism (Dr. Amy Mack) for their support.