Historically, transformations in communication technology – from the printing press to pamphlet culture, from radio to television – have contributed to major upheavals in political life. We are in the midst of another such period, with consequences unfolding at a bewildering pace. With competing utopian and dystopian visions of our technological future echoing around us, it can sometimes be difficult to grab hold of precisely what the impacts of digital technology on the public sphere are, and even more complicated to think about how to shape a future in which such technologies can sustain rather than undermine democracy. It is clear, however, that the stakes of such work are enormous, and the questions to be asked and answered endlessly complicated and fascinating.
Elsewhere on this website, you can review the DTD Lab’s work since we started initial planning with a cohort of faculty co-leads in the fall of 2023. Examples of our work includes translational research in a variety of interdisciplinary technology areas; three two-year postdoctoral fellow cohorts; public webinars and book discussions; and numerous publications examining and explaining the effects we all encounter.
If you value our work, we both welcome and appreciate your support. Gifts for the DTD Lab can be made here.
Thank you,
Laurent Dubois
Founding Director, Digital Technology for Democracy Lab
John L. Nau III Bicentennial Professor of the History & Principles of Democracy, Corcoran Department of History
University of Virginia
