2025 Conference — Civics of Technology

Communal Resistance to Artificial Systems

Join us for our 4th Annual Civics of Technology Online Conference held online on July 31st and August 1st, 2025, from 11-3 pm EST

Call for Proposals

We seek proposals for sessions that advance the conference theme of Communal Resistance to Artificial Systems. This may include proposals which…

Share examples of how communities are critiquing, resisting, and/or repurposing artificial systems.
Examine how to raise the consciousness of individuals and communities.
Engage our community in conversations about taking action against artificial systems.
Present how you are engaging in resistance, reclamation, or refusal in your own life and work.

Proposed sessions can have a variety of formats, including traditional presentations, workshops, panels, or other creative options. Sessions can address issues, share curriculum, or share research.

Proposals are due by June 14th, will be reviewed, and invitation letters will be sent by early July. We look forward to reading how you will resist artificial systems.

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Submit a Proposal

Raising Funds for Civics of Tech.

Civics of Technology is a grassroots organization. We aren't beholden to the interests of specific donors or funders. It's a labor of love. And we are fully committed to keeping all the things we do, including our conference, free to all.

But for those who are able and willing, we would greatly appreciate financial support from our community. If you are willing and able to support our conference and our ongoing work, please consider supporting us here. From 2022 to 2025, Civics of Tech has operated with our Executive Directors covering all costs for the website, but we want to create a more sustainable model long-term with small donations.

One-time donations will be used to provide stipends to our conference speakers.

For those who make recurring contributions, we will use your support to maintain our website and pursue additional projects and activities.

We will always be transparent about how donations are spent. At least once per year, we will give a budget report of all contributions we received and where that money was used.

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Conference Theme: Communal Resistance to Artificial Systems

We are excited to announce that our fourth annual Civics of Technology conference will be held online on July 31st, from 11-3pm EST and on August 1st, 2024 from 11-3pm!

We are delighted to share our featured keynotes: Ms. Audrey Watters and Dr. Chris Gilliard.

Ms. Audrey Watters is a writer, a scholar, and a self-described serial dropout. As “Ed-tech's Cassandra," her writing has appeared in multiple publications including her newsletter, Second Breakfast, blog Hack Education and her book Teaching Machines (MIT Press, 2020) which examines the pre-history of personalized learning. Ms. Watters has published four collections of her public talks, The Monsters of Education Technology (2014), The Revenge of the Monsters of Education Technology (2015), The Curse of the Monsters of Education Technology (2016), and The Monsters of Education Technology 4, as well as a book arguing that students should control their digital identities and digital work, Claim Your Domain. She was a recipient of a Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship at Columbia University School of Journalism for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Dr. Chris Gilliard is a writer, professor, and speaker. His scholarship concentrates on digital privacy, surveillance, and the intersections of race, class, and technology. He is an advocate for critical and equity-focused approaches to tech in education. His writings have been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Wired Magazine, the Chronicle of Higher Ed, and Vice Magazine. He is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center, a member of the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry Scholars Council, and a member of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project community advisory board. Gilliard is a member of the inaugural (2022 – 2024) cohort of the Just Tech Fellowship.

The fourth annual conference theme is Communal Resistance to Artificial Systems. Our themes over prior years have been Visioning Just Futures (Year 1), Liberatory Tech Actions (Year 2), and Tech Imaginaries (Year 3). This year we'd like to turn toward the role of community and collective actions in retaining and centering the human in a world increasingly turning toward artificial systems.

In addition to our exciting keynotes, our conference will also feature:

Community-building activities to promote collective resistance to artificial systems
A day 1 closing panel led by Shana White from the Kapor Center
A day 2 closing panel from the Civics of Technology board
A book club conversation about Karen Hao’s new book: Empire of AI
Plenty of additional sessions proposed by our community (see below)

Conference Norms

Please be patient listeners, understanding that our positionalities in relation to power influence our interactions, and recognize that impact matters more than intent. Attendees should respect the preferences and dignity of fellow conference participants, including at the conference. Please use pronouns if listed and respect the social media sharing preferences of presenters (e.g., do not share without consent). Our conference also aims to be accessible and all sessions should turn on the option to “show captions.” Moreover, we hope participants will commit to advancing more just futures. Please contact Dan, Marie, or Jacob or use our contact form if you have any problems or concerns during the conference.