The McGannon Center is dedicated to furthering understanding of the ethical and social justice dimensions of media and communication technologies, particularly how such technologies affect the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within society. The Center engages in, sponsors, and promotes interdisciplinary academic research that provides an empirical foundation for informed technological development, policy-making, and debate. We are committed to diverse participation and representing an array of perspectives throughout our activities.

Last month, the McGannon Center for Communications Studies announced that #HashtagActivism (MIT Press) had won its book prize for a manuscript published in 2020. Our reviewers unanimously felt that the book's rigorous interdisciplinary account of online viral phenomena distinguished it from other book projects in communications research published in the past year. It explains the ways in which networks of black and brown people, women, and other historically subordinated groups have "birthed and nourished" counterpublics on social media. In this way, #HashTagActivism uncovers the lived social impacts of communications technologies in ways that this award means to recognize and celebrate.

On March 2 at 4:00pm, the Center will feature the book's authors, Sarah J. Jackson, Moya Bailey, and Brooke Foucault Welles at a webinar event. We will then have Catherine D'Ignazio (MIT), Daniel Kreiss (UNC), and Sarita Schoenebeck (Michigan), all celebrated researchers in the field, offer their reactions to #HashtagActivism. We look forward to seeing you for this special event.

Click here for more information on the speakers/discussants and for the registration link.