Center for Civic Media

Channel | updated March 26, 2013

The Center for Civic Media supports research at MIT to innovate civic media tools and practices and test them in communities. Bridging two established programs at MIT—one known for inventing alternate technical futures, the other for identifying the cultural and social potential of media change—the Center for Future Civic Media is a joint effort between the MIT Media Lab and the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program. It is made possible by a four-year grant from the Knight Foundation.

Civic Media Session: "Effective Citizenship in a Connected ...

Civic Media Session: "Effective Citizenship in a Connected Society"

In this age of streaming data and 24/7 connectivity, the options for civic engagement are many. But what does it really mean to be an effective citizen? Is there an app? Tom Steinberg is founder of mySociety.org, a UK-based consultancy that's become one of the ...

Civic Media Session: "Design for Vulnerable Populations"

Designers often want to help people that they perceive as being in need -- whether those affected by natural or human-caused disasters, the economically or physically disadvantaged, or those who are on the losing end of a cultural power dynamic. However, naive ...

Civic Media Session: "Civic Maps"

Laura Kurgan, Pablo Rey Maps, Geographic Information Systems, and spatial analysis are powerful tools that recently have become increasingly accessible to non-specialists. Dynamic maps with user created content are becoming part of daily life in the 1/3 world (developed countries and elites in ...

Civic Media Session: "Civic Disobedience"

2011 has seen a wave of popular protests threaten authoritarian regimes around the world. Protests in Tunisia removed a much-loathed dictatorship, and the occupation of Tahrir Square in Cairo promises to reshape the government of Egypt. Even in countries where ...

Civic Media Session: "Bustling with Information: Cities, ...

Civic Media Session: "Bustling with Information: Cities, Code, and Civics"

Nick Grossman, Nigel Jacob, and Max Ogden Moderator: Center director Chris Csikszentmihályi Cities are vibrant, complicated organisms. A still-working 200 year old water pipe might rest underground next to a brand new fiber optic cable, and citizens blithely ignore ...

Civic Media Session: "Amplified Streets, from Print to ...

Civic Media Session: "Amplified Streets, from Print to Tweets: Social ...

Jason Pramas, Steve Meacham, and Kyle de Beausset Social movements have always been productive spaces for the creation and circulation of media texts, tools, and frames for understanding the world. In the past, movement narratives were often told by specialists: ...

Civic Media Lunch: "ZUMIX"

ZUMIX is an East Boston-based nonprofit organization dedicated to building our community through music and the arts. A core belief is that music is the most powerful means of developing adolescent self-identity. Our award-winning music and creative technology programming is designed to equip ...

Civic Engagement in the 21st Century: Data Transparency, ...

Civic Engagement in the 21st Century: Data Transparency, Social Media, ...

From The Future of Civic Engagement in a Broadband-Enabled World, a symposium hosted by the MIT Center for Future Civic Media in cooperation with the Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Initiative (broadband.gov). This is the keynote address by Eugene Huang, ...

Cities, Code, and Civics: "Enhanced serendipity"

Max Ogden of Code for America discusses taking "treasure troves" of government datasets to bring citizens and friends together.

Cities, Code, and Civics: "Customizing tools from city to ...

Cities, Code, and Civics: "Customizing tools from city to city?"

Nick Grossman of OpenPlans, Nigel Jacob of the City of Boston Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics, and Max Ogden of Code for America respond to questions about how civic tools do (or need to) vary from city to city.

Christina Xu and the Institute on Higher Awesome Studies

Christina Xu is the founding director of the Institute on Higher Awesome Studies, an organization dedicated to nurturing small awesome ideas around the world; she also serves as a trustee on the Boston chapter of the Awesome Foundation. By day, she is employee #1 at ...

Caroline Woolard, "SolidarityNYC, OurGoods.org, and Trade ...

Caroline Woolard, "SolidarityNYC, OurGoods.org, and Trade School"

April 5, 2012 - Civic Media LunchCaroline Woolard speaks about her work with SolidarityNYC, OurGoods and Trade School, two barter economies for cultural production. OurGoods.org connects artists, designers, and craftspeople to trade skills, spaces, and objects to ...

Between the Bars

Charlie DeTar presents his blogging platform for prisoners.

Announcement of 2011 Knight News Challenge winners

Announcement of 2010 Knight News Challenge Winners

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation--sponsor of the MIT Center for Future Civic Media--in June 2010 announced their 2010 Knight News Challenge winners. Together, these winners form another ground-breaking, visionary class of civic media developers, inventors, ...

Announcement of 2009 Knight News Challenge Winners

The 2009 Knight News Challenge Winners, as introduced by John S. and James K. Knight Foundation President and CEO Alberto Ibargüen. Held as part of the Future of News and Civic Media conference MIT, hosted by MIT's Center for Future Civic Media. The 2009 winners ...

Center for Civic Media

Channel | updated March 26, 2013

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