Grefenstette Center’s Inaugural Symposium Slated for Oct. 7

What’s fact? What’s fiction? With the rise of technology, new concerns emerge about how information is delivered and interpreted.

Experts in technology, ethics, public health and free speech will weigh in at Disinformation, Misinformation and Technology: New Ethical Challenges and Solutions. This free event is open to the public and will take place via Zoom Wednesday, Oct. 7 from 1 to 5 p.m.

The symposium will feature presentations and moderated discussions that examine information and misinformation from political, public health and legal points of view. Keynote speaker Brian Green, director of technology ethics for the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, will address communities of trust and how they can be built and maintained.

Participating Duquesne faculty include Pamela Walck, assistant professor of multiplatform journalism, and Jane Moriarty, Carol Los Mansmann chair in faculty scholarship. Duquesne President Ken Gormley also will lend his expertise to the discussion.

“Duquesne is proud to host this inaugural symposium in partnership with other leading institutions in this region and across the country,” Gormley said. “There is perhaps no more pressing time to discuss information and misinformation than right now, as we navigate a global health crisis, a political landscape dominated by information technologies and a growing inability to assess communications for truth and accuracy. The new Grefenstette Center at Duquesne is uniquely positioned to discuss these timely topics through a distinctive Catholic lens, as we find common ground and discover new and ethical ways to share and validate information for the common good.”

The event is presented in partnership with the Center for Informed Democracy and Social Cybersecurity, Carnegie Mellon University; Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security, University of Pittsburgh; Initiative in Ethics and Transformative Technologies, Seattle University; and Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University.

With an initial gift of $1.5 million from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation, the Carl G. Grefenstette Center for Ethics explores the intersection of ethics and science, technology and law from a Catholic faith-based perspective.

To register or for more information, visit the Grefenstette Center symposium website.