Mozilla Announces 15 New Responsible Computing Challenge Awardees in the U.S.
By Mozilla | Oct. 30, 2023
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Mozilla and its partners are providing $2,225,000 in funding for college and university curricula that reimagine computing education
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(U.S. | OCTOBER 30, 2023) -- Today, Mozilla is announcing its newest Responsible Computing Challenge (RCC) awardees in the U.S. — 15 curricula that ensure the next generation of digital builders create technology in the public’s interest.
These courses, faculty, and practitioners will blend traditional computing education with the Humanities, Library and Information Science, and Social Sciences to reimagine how computer science is taught. Awardees will explore topics like biased data sets, AI ethics, accessible computing, and more.
RCC is a joint initiative between Mozilla, Omidyar Network, Schmidt Futures, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Mellon Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and USAID. Awards for this newest cohort total $2,225,000, and winners were selected by a panel of four judges with expertise in the fields of computer science, community development, and education. Six of the 15 institutions are Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), or Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI).
Says Dr. Ziyaad Bhorat, RCC Fellow who will work alongside this cohort: “AI and other computing technologies have an outsized impact on our lives, powering everything from banking to public services to law enforcement. As a result, we desperately need trustworthy AI systems — and responsible technologists who build them. These new awardees will help make this a reality.”
AI and other computing technologies have an outsized impact on our lives, powering everything from banking to public services to law enforcement. As a result, we desperately need trustworthy AI systems — and responsible technologists who build them.
Dr. Ziyaad Bhorat, RCC Fellow
Mozilla welcomed its new U.S. cohort at a dedicated RCC summit in October this year, hosted by Harvard University’s Embedded EthiCS team in Cambridge, MA. Alison Simmons and Barbara Grosz of Embedded EthiCS were previous awardees in the Challenge.
This new cohort will join more than a dozen other RCC awardees in the U.S., Kenya and, soon, India. In a span of five years, RCC has awarded a total of $3.5 million to supporting the conceptualization, piloting, and scaling of ethics curricula in computer science training.
Meet the awardees:
Adelphi University | PI Suraj Uttamchandani, Co-PIs Matt Curinga, John Drew
Spatial Justice as a Bridge to Responsible Computing
The awardee will create a bridge toward responsible computing in a first-year seminar and a communications course by centering on data, maps, and spatial justice.
Bucknell University | PI Darakhshan J. Mir, Co-PIs Vanessa Massaro, Evan Peck, Nathan Ryan, Anne Ross, Sara Stoudt
Building a Just Computing Movement: Integrating curricular and co-curricular experiences
The awardee will pilot, evaluate, and share processes that integrate co-curricular interventions, centering marginalized groups, into existing Geography, CS and Information Science courses.
Howard University | PI Yong Jin (Lance) Park, Co-PI Chunmei Liu
De-Biasing Data in AI Computation: A Model for Socially-Culturally Responsible Data Interpretation
The awardee will develop pedagogical tools to detect and correct bias imbued in how AI programmers read data.
Michigan State University | PI Susan Wyche, Co-PI Jonathan Choti
Reimagining Information Communication Technology and Development (ICTD): Developing and Implementing an African-Informed Approach to Global Technology Design
The awardee will redesign MSU’s Information Communication Technology and Development (ICTD) course/curriculum to center African perspectives.
Northeastern University | PI Vance Ricks, Co-PI Meica Magnani
Summer Training Program on Responsible Computing Education
The awardee will rapidly spread responsible computing education expertise to diverse institutions and disciplines via an in-person summer workshop.
Prairie View A&M University | PI Marco Robinson, Co-PI Sherri Frizell
Considering Rural Communities and Issues through Socially Responsible Computing
The awardee will train students in interdisciplinary methodologies centered in computing to address social issues affecting rural communities.
San José State University | PI Darra Hofman, Co-PIs Nada Attar, Saugher Nojan, Michele Villagran, Souvick Ghosh
CIRCLE: Cross-campus Interdisciplinary Responsible Computing Learning Experiences
The awardee will create an interdisciplinary working group to develop "responsible datasets in context" and revised courses in humanistic critical computing and data studies.
Stillman College | PI Fallon Wilson, Co-PIs Kevin Harris, Isaac McCoy
Building a Responsible Computing Network among HBCUs
The awardee will launch a Black Public Interest Technology course for social science & humanity faculty at nine Historically Black College & Universities.
University at Buffalo | PI Dalia Antonia Caraballo Muller, Co-PIs Jamie Barber, Kenneth Joseph, Matt Kenyon, Christopher Proctor, Camilo Trumper
“The impossible is the least we can demand:" Social Justice and Computing
The awardee will create student-driven, cross-disciplinary learning modules on social justice and computing that link discrete university classes.
University of California, Berkeley | PI Lisa Yan, Co-PIs Ari Edmundson, Cathryn Carson
Educational Ecosystem for Responsible Computing
The awardee will coordinate development of human contexts and justice curriculum with teaching assistant training across a Data Science course ecosystem.
University of Michigan | PI M. Remi Yergeau, Co-PI David Adelman
Crip Computing: On Access Histories and Access Futures
The awardee will engage new and diverse perspectives on accessible computing by introducing students to digital disability cultures and their intersections with race, gender, sexuality, and class.
University of Notre Dame | PI Katherine Walden, Co-PI Karla Badillo-Urquiola
Educational Ecosystem for Responsible Computing
This awardee will build an interdisciplinary, intersectional community of practice to teach responsible computing across the undergraduate curriculum.
University of Pennsylvania | PI Miguel Willis, Co-PI Claudia Johnson
Responsible Computing & Justice Fellows
The awardee will empower students to become responsible technologists through interdisciplinary curriculum, community partnerships, and critical service-learning.
University of Washington | PI Melanie Walsh, Co-PIs Sylvia Fernández, Miriam Posner, Anna Preus, Amardeep Singh
Responsible Datasets in Context: Collaboratively Designing for Ethical Humanities Data Education
The awardee will create an interdisciplinary working group to develop "responsible datasets in context" and revised courses in humanistic critical computing and data studies
Winston-Salem State University | PI Debzani Deb, Co-PI Greg Taylor
Integrating AI Ethics Modules into interdisciplinary courses at an HBCU
The awardee will integrate AI Ethics using a social justice context into six interdisciplinary courses to broaden the participation in Responsible AI.