Course Instructor
Digital Technologies and Human Rights
MUN198 – Fall 2023
Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy
University of Toronto
Course Description:
This course is designed to help first-year undergraduate students critically examine the adoption of digital technologies and the ethical and governance challenges they pose to our societies. The technologies that will be examined in this course include the Internet, advanced computing, ‘Big Data’ analytics, and artificial intelligence. By analyzing the various ways in which these tools have been used in select jurisdictions around the world—from facial recognition technology for security reasons to apps as instruments for disease and population control—students will develop an understanding of the different approaches to the design and implementation of technology, and the associated human rights and civil liberties implications. Assignments in the course are designed to help students develop critical thinking, writing, and public speaking skills. Coursework includes essays, a presentation, and class participation. Students are expected to complete the required readings and assignments before the class and to engage with the major themes or topics during class in the form of small-group discussions.
Asia’s Digital Futures
CAS390 – Winter 2023
Asian Institute
Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy
University of Toronto
Course Description:
This course is designed for senior undergraduate students who wish to enhance their knowledge of Asia’s adoption of the Internet and digital tools, and how these tools and systems are reshaping Asian societies, including their politics, culture, and social movements. We will study how governments in the region regulate information flows online and experiment on new technologies that have the potential to either curtail or encourage public participation. This course will also examine the private sector’s outsized role in our digital economy and its consequences for human rights and good governance. Finally, we will shed light on the role of the Internet as a site of contestation, where representation, dissent, and resistance are developed and negotiated. By the end of the course, students will be able to identify and distinguish the range of actors, institutions, and policies that constitute our global network society, and understand Asia’s impact on the future of technology. There are no exams in this course. Coursework required includes a quiz, a presentation, discussion board posts, essays, and class participation. Assignments in the course are designed to help students develop critical thinking and public speaking skills, and learn how to write to different audiences.
Democracy in the Age of Digital Authoritarianism
POL438 – Summer 2022
Department of Political Science
University of Toronto
Course Description:
The American think tank Freedom House reported the fifteenth consecutive year of global democratic backsliding in 2021. This democratic recession is occurring simultaneously as new and highly-sophisticated technologies for surveillance, censorship, and information manipulation have proliferated. While the use of these technologies for digital subversion and controls have been known to be part of an autocrat’s playbook, democracies have steadily adopted these approaches as well. To better understand these trends, this course examines the key actors and institutions involved in the governance of the Internet and considers their democratic and civic implications. We will study digital authoritarianism and the models of Internet controls espoused by China and Russia, and the adoption of illiberal practises in the digital sphere by select countries around the world. Finally, we will explore issues related to the Internet and gender, terrorism, and artificial intelligence and Big Data. Coursework required includes essays, presentations, and class participation.
Head Teaching Assistant (Course Coordinator)
Contemporary Challenges to Democracy: Democracy in the Social Media Age
POL106 – Winter 2024, Fall 2022, Winter 2022, and Winter 2021
Department of Political Science
University of Toronto
In this course, we examine the relationship between democracy and social media. We explore the underlying business model of social media, widely known as “surveillance capitalism,” and then discuss some of the ways the business model may distort public communications. We look at disinformation on social media, and both targeted and mass surveillance undertaken in and through the platforms. We also examine the overlooked ecological impacts of social media. Finally, we explore ways to reform and regulate social media in the public interest. As the Head Teaching Assistant, I am responsible for co-drafting the syllabus and course policies, co-hosting supplemental lectures and office hours, handling appeal and other escalation requests, as well as training and managing a team of teaching assistants (TAs), ranging from nine to sixteen graduate students for 900 to 1,200 undergraduate students, with Professor Ronald J. Deibert.