The theme for the 2015 Lewis College Roundtable is “Algorithms: Human Influence on the World of Data.” The roundtable will be held on Thursday, October 29 from 3:30-5:30 p.m. in The McCormick Tribune Campus Center (MTCC) Auditorium.

Lewis College of Human Sciences engages in compelling work at the intersection of people and technology and strives to create cross-disciplinary dialogue. The Lewis College Roundtable reflects that mission. Instead of a standard lecture, invited panelists, ranging from academics to industry experts, participate in a 90-minute, moderated discussion about a chosen topic. Their unique perspectives on the given theme create a lively discussion that allows our guests to think more deeply about these topics of far-reaching significance.

Algorithms convert data into results-online news aggregation, investment trading decisions, and targets of surveillance programs are all determined by them. But this process is not morally or politically neutral; each algorithm carries in it cultural and political values. Behind every computation sits a person or group of people who’ve decided what information to collect, how to store it, how to analyze it, and how to use it. In this Roundtable, we will discuss how algorithms shape the information we receive, and how transparent the social and political implications of these equations should or shouldn’t be. This event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow in The MTCC Ballroom.

Read about the panelists and RSVP here.