Computing and Data Science PhD Student Seminar Series
The Boston University PhD program is home to a wide range of students all studying various facets of data science. To help give students a friendly opportunity to practice and develop their research skills, we are launching the Computing and Data Science PhD Student Seminar Series. This series is focused on giving doctoral students an opportunity to present their research within a supportive and collaborative environment. Each seminar offers students a chance to share their findings, practice presentation skills, and receive constructive feedback from peers and faculty in a friendly, non-judgmental setting. This format not only helps students refine their work but also fosters essential communication skills that are crucial for their academic and professional careers.
Beyond the academic benefits, the seminar series is a community-building endeavor that seeks to strengthen connections among CDS students. By creating a space for students to share their work with the public, students from various backgrounds can learn from each other's experiences and methodologies.
This seminar series is run by students Freddy Reiber and Lingyi Xu. It meets on a bi-weekly basis throughout the year on Fridays 11 to Noon, with lunch after the talk. Students interested in giving a talk should reach out to the organizers through email.
Labor Unions and Digital Democracy - Freddy Reiber
November 22, 11 AM - CDS 1646
Abstract: Labor Unions have served an important role for giving workers a voice within the economy, however this does not mean they are without critique. Central to many union critiques is the lack of meaningful democracy within unions, or what Robert Michels refers to as the “Iron law of oligarchy”. In the 2000’s researchers thought that information and communication technology might serve as a solution to these problems, however as empirical literature developed, it became clear that ICTs were not the silver bullet theorists had originally hoped. This talk reviews literature on both the theorizing and empirical work of labor scholars and HCI researchers as to why ICTs didn’t provide a meaningful shift in union democracy as well as some ideas for future work.
Bio: Freddy is a third-year PhD student in the Computing and Data Science department at Boston University, where he is advised by the fantastic Allison McDonald. His work explores how power dynamics are shifted by technology with a focus on applying human driven methods to complex issues. Currently his projects are on 2nd order dynamics in digital spaces within labor unions and the motivations used by cryptographers for their research.