Georgetown Graduate Fritz Fellow – Tech Research for Tech Policy

Apply here. Note that this opportunity is only available to current and incoming Georgetown University students.

Job Overview

Georgetown University’s Tech & Society Initiative is seeking a Graduate Fritz Fellow to work with the Knight-Georgetown Institute (KGI) and Georgetown University’s Communication, Culture & Technology (CCT) program on research related to tech policy. This position is for a student pursuing a Master’s degree, with familiarity with legal cases and technology. The fellow will join the KGI and CCT project titled “Tech Research for Tech Policy.” 

The Fritz Family Fellowship is a unique program that is designed to be interdisciplinary from the ground up. Each research project is co-designed and mentored by faculty from at least two different parts of the campus, building multiple disciplines into the foundation of the research.

Building on expertise from across Tech & Society, the Fritz Family Fellowship aims to cultivate the next generation of leaders with expertise in the social impacts of technology, and build a network of public interest technologists who learn from and support each other’s work.

Research

This student position will work with a postdoctoral researcher to conduct research to advance a project that seeks to better understand how, when, how much, what kind, and under what circumstances empirical research is integrated into tech policy litigation in the United States at the federal and state level.

While there are dozens of entities that engage in tech policymaking, the project will examine the role of litigation, including consumer protection and product liability claims as well as challenges to social media and digital platform regulation, including platform design codes and transparency mandates. Through this analysis, the project seeks to clarify the role of empirical research in judicial processes and inform future scholarship, policy, and design related to platform accountability. Specific project aims related to this goal include understanding:

• What research is cited in briefs for digital platform claims in different types of state and federal cases?
• What research is cited in amicus briefs for digital platform claims in different types of state and federal cases?
• What are the attributes of that research?
• How have courts used (or not used) that research? Has it been ignored, incorporated, interpreted, determinative, emphasized, etc?

CONTENT WARNING: some of the case materials may contain disturbing content, including descriptions or images of harm to minors.

Knight-Georgetown Institute

The Knight-Georgetown Institute (KGI) serves as a central hub for translating research into practical resources that policymakers, journalists, and private and public sector leaders can use to tackle information and technology issues in real time, ranging from artificial intelligence to the spread of misinformation and disinformation.

KGI helps policymakers and tech industry leaders address pressing issues related to technology, policy, and ethics and make informed decisions on how technology is used to shape, produce, and share information across platforms. The institute will also train the next generation of leaders to shape the future of information and technology for the common good.

Communication, Culture & Technology

Georgetown University’s Communication, Culture & Technology (CCT) program is an interdisciplinary Master’s degree program devoted to the study and design of communication, media, and information technology in the full scope of their social, political, cultural, technical, and economic complexity. CCT promotes a holistic, multidisciplinary analysis of communications and media systems, expanding the boundaries of theory, substantive knowledge, making, and practice. CCT’s curriculum prepares students to be critical thinkers, exemplary scholars, and content creators who apply their knowledge in meaningful ways to the problems and challenges of a world being shaped by the globalizing forces of computational and digital communication and information technologies and international media systems. Learn more about CCT here.

Fellowship details

The successful candidate should be available for some in-person engagements on Georgetown University’s Capitol Campus and occasionally the main campus, though much of the work can be completed remotely. (All remote work must be performed within the DMV area.)

The wage for this position is $23.34/hr. The candidate will work between 10 and 20 hours a week during the school year, depending on the needs of the team and the schedule of the candidate.

Georgetown University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action employer fully dedicated to achieving a diverse faculty and staff. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability or other categories protected by law. 

Application

To apply, please visit this link here. Please submit a cover letter and resume with your application.