June 8, 2022—Data & Society is pleased to welcome Lindsey D. Cameron and Christina N. Harrington to our 2022–23 Faculty Fellowship Program. Starting this September, the program will benefit from their unique perspectives and expertise as they conduct rigorous interrogations of data-intensive systems of government and the ways these systems intersect with race. Their work will align with the theme of this year’s fellowship program: Race, Tech, and the State.
Both Cameron and Harrington enter this eighth cohort of fellows with strong track records of engaging in research at the intersection of technology and race. They will have opportunities to conduct and publish original research while adding depth and fresh perspective to broad, urgent conversations about these issues.
“We’re delighted to welcome Lindsey and Christina as we focus on how the intersections of race, technology, and the state are reconfiguring society — and what the stakes are for vulnerable communities,” said Sareeta Amrute, Data & Society’s principal researcher and program director of the race and tech fellowship. “I can’t wait to see what their research reveals, and what we can build together.”
Cameron’s research will focus on the interplay of race and gender in the gig economy, with attention to how the intersection of top-down organizational practices and bottom-up worker behavior may impact gig workers.
“I’m incredibly honored and excited to be part of such a talented group of researchers, writers, and just all-around wonderful human beings,” Cameron said. “I’m looking forward to learning together and launching a new project at the intersection of race and gig work.”
Harrington’s research will involve examining how older African Americans experience, value, and interact with voice technologies. She will consider bias in speech-recognition interactions and the inclusion of marginalized voices in speech-recognition research.
“I’m excited to join Data & Society as a faculty fellow. This is an incredible opportunity to join some of the world’s thought leaders exploring technology’s impact on our communities and how we establish policy to guide it,” Harrington said.
With a focus on how data-centric technology is reconfiguring society, Data & Society’s ten-month Faculty Fellowship Program unites disciplines in order to deepen the scope of our research initiatives and expand the reach of our work. Former faculty fellows have pursued academic research, written code, created art, united communities, and hosted workshops that have spurred conversations, fueled collective action, and transformed careers.
Lindsey D. Cameron is an assistant professor at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work includes a five-year ethnographic study of the ride-hail industry and an examination of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted gig economy workers. Cameron’s research has been published widely in academic journals and cited in teaching resources, and has been featured in outlets including Bloomberg, NPR’s Marketplace, Human Resources Magazine, and Fast Company.
Previously, Cameron worked with the U.S. government as a political and technical analyst reporting on regions in North Africa, the Middle East, Western and Eastern Europe. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University, her master’s from George Washington University, and her doctorate from the University of Michigan.
Christina N. Harrington is a designer and qualitative researcher who works at the intersections of interaction design, health, and racial equity. Her background in electrical engineering and industrial design informs her focus on designing universal, accessible, and inclusive products for historically excluded groups — such as Black communities, older adults, and individuals with differing abilities — that help support and maintain their health, wellness, and autonomy.
Harrington’s work includes designing and evaluating household consumer products for people with physical and sensory disabilities, and examining tech design for health disparities among older African Americans. Her scholarship appears in an array of academic journals, white papers, and teaching materials including the co-authored “Designing Information and Communication Technologies to Support Healthcare Needs of Older Adults,” which appears in the Handbook of Human Factors in Healthcare Design.
Harrington is an assistant professor in the HCI Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and the director of the university’s Equity and Health Innovations Design Research Lab. She is also a visiting faculty researcher at Google. She received her undergraduate degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, her master’s from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, and her doctorate from Georgia Institute of Technology.