Exploratory Research Project to Develop a Multifaith Black Public Interest Technology (PIT) Curriculum

Established and led by Dr. Fallon Wilson, #BlackTechFutures Research Institute aims “to build Black Dreams, champion Black Futures, and amplify Black Joy in the modern, digital age.” Housed at Stillman College, an HBCU located in Tuscaloosa, the Institute is cultivating relationships with a range of other HBCUs – including Spelman College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Prairie View A&M, Lane College, Texas Southern University, Hood Theological Seminary, and Meharry Medical College – in an effort to develop the institutional capacity necessary to build a more diverse public interest technology field. With Luce Foundation support, the Institute will launch an exploratory project to investigate how diverse Black religious communities talk about their relationship to, challenges surrounding, and vision for public interest technology. Drawing on a series of focus group conversations, Dr. Wilson and her colleagues will craft a multifaith curriculum intended to “deepen the capacity of Black faith communities, pastors, imams, congregations, and priests to organize a social movement for building liberating and loving futures that harness technologies for the common good.”