S&T researchers earn funding for public interest technology program

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On October 10, 2024

S&T students work on a collaborative writing assignment in 2022. Photo by Michael Pierce, Missouri S&T.

Dr. Ryan Cheek, assistant professor of English and technical communication at Missouri S&T, and department colleagues Dr. Carleigh Davis, associate professor, and Dr. Rachel Schneider, associate teaching professor, have recently earned funding through the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) to launch a “Zine Lab” for advancing gender justice and promoting technological equity.

In collaboration with Dr. Erin Clark at East Carolina University (ECU), the project will offer workshops bringing together students, faculty, and community partners to create a toolkit for integrating magazine making into public interest technology education. The grant also funds a new course at the university titled “AI to Zines: Imagining the future of technical communication” to be offered in the Spring 2025 semester.

The experiential course will include elements of writing, design, and technology to study artificial intelligence-assisted communication design and do-it-yourself magazine making.

“In the course, students will examine how AI, as an emerging tool in content creation, and zine-making, as a DIY grassroots method of communication design, represent two contrasting yet complementary forces shaping the future of technical communication,” says Cheek.

By combining a traditional field of magazine making with the rise of AI, the faculty hope that students will learn to navigate the complexities of creating and distributing meaningful content in an increasingly automated world.

“Through practical community-based projects, students will use generative AI design tools and zine-making techniques to produce innovative forms of advocacy that challenge traditional power dynamics in science, technology, and society,” says Cheek.

The Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) is a partnership that fosters collaboration between universities and colleges committed to building the nascent field of public interest technology and growing a new generation of civic-minded technologists.

About Missouri S&T

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students located in Rolla, Missouri. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, Missouri S&T offers over 100 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top public universities for salary impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu

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