UMass Amherst to Present the Public Interest Technology Symposium ‘Ukraine and Russia - The Online War’

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has raised many questions and concerns, including those around cybersecurity, information warfare and propaganda. How is the situation playing out online? With the shrinking of Russian cyberspace, which platforms are most central and how are different communities harnessing them?

To attempt to answer these questions, UMass Amherst will present “Ukraine and Russia - The Online War,” an online interdisciplinary symposium, Thursday, March 31, at 5 p.m. The 90-minute event, conducted via Zoom, is free and open to the public.

Moderated by Ethan Zuckerman, associate professor of public policy, communication, and computer science and director of the UMass Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure, the symposium will bring together experts from four fields of expertise and three institutions of higher education.

The panelists, who will share their perspectives and answer questions from the audience, include:

• Julie Hemment, chair and professor of anthropology at UMass Amherst and author of the book “Youth Politics in Putin's Russia: Producing Patriots and Entrepreneurs”
• Tanya Lokot, associate professor of digital media and society at Dublin City University and author of the book “Beyond the Protest Square: Digital Media and Augmented Dissent”
• Alina Parker, lecturer of Russian, Eurasian and Polish studies in the UMass Amherst Writing Program and co-author of the book “Russian Politics in The Age of Hybrid Media”
• Bruce Schneier, lecturer of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and author of the book “Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World”

This event is co-sponsored by the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the College of Information and Computer Sciences, and the Public Interest Technology (PIT) Initiative.

To register for the event, and for more information, please visit the event’s page on the SBS website.