The purpose of this project is to investigate the relationship between digital technology and transformations in higher education through a comparative analysis of smart campus initiatives in Europe and the US. Smart campus initiatives typically involve the use of digital tools to do some or all of the following: monitor and automate aspects of student learning and progress to degree; manage facilities and resources to improve efficiency and sustainability; produce new revenue streams; and enhance security and student wellness on campus. Smart campus initiatives hold tremendous promise for improving student learning and maximizing the environmental sustainability of universities. In practice, however, these tools can entrench inequality as well as intensify the surveillance and exploitation of student and faculty data.
The project will look specifically at the development of smart campus initiatives in Denmark and Scotland in comparison to the US and assess the impact of these initiatives on the privacy rights, working conditions, and academic freedom of students and faculty. Focus will be on the connections between smart campus and smart city initiatives, using case studies of smart campus initiatives that are explicitly designed to serve as proving grounds for smart city technology. These initiatives can vastly expand the powers of industry over higher education while raising pressing concerns about privacy and autonomy from unwarranted institutional oversight. To what extent do the social, political, and historical contexts of Denmark and Scotland shape smart campus initiatives in ways that are similar to, and/or different from, US smart campus initiatives? How might the comparison of these initiatives help inform visions of ethical approaches to smart campus development?
The project will according to plan collaborate with the Centres for Science Studies and Science, Technology, and Society Studies at Aarhus University who share an interest in surveillance, participatory design practices, smart cities, and the implications of digital technology for democracy and digital citizenship. Additionally, upon completion of the fellowship, the project will end with a hybrid workshop where a group of students and researchers from Aarhus University and Purdue University will work together to imagine ethical approaches to smart campus initiatives.
The project is one of five AIAS-SHAPE fellowships focusing on Democracy and Digital Citizenship.