Technology is not neutral. We're inside of what we make, and it's inside of us. We're living in a world of connections—and it matters which ones get made and unmade. - Donna Haraway, A Cyborg Manifesto (1985)
the pluses and minuses of technology
The Media Lab community is redoubling its efforts to thoughtfully explore the tradeoffs of the technologies we create and the design processes we use. PlusMinus asks, "how do we reimagine the Media Lab's approach to technology design, and prevent disproportionately negative impact on marginalized communities through balanced design choices?"
a community of practice
The PlusMinus community is creating, refining, and practicing inclusive design approaches that strike a delicate balance between consequentialism and social justice, rigorous academic expertise and lived experience, and hubris and humility. Spanning research groups, perspectives and methodologies, we're recasting the design culture inside and outside of the Media Lab so that the benefits of our work are more fairly distributed - by design.
inclusive by design
PlusMinus’ work looks both inwards and outwards. Internally, we’re weaving PlusMinus themes and inclusive co-design principles into the Lab's organizational culture shift, led by Media Lab students, staff, and faculty. We host events and seminars and provide financial support for projects that center diverse voices, especially projects that identify design approaches that mitigate disparate harm to vulnerable populations before deployment, and/or as the technologies scale.
how to get involved
Email plusminus@media.mit.edu to find out more.
the people
PlusMinus is led by Hildreth England. Advice and support are provided by Ceasar McDowell (DUSP), Kevin Esvelt (Sculpting Evolution), Danielle Wood (Space Enabled), Andy Lippman (Viral Communications), with support from the Media Arts and Sciences Academic Program.