News

The Centre is sad to learn the passing of David Brian Huron.  David was a composer, musician and scholar.   He was also an instructor here at the Centre:

"Upon completing a PhD in 1989, David was appointed Assistant Professor of Music at Conrad Grebel College, receiving a promotion to Associate Professor in 1991. He held concurrent positions at the University of Waterloo, including administrative Coordinator and principal instructor at UW's Center for Society, Technology, and Values. At the University of Waterloo, he also held complimentary appointments as Associate Professor of Psychology (1994-1998) and Adjunct Professor of Systems Design Engineering (1994-1998)."

See his obituary for more information.

In May 2025, we started looking for students interested in being part of a student club related to our own interests in society, technology and values.

Come to the opening event in our new film series about technology and society. Blade Runner (1982), the Final Cut!

Looking for an elective about technology and society to develop your critical thinking skills and give you a chance to reflect on the costs and benefits of technology? Then join our Spring 2025 tour!

Remember: all STV courses are open to everyone, and for engineers these are List A & C CSEs!

Systems Design faculty members can apply for Cornfield/CSTV Climate Adaptation Coop Research Funding until the end of November. Email Scott Campbell if you have questions, or connect with Natasha Poley to apply.

Check out our new courses for Winter 2025:

• STV 201 Technology and Society in Film
• STV 304 Technology in Canadian Society

Posters and details here.

The students we support in our Social Innovators in Training program are building prototypes and are starting down the path of putting together their pitches for the social impact fund. 

This Wednesday, we are hosting Demo Day in our GreenHouse space and it is open to all members of the community. Students will be showcasing their prototypes and would welcome members of the community to join them as they continue to test and iterate on their ideas.

 All are welcome and you may drop-in as your schedule permits.

• GreenHouse Demo Day - March 6 | 5:00-6:30pm @United College (GreenHouse space) - drop-in any time between 5:00-6:30pm

The focus of the course is on good design, particularly where design relates to society and social issues. Good design reflects not only technical achievement but also responsiveness to social context and values. Topics include the nature of design, the social and cultural implications of design, the roles of designers in relation to the social contract, and design assessment in light of social values such as risk, fairness, progress, and sustainability. Although the focus of the course is on the design of technology, any designed system is open for examination and discussion. The course material provides a mixture of theoretical concepts and practical cases of their application.

Instructor: Cameron Shelley

Cybernetics is the study of the interfaces between humans and machines. This course will present an overview of cybernetics from automation and robotics to prosthetics and wearable computing. The roles of men and women in a post-human era will be discussed along with related themes dealing with gender, cyberspace, politics and popular culture.

Instructor: Mark Morley