Ellen Kaufman, CCT 2018

Undergraduate institution and major: Kenyon College, English Literature & Music

Area of focus in CCT: Tech Ethics, Sextech, Artificial Intelligence

What did you do before CCT? After graduating from college in 2013, I worked in Berlin, Germany for three years—first as an au pair, then as an editor, copywriter and subtitler for a text and translation firm.

What activities did you participate in during CCT? I was the Managing Editor of gnovis, CCT’s peer-edited academic journal.

Why did you choose CCT?  During my final semester of college, I became obsessed with digital copyright law and tech ethics. I explored applying to law school, but ultimately contended that it wasn’t the right fit for my specific research interests. I ended up haphazardly googling keywords for the graduate program I was looking for — and was pretty sure didn’t exist — and was stunned to discover an M.A. program that aligned exactly with my interdisciplinary interests — ethics, tech policy, critical theory, and cultural studies.

What surprised you about CCT? How fast two years goes by! While I loved the classes I took, the program length requires you to be selective and strategic about your course load.

What are you doing now? I’m continuing to work on my Ph.D. in Informatics at Indiana University Bloomington and recently completed my Ph.D. minor in Human Sexuality at the Kinsey Institute, one of the foremost research institutions for sex, gender and reproduction. My current research centers on how technology mediates and commodifies intimacy through the lens of human-computer interaction and feminist technoscience.