Goethe Pop Up, Chophouse Row, 1424 11th Ave STE 101, Seattle, WA 98122

Bios

Jessica L. Beyer is a Lecturer and Research Scientist in the Henry M. Jackson School for International Studies. Her current research focuses on cybersecurity issues, particularly non-state actors and international security. In 2012, she won the Association of Internet Researcher’s Dissertation Award. Her book, Expect Us: Online Communities and Political Mobilization, was published by Oxford University Press in 2014. 

Christoph Bieber is is a professor of Ethics in Political Management at the University of Duisburg-Essen. He conducts research and writes on ethics and responsibility in politics, transparency and open communication as well as democracy and new media. He is a founding board member of pol-di.net e.V, the organisation responsible for operating Politik-digital. 

Sarah Lohmann is currently the Senior Cyber Fellow with the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She manages projects which aim to increase agreement between Germany and the United States on improving cybersecurity and creating cybernorms. Since 2010, Dr. Lohmann has served as a university instructor at the Universität der Bundeswehr, where she is currently teaching cybersecurity policy. She achieved her doctorate in political science there in 2013, when she became a senior researcher working for the political science department. Prior to her tenure at the Universität der Bundeswehr, Dr. Lohmann was a press spokesman for the U.S. Department of State for human rights as well as for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (MEPI).  

Niko Switek is DAAD Visiting Assistant Professor for German Studies at the Henry M. Jackson School for International Studies and the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington. His research interests focus on political parties and party systems as well as on coalition politics. He wrote extensively about the German green party 'Bündnis 90/Die Grünen' and the green party family in Western Europe. In addition he worked on parties on European level ('Europarties') and just recently compiled a volume on fictional TV series about politics. 

Kristina Weissenbach is an Affiliate Professor for Political Science at the University of Washington. She is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Research Unit at the NRW School of Governance, Institute for Political Science, University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany). Her primary research interests include the organization and institutionalization of political parties, party assistance and institutions in new democracies. Currently, she organized a research group on "The Digitalization of political parties (DIPART)" at the University of Duisburg-Essen (funded by the Ministry for Culture and Science NRW, 2018-2022) 

EVENING EVENT

The Cloud Room, 1424 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122

Bios

Ramesh Srinivasan is Professor of Information Studies and Design Media Arts at UCLA. He is author of the books “Beyond the Valley: How Innovators around the World are Overcoming Inequality and Creating the Technologies of Tomorrow” (MIT Press 2019) and “Whose Global Village? Rethinking How Technology Impacts Our World” with NYU Press. Ramesh makes regular appearances on NPR, The Young Turks, MSNBC, and Public Radio International, and his writings have been published in the Washington Post, Quartz, Huffington Post, CNN, and elsewhere.  

Mellina White-Cusack is a Seattle resident who writes about how politics and culture impact our society. She blogs at The Seattle Conservative and has contributed her thoughts locally on The Evergrey and KUOW. She is curious about why our country has grown more and more divided in recent years, and how the lack of data-driven news and information has contributed to this national divide. In the past, Mellina has also contributed to DapperQ, a queer fashion site, and most recently served as Campaign Director for Christopher Rufo for City Council. 

The Seattle Public Library, Central Library, Microsoft Auditorium

Bios

Armen Avanessian (*1973 in Vienna) is an Austrian philosopher, literary theorist, and political theorist. He has taught at the Free University of Berlin, among other institutions, and held fellowships in the German departments of Columbia University and Yale University. His work on Speculative realism and Accelerationism in art and philosophy has found a wide audience beyond academia. Amongst his recent publications: Miamification (Merve, 2017) and Future Metaphysics (Polity, 2019). In 2019, Armen Avanessian is fellow at the Thomas Mann House, Los Angeles. 

Lance Bennett is Professor of Political Science and Ruddick C. Lawrence Professor of Communication at the University of Washington, Seattle USA and Senior Fellow at the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society, Berlin. He is founding director of the Center for Communication and Civic Engagement, which focuses on how communication can enhance citizen engagement with society, politics, and global affairs. 

Jessica L. Beyer is a Lecturer and Research Scientist in the Henry M. Jackson School for International Studies. Her current research focuses on cybersecurity issues, particularly non-state actors and international security. In 2012, she won the Association of Internet Researcher’s Dissertation Award. Her book, Expect Us: Online Communities and Political Mobilization, was published by Oxford University Press in 2014. 

Christoph Bieber is is a professor of Ethics in Political Management at the University of Duisburg-Essen. He conducts research and writes on ethics and responsibility in politics, transparency and open communication as well as democracy and new media. He is a founding board member of pol-di.net e.V, the organisation responsible for operating Politik-digital. 

Damian Borth is Professor of Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning at the Institute for Computer Science at the University of St. Gallen. Before he served as the Director of the Deep Learning Competence Center at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Kaiserslautern and founding co-director of Sociovestix Labs, a social enterprise in the area of financial data science. He actively promotes the use of multimedia opinion mining for social good following the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and the AI-for-Good initiative. In 2019, he is fellow at the Thomas Mann House, Los Angeles. 

Toby Crittenden was born and raised in Seattle. He is the former Executive Director of the Washington Bus, the Evergreen State's political voice for the rising generation. He currently works with non-profit organizations to improve their culture and systems.  

Adriana Groh is interested in the intersections of technology, policy and society. She works as program manager for the Prototype Fund, a funding program by the Open Knowledge Foundation and the Federal Ministry for Education and Research for software development in the field of Public Interest Tech, and co-founded wepublic, an app designed for digital dialogue between citizens and politicians. Adriana is a fellow of Launchbase, a pre-incubation program by the Maastricht Centre for Entrepreneurship, and the Social Impact Lab. She previously studied political science and European public policy and governance, with a focus on democratic innovations and participation. 

Sarah Lohmann is currently the Senior Cyber Fellow with the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She manages projects which aim to increase agreement between Germany and the United States on improving cybersecurity and creating cybernorms. Since 2010, Dr. Lohmann has served as a university instructor at the Universität der Bundeswehr, where she is currently teaching cybersecurity policy. She achieved her doctorate in political science there in 2013, when she became a senior researcher working for the political science department. Prior to her tenure at the Universität der Bundeswehr, Dr. Lohmann was a press spokesman for the U.S. Department of State for human rights as well as for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (MEPI).  

Alexander Sängerlaub leads the project Disinformation in the digital Public Sphere at the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (SNV). The project looks at the phenomenon based on an interdisciplinary approach. One major aim is to understand and explain the scope and effects of disinformation – together with experts from the US election campaign and the election. He is a fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) in London. Alexander studied Journalism & Communication Sciences and Psychology, as well as „Media and Political Communication“ at the Freie Universität Berlin.  

Niko Switek is DAAD Visiting Assistant Professor for German Studies at the Henry M. Jackson School for International Studies and the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington. His research interests focus on political parties and party systems as well as on coalition politics. He wrote extensively about the German green party 'Bündnis 90/Die Grünen' and the green party family in Western Europe. In addition he worked on parties on European level ('Europarties') and just recently compiled a volume on fictional TV series about politics. 

Opal Tometi is a globally recognized human rights advocate, strategist and writer of Nigerian-American descent. She has been active in social movements for over 15 years, and is widely known for her role as a co-founder of Black Lives Matter and for her years of service as the Executive Director of the United States first national immigrant rights organization for people of African descent – the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI). Opal addressed the United Nations General Assembly and appeared on CNN, MSNBC, BET and her writings have been published in outlets such as TIME, Seventeen and the Huffington Post. 

Kristina Weissenbach is an Affiliate Professor for Political Science at the University of Washington. She is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Research Unit at the NRW School of Governance, Institute for Political Science, University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany). Her primary research interests include the organization and institutionalization of political parties, party assistance and institutions in new democracies. Currently, she organized a research group on "The Digitalization of political parties (DIPART)" at the University of Duisburg-Essen (funded by the Ministry for Culture and Science NRW, 2018-2022) 

Facilitated by Linnea Riensberg and Merlin Münch

State Studio, Hauptstraße 3, 10827 Berlin

State Studio, Hauptstraße 3, 10827 Berlin