On Monday, December 1, 2025, at 5:30 PM, head to Figurehead Brewing in Fremont (3513 Stone Way N, Seattle, WA 98103) for a pint and a conversation with Hansi Singh, CEO of Planette.ai, on technology, power, water, and carbon math.
Signals & Society is an independent, public-facing, traveling series devoted to exploring how technology shapes—and is shaped by—society.
The event is public; no registration required.
Please share widely with colleagues, students, and friends who might be interested.
In Winter 2026, Society + Technology at UW will head over to the Department of Bioethics & Humanities at UW Medicine for a salon devoted to thinking with and about implantable technologies.
From cardiac devices and contraceptive implants to neural interfaces and experimental sensors, technologies that live in or under the skin raise complicated questions about consent, autonomy, commercial interests, and more.
At the Bioethics Table with Implantable Technologies will bring together philosophers, sociologists, policy experts, artists, and clinical practitioners to a long table for an enriching discussion, and we may even have edible implants.
Stay tuned for the new date and an updated speaker list!
About Salons
An S+T Community Program, salons are a conversation series held in-person or online designed to elevate the S+T’s cross-campus and cross-disciplinary perspectives on technologies. Each Salon is a one-hour and fifteen-minute conversation between three to five affiliates from the S+T network, with a moderator. The purpose is to recognize and honor live, arranged encounters as a meeting of the minds, to give greater visibility to the S+T network, and to cultivate intellectual conditions for deeper collaborations. Would you like to present your work in a Salon? Email mmjones@uw.edu. Interested in notifications about future Salons? Subscribe to the S+T Calendar
Online dating is nothing new, but in 2025, the promise and peril of finding love online—and the work of designing technologies to facilitate amore—now include artificial intelligence writers in the mix.
Consider this, and more, over a pint at the next event in Signals & Society, a new public-facing traveling series co-organized by Ryan Calo (Law, UW Seattle), on Mon., Nov. 10, 2025, at 5:30 PM at the Old Stove Brewery Gardens in Ballard (1550 NW 49th Street, Seattle, WA 98107).
This conversation features Jevan Hutson (Law, UW Seattle) to discuss how digital intimacies are shaped by commercial, legal, and interpersonal forces.
Add to your calendar; no registration required.
On October 23, 2025, join us for an evening book salon featuring UW scholars Ryan Calo (Law), Leah Ceccarelli (Communication), and Katharina Reinecke (Computer Science) in conversation about tech policy, culture, and controversies in technoscience.
Book Salon | Culture Shock, Controversy, and Policy: Approaches to Technology and Society
Thursday, October 23, 2025
Doors open at 5:30 PM, Salon begins at 6:00 PM
Toni C. Rembe Appellate Courtroom, Room 133
UW School of Law
William H. Gates Hall
4293 Memorial Way NE
Seattle, WA 98195
Moderated by Monika Sengul-Jones, this event will explore timely questions at the intersection of technology and society: How does culture shape the technologies we use? What do scientific controversies reveal about our relationship to technoscience? How is expertise encoded into technical systems, and with what consequences? What are the implications for law and policy?
The discussion will revolve around the themes of three new books:
Part reading, part conversation, this Book Salon will be an opportunity to hear from three UW authors from different disciplines about their research on emerging technologies.
5:30 | Doors open. Check in at the Welcome Desk at the east entrance to William Gates Hall
6:00 – 7:15 | Salon Conversation
7:15 – 7:30 | Candy Reception
This salon will not be available in a hybrid format, however, a recording or transcript may be available upon request and with permission from the speakers. Email mmjones@uw.edu to learn more.
The School of Law is accessible by transit, car, bicycle, and foot.
By public transit, the School of Law is accessible to many busses and less than 0.2 miles from the U District station for the Light Rail. The entrance to the event is on the east side of the building, on Memorial Way.
By car, exit 1-5 to NE 45th St and go east. Turn right onto Memorial Way Northeast, then turn right to enter Lot N01, adjacent to the Burke Museum, which has Pay By Phone parking.
Bicycle racks are available on the north end of the building.
All areas of this space are wheelchair accessible. There are ADA parking spots in Lot N01 Hall. The event, reception, and bathrooms are conveniently located on the main floor. If you need accommodations or have accessibility questions prior to the event, please contact mmjones@uw.edu; during the event, please ask the Society + Technology at UW and Tech Policy Lab staff or volunteers for assistance.
We are a mask-friendly event. Even though masks are no longer required in many places, attendees may want to continue to wear a mask for added protection against COVID-19, especially those who are immunocompromised, living with someone immunocompromised, or who may just feel safer wearing a mask. Everyone should assess their own personal risk when making this decision. Masks will be available at the Welcome Table at the east entrance to the School of Law. Please do not attend if you are feeling unwell.
Salons are one of Society + Technology at UW’s community programs, hosted conversations to elevate the cross-campus and cross-disciplinary perspectives on emerging technologies. Each Salon is a one-hour and fifteen-minute conversation between three to five affiliates from the S+T network, with a moderator. The purpose is to recognize and honor live, arranged encounters as a meeting of the minds, to give greater visibility to the S+T network, and to cultivate intellectual conditions for deeper collaborations.
Society + Technology at UW is a cross-campus, cross-disciplinary initiative and community at the University of Washington devoted to fostering interdisciplinary conversations about emerging technologies and their societal impact. The initiative connects researchers, students, and professionals through events, discussions, and collaborative initiatives. With a growing network of affiliates, S+T at UW raises the ethical, cultural, and policy implications of technological advancements.
Ryan Calo is the Lane Powell and D. Wayne Gittinger Professor at the University of Washington School of Law. He is a founding co-director of the UW Tech Policy Lab and a co-founder of the UW Center for an Informed Public. Professor Calo holds a joint appointment at the Information School and an adjunct appointment at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering.
Leah Ceccarelli is Professor of Communication at the University of Washington. She is a rhetorical critic and theorist whose research focuses on the rhetoric of science. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in American Public Address, Rhetorical Criticism, and the Rhetoric of Science. Ceccarelli also directs the UW Science, Technology, and Society Studies Graduate Certificate Program.
Katharina Reinecke is Professor and Associate Director of Research and Communication in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, where she directs the Wildlab and the Center for Globally Beneficial AI — an interdisciplinary, cross-campus initiative that aims to imagine and define the next generation of personalized AI technologies for people around the world.
A S+T at UW Community Program, salons are a conversation series held in-person or online, designed to elevate the S+T’s cross-campus and cross-disciplinary perspectives on technologies. Each Salon is a one-hour and fifteen-minute conversation between three to five affiliates from the S+T network, with a moderator. The purpose is to recognize and honor live, arranged encounters as a meeting of the minds, to give greater visibility to the S+T network, and to cultivate intellectual conditions for deeper collaborations.
This event is sponsored by the Tech Policy Lab, and the Office of the Provost.