New Center Explores Technology, Society, and Policy

Building smarter tech by putting people first

SESP has received a $1 million gift from the Kapor Foundation to establish the Center for Technology, Policy, and Opportunity. The center will lead various initiatives, starting with a new interdisciplinary graduate program designed to address challenges at the intersections of technology, society, and policy.

Launching in Fall of 2025, the Master of Science in Technology, People, and Policy (MTePP) program is built on the idea that to serve humans, new technologies need to put people first. Courses will help students navigate such issues in areas including artificial intelligence, environmental sustainability, and human development.

“The program’s power comes from putting learning scientists and computer scientists together with experts in policy and human development,” says SESP dean Bryan Brayboy. “We’re preparing professionals for challenges and opportunities related to education, policy, legislation, and corporations—from job displacement and ethical dilemmas in AI to a host of other concerns.”

The MTePP program is the first of several initiatives to be supported by the new center. Building on work related to education ecosystems led by Nichole Pinkard, the Alice Hamilton Professor of Learning Sciences, the center will serve students in high school and community college in addition to undergraduate and graduate students.

The flexible, hybrid master’s program can be completed in one year, while part-time students can finish in two years. Most courses will be offered in person and virtually, though orientation and the capstone symposium require in-person participation.

Tech policy experts Nicol Turner Lee and Nik Marda will be among the instructors. Lee is a researcher and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who writes about unequal access to technology; she is coeditor in chief of its TechTank and author of Digitally Invisible: How the Internet Is Creating the New Underclass.

Marda is technical lead for AI governance at Mozilla, where he helps developers make AI more open, public, and trustworthy. He is former chief of staff for the technology division of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and served as a policy adviser in the National AI Initiative Office.

“The questions of technology are inescapable at this point,” says Sepehr Vakil, associate professor of learning sciences and the center’s faculty director. “New technology brings both tremendous opportunities and significant challenges. How we think about regulating and intervening with technology has big implications for inequality, ethics, and society.”

The center’s work will include:

• High school electives
  • Programs for Chicago-area schools will introduce students to computer science, tech ethics, and tech policy principles in ways that reflect students’ experiences. Students can receive certificates from Northwestern.
• Undergraduate microcredentials
  • Certificates, badges, and other symbols of expertise can be collected to prepare students from Northwestern and partner institutions, including community colleges, for careers in technology policy.
• Graduate certificates and degrees
  • Flexible interdisciplinary graduate programs aligned with cutting-edge research and policy needs, including those related to AI and emerging technologies, will be offered.