Conducting research with local high school students - Incite at Columbia University

My Streetscape Summer School is an interdisciplinary education program on urban technology and trust organized by Incite’s Trust Collaboratory and Columbia Engineering’s Center for Smart Streetscapes (CS3).

The summer school invites high school students from Harlem and the surrounding area to learn and conduct research alongside Columbia University scholars. Participating students gain insight into the methods, strategies, and data used by engineers and social scientists who seek to understand how technology impacts livability, safety, and inclusivity in New York City.

This summer we welcomed our inaugural cohort, who spent six weeks in intensive training in the social sciences, humanities, and arts. Instructors included Ari Galper, Jack LaViolette, Amy Weissenbach, Madi Whitman, Hannah Pullen-Blasnik, Gil Eyal, Taylor Brenden Alarcon, and Cristian Capotescu.

Throughout their time at Columbia, students learned how to conduct interviews, gather ethnographic observations, launch surveys, work with public data sets, and create photovoice stories that examine the influence of technology on Harlem’s urban landscape and explored challenging questions surrounding interactions between security, privacy, and trust.

On August 15, our students presented their findings at the Center for Smart Streetscape (CS3) to an enthusiastic audience and presented an impressive 69-page research report to the community. 

What’s next?

We’re organizing the My Streetscape Photovoice Exhibit to present students’ artistic photovoice collection on the topic of urban technology and trust. Join us for the opening night on September 27, 5-8 PM, at The Forum for a public dialogue with teachers, students, parents, researchers, local organizers, and the wider community. Food will be served.

Register

The exhibit will be free and open to the public from September 27 until October 31, 2023.