Face Masks, Voting, and Social Media

How misinformation and contagious behavior shape who we are and what we could become.

October 20, 2020 • 2-3 p.m.

This webinar panel discussion focuses on the role of social behavior in society. We will look at what influences our behavior, what control we have over those influences, and the overall impact social behavior has on our society.

With panelists:

Cara Biasucci

Cara is on the Governing Board of the National Ethics Project and part of the Center for Leadership and Ethics at McCombs. Currently, she is writing about teaching behavioral ethics for the forthcoming book series Teaching Ethics Across the American Educational Experience: Models for Design, Instruction and Assessment of Learning. Cara taught media production at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before coming to UT Austin. She received her M.F.A. in Film & Video Production from The University of Texas at Austin, and B.A. in philosophy magna cum laude from Bowdoin College.

Karen Gross

Karen is the founder of Citizen Discourse, an organization that applies behavioral psychology and brain science research to foster social and emotional skills through facilitated conversations and trainings. After completing law school at the University of Houston Law Center, Karen returned to Austin where she had the honor of serving as the community director for the Anti-Defamation League.  Moved by their mission to secure justice and fair treatment for all and the gravity of their work, Karen worked hard to position the organization as a convener for matters related to civil rights and social justice. Her role as director positioned Karen to address the organization’s values and programmatic offerings at small and large gatherings.  Testifying before legislative bodies on bullying and hate crime initiatives helped her find her voice as an advocate.  Her time at ADL taught her much about nonprofit management, fundraising, board leadership and all the things that go into growing a social profit. The most important thing it taught her was the importance of relationships.

Peniel Joseph

Peniel Joseph holds a joint professorship appointment at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the History Department in the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also the founding director of the LBJ School's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy (CSRD). His career focus has been on "Black Power Studies," which encompasses interdisciplinary fields such as Africana studies, law and society, women's and ethnic studies, and political science.

Samuel Woolley

Assistant professor in the School of Journalism and an assistant professor, by courtesy, in the School of Information—both at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also the project director for propaganda research at the Center for Media Engagement (CME) at UT.