By Alex Calderwood. DNA evidence carries an aura of the indisputable, thought of as the “gold standard” in forensic science. Because of this power, law enforcement has asked forensic laboratories to interpret ever more challenging evidence — “touch” DNA evidence like a gun or cell phone which are often handled by a number of people.
AuthorMark Hansen
Our 2018-2019 Winter “All Hands” Meeting
Last week was the six-month mark since the most recent batch of Magic Grants were awarded to the 2018-2019 cohort of journalists, technology researchers, and media experts. On Friday the 8th, the group met for their second “All-Hands” meeting of the year. It’s a fun and interesting event for our Magic Grantees. As its name
Queer & “Here”
February 27, 5:00-6:30pm, The Brown Institute, RSVP at brwn.co/qh From hookup apps to investigative reporting, community-building to historical archiving, the Internet has transformed queer experience and visibility. What have these changes wrought? What gains? What losses? In a free-wheeling and frank conversation, Zach Stafford, editor-in-chief of the U.S.’s oldest LGBTQ news magazine, The Advocate, and
Tech, Media and Democracy
The New York Times graciously hosted the first meeting of the all-city class “Tech, Media and Democracy.” About 100 students from five campuses enrolled in the course — Columbia Journalism School, Cornell Tech, The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, The New School, and NYU. Broadly, over the next fifteen weeks we’ll cover New
To teach people about climate change, feed them journalism
We are pleased to initiate a new series of articles from the Brown Institute at the Columbia Journalism Review. Our first offering is about a dinner we hosted with the Aspen Institute and the Asia Society on climate change. There’s a story behind every ingredient that goes into our meals—each plant or animal we consume
Upcoming event on the Blockchain in Journalism
The Brown Institute and the Tow Center have collaborated on an event for students, reporters, editors, scholars, and entrepreneurs about the current state of blockchain technology and how it can be applied to journalism. For practitioners in media, Blockchain is in vogue today as a potential solution to the industry’s every-day problems and tasks, such
Transparency Event on Political Polling – 10/12 and 13
We at the Brown Institute are pleased to announce our Transparency Series for the Fall of 2018. Each event consists of a talk, usually on a Friday night, and a day-long workshop on the accompanying Saturday. The talk on Friday is open to the public and the Saturday workshop is restricted to a group of
Cory Doctorow Visits Columbia University: A Week of Events
At the end of September, the Brown Institute, along with the Heyman Center, SIPA, and the Libraries, are honored to announce a week of events featuring Cory Doctorow, blogger, journalist and science fiction writer. The week includes an intimate conversation with Dennis Tenen about science fiction and contemporary authorship, a talk about digital copyright and
Charleston, before Florence
The “Charleston Reconstructed” team is in Charleston interviewing community members and mapping Confederate monuments through photogrammetry with a drone. The team consists of Columbia Documentary Journalism student Robert Tokanel, Stanford Computer Scientist Kyle Qian, and Stanford undergraduates Khoi Le and Hope Schroeder. The team is looking to “digitally transform public spaces” in Charleston using augmented