Ruha Benjamin Explained

Ruha Benjamin
Birth Place:Wai, Maharashtra, India
Discipline:Sociology
Workplaces:Princeton University
Main Interests:Science, Medicine, and Technology; Race-Ethnicity and Gender; Knowledge and Power
Birth Date:1978

Ruha Benjamin is a sociologist and a professor in the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University.[1] The primary focus of her work is the relationship between innovation and equity, particularly the intersection of race, justice, and technology. Benjamin is the author of numerous publications, including the books People's Science: Bodies and Rights on the Stem Cell Frontier (2013), Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code (2019), and Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want (2022).

Benjamin is also a prominent public intellectual, having spoken to audiences across the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia, delivering presentations to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination[2] and NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund,[3] [4] a 2021 AAAS keynote,[5] 2020 ICLR keynote[6] and the 8th Annual Patrusky Lecture.[7]

Benjamin's work has been featured in popular outlets that include Essence Magazine,[8] LA Times,[9] The Washington Post,[10] The New York Times,[11] San Francisco Chronicle,[12] The Root,[13] Motherboard,[14] The Guardian,[15] Vox,[16] Teen Vogue,[17] National Geographic,[18] STAT,[19] CNN,[20] New Statesman,[21] Slate,[22] Jezebel,[23] Boston Review,[24] and The Huffington Post.[25]

Early life

Benjamin was born to an African-American father and a mother of Indian and Persian descent.[26] She describes her interest in the relationship between science, technology, and medicine as prompted by her early life. She was born in a clinic in Wai, Maharashtra, India. Hearing her parents' stories about the interaction of human bodies with medical technology in the clinic sparked her interest. She has lived and spent time in many different places, including "many Souths": South Central Los Angeles; Conway, South Carolina; Majuro, South Pacific, and Swaziland, Southern Africa, and cites these experiences and cultures as influential in her way of looking at the world.[27]

Career

Benjamin received her Bachelor of Arts in sociology and anthropology from Spelman College before completing her PhD in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley in 2008. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA's Institute for Society and Genetics in 2010 before taking a faculty fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School's Science, Technology, and Society Program. From 2010 to 2014, Benjamin was Assistant Professor of African American Studies and Sociology at Boston University.[28]

In 2013, Benjamin's first book, People's Science: Bodies and Rights on the Stem Cell Frontier, was published by Stanford University Press.[29]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ruha Benjamin Department of African American Studies. 2020-08-21. aas.princeton.edu.
  2. Web site: Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. General recommendation No. 36. Preventing and Combating Racial Profiling by Law Enforcement Officials.. February 24, 2021. October 15, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221015140822/https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CERD/Shared%20Documents/1_Global/CERD_C_GC_36_9291_E.pdf. dead.
  3. Web site: Benjamin's 'Race After Technology' speaks to a growing concern among many of tech bias. Denise . Valenti. May 15, 2020. 2021-02-24. Princeton University. en.
  4. Web site: DiSilvestro. Adriana. Brennan Center for Justice: Policing Race & Technology. 2021-02-24. MediaWell. en-US.
  5. Web site: Plenary Lectures. 2021-02-23. AAAS 2021 Annual Meeting. en-US. March 26, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230326184625/https://meetings.aaas.org/program/plenary-lectures/. dead.
  6. Web site: ICLR: 2020 Vision: Reimagining the Default Settings of Technology & Society. 2020. 2021-02-23. iclr.cc.
  7. Web site: The Patrusky Lectures Council for the Advancement of Science Writing. 2021-02-23. casw.org.
  8. Web site: Dorsey. Sherrell. These Black Women Are Fighting For Justice In A World Of Biased Algorithms. December 6, 2020. 2021-02-23. Essence. en-US.
  9. Web site: 2019-10-24. When computers make biased health decisions, black patients pay the price, study says. Amina . Khan. 2021-02-23. Los Angeles Times. en-US.
  10. News: Johnson. Carolyn Y.. Racial bias in a medical algorithm favors white patients over sicker black patients. en-US. Washington Post. October 24, 2019. 2021-02-23. 0190-8286.
  11. Web site: Preston. Jennifer. Moynihan. Colin. 2012-03-21. Death of Florida Teen Spurs Outcry and Action. 2021-02-23. The Lede. en-US.
  12. Web site: Benjamin. Ruha. 2013-04-04. Should researchers pay for women's eggs?. 2021-02-23. San Francisco Chronicle. en-US.
  13. Web site: Bot Bias: Study Finds a Medical Algorithm Favors White Patients Over Sicker Black Ones. 2021-02-23. The Root. 25 October 2019 . en-us.
  14. Web site: 'Significant Racial Bias' Found in National Healthcare Algorithm Affecting Millions of People. Edward . Ongweso Jr. 25 October 2019. 2021-02-23. www.vice.com. en.
  15. News: Varghese. Sanjana. Ruha Benjamin: 'We definitely can't wait for Silicon Valley to become more diverse'. 2019-06-29. The Observer. 2020-03-15. en-GB. 0029-7712.
  16. Web site: Katz. Lauren. 2019-10-17. "I sold my face to Google for $5": Why Google's attempt to make facial recognition tech more inclusive failed. 2021-02-23. Vox. en.
  17. Web site: 2021-02-03. Why I'm Fighting the Tech-to-Prison Pipeline. 2022-01-13. Teen Vogue. en-US.
  18. Web site: 2015-12-04. 5 Reasons Gene Editing Is Both Terrific and Terrifying. https://web.archive.org/web/20210507002447/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/151203-gene-editing-terrific-terrifying-science. dead. May 7, 2021. 2021-02-23. Science. en.
  19. Web site: 2015-12-03. Scientists endorse research on gene-editing in human embryos. 2021-02-23. STAT. en-US.
  20. Web site: Amanda. Enayati. 2014-02-06. The power of prejudice -- and why you should speak up. 2021-02-23. CNN. en.
  21. Web site: 'The New Jim Code' – Ruha Benjamin on racial discrimination by algorithm. Hettie. O'Brien. September 26, 2019. 2021-02-23. www.newstatesman.com. en.
  22. Web site: Selinger. Evan. 2019-03-01. Tech Critics Create a Powerful Response to IBM's Oscars Ad. 2021-02-23. Slate Magazine. en.
  23. Web site: Kim Kardashian and Sophie Lewis's Surrogacy Now. Esther. Wang. 2021-02-23. Jezebel. 2 July 2019 . en-us.
  24. Web site: Benjamin. Ruha. 2018-07-11. Black AfterLives Matter. 2021-02-24. Boston Review. en.
  25. Web site: Ruha Benjamin, Ph.D. The Huffington Post. 2017-03-11. www.huffingtonpost.com. en-US.
  26. https://socialwork.columbia.edu/news/ruha-benjamin-princeton-sociologist-and-leading-thinker-on-science-technology-and-the-social-world-will-be-2020-graduation-speaker/#:~:text=Born%20in%20Wai%2C%20India%2C%20to,World%20College%20of%20Southern%20Africa{{Dead link|date=October 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.
  27. Web site: About. Ruha Benjamin. en-US. 2020-03-15.
  28. https://www.bu.edu/sociology/2010/01/30/new-faculty-members-to-join-department/ "New Faculty Members to Join Department"
  29. Book: People's Science: Bodies and Rights on the Stem Cell Frontier
    last=Benjamindate=5 June 2013 publisher=Stanford University Press isbn=9780804782968 language=enaccess-date=2017-03-11
    .

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