Sramana Majumdar

"Violence, Identity and Self-determination: Narratives of conflict from the Kashmir Valley" 4:15 PM, Monday 18 Nov Room 239, BYC Bryn Mawr College

Exposure Index

Tired of paper and pencil questionnaires about integration and intergroup contact? Try the new and improved EXPOSURE INDEX (click tab above on this page).

Court Discloses Memo Approving Drone Strike on American

Since 2011 when U.S. citizen al-Awlaki was killed in a drone strike, various civil rights groups (and family members) have sought to obtain (and challenge) the legal justification for the strike. The issue gained further notoriety in early 2013, when Attorney General Eric Holder refused to rule out a lethal drone strike on U.S. citizens […]

Smile! A Drone Is About to Take Your Picture

In this article, the New York Times considers possible cultural niches for drones. While the standard fears of safety and privacy are mentioned, it is noteworthy that the focus is on how drones will be used in day-to-day life, instead of just if such integration is possible or even desirable.

Ukraine Resurrects Soviet-Era Super Drones

While drones may be exploding onto the world consciousness at the present time, the idea is surprisingly old, with autonomous torpedos, mobile anti-tank mines, and also these jet-powered surveillance drones from the 1970s. Unable to land properly, the Tu-141 carries a parachute system instead. It does, however, manage to have a top speed more than […]

LAPD adds drones to arsenal, says they’ll be used sparingly

This is more than merely another “police obtaining drones” article. The drones the LAPD received are being given away because the citizens of Seattle refused to let their police force use them. It remains to be seen whether Los Angelos will also reject their use. It is also noteworthy that the LAPD, avoided the word […]

Drone rock: Robotics company creates a flying, musical band

What this performance lacks in artistic merit or musical complexity, it makes up for in the technical achievement of delicately coordinating all the flying machines. A sign of the technology’s maturity may well be performances in which the art is more important than the programming.

Drone Battle Over Syria

Both Assad’s forces and the rebels have been using small, often commercial, drones for battlefield intelligence. Even in a war torn and now heavily isolated country, innovation continues.

The NSA’s Secret Role in the U.S. Assassination Program

Drones and the NSA: two of the biggest stories in military technology meet in this article. The NSA provides targets’ cell-phone location data, and drones often collect signals intelligence data for the NSA to analyze. Perhaps even more interesting than this predictable synthesis is the terrorists/insurgents’ adaptation. By changing or trading cell phones, the article […]

Driverless Trucks Will Keep Army Safe From IEDs

Convoys are historically desirable targets in warfare. They are also unarmed. Unmanned convoys can keep people out of dangerous situations while sidestepping the growing debate over the ethics of autonomous killing machines.

Navy’s 757-Sized Drone Will Provide Big-Time Surveillance

Once again, the Navy demonstrates its interest in drones, this time with a high altitude surveillance vehicle. The article hints at an impressive amount of automation in both flight and sensor analysis.

Drones in Culture: Dilbert

This cartoon neatly combines fears on safety and corporate spying with a reference to an earlier era’s air technology fad.