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).

As deadline for drone rules nears, FAA issues roadmap for inclusion in the skies

The FAA, under pressure from members of the government, the drone industry, and public interest groups, is moving forwards on developing a framework for domestic drone use. Many important details remain up in the air, however. Information on the legal standing of the smaller, hobbyist type drones that will not require traffic control is lacking, […]

Family of grandmother killed in US drone strike arrive for Congress visit

Many have suggested that Congress primarily hears about the drone strikes from the military and intelligence communities, who generally wish to defend their operations. This attempt to give voice to the other side of the story comes at a time of rising discontent over the US drone strikes, both abroad and at home.

Pakistani Party Votes to Block NATO Supply Lines if Drones Persist

On 1 Nov. a drone strike killed the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud. Pakistani opinion on drone strikes being what it is, this event has touched off a political firestorm in Pakistan, culminating in the resolution discussed in this article. Many in Pakistan believe that the United States made this high-profile strike to […]

Drone Issue Hovers More Than Ever, Even as Strikes Ebb

In further fallout from the previously noted Amnesty International/Human Rights Watch report, the Pakistani government’s ability to deny cooperation with the US drone strikes program is a looking particularly doubtful, perhaps contributed to the increase in Prime Minister Sharif’s attempts to end the strikes.

US drone strikes could be classed as war crimes, says Amnesty International

Variations of this story have been produced by many major news organizations around the world, including the New York Times (“Civilian Deaths in Drone Strikes Cited in Report“, “The Deaths of Innocents“), al Jazeera (“US strikes condemned in rights report“) in addition to the Guardian story directly linked by this post. This appears to be […]

Rise of the drone hobbyists

The drone industry owes much to the hobbyists and universities who developed much of the technology. Going forward, the industry will owe even more to the hobbyists for creating acceptance and familiarity amongst the wider public. The article mentions the recent story of a man who died in an accident involving his drone helicopter. The […]

Q&A: Privacy implications for aerial drones

The greatest public concern over domestic drone use is that of privacy. At last weekend’s Drones and Aerial Robotics Conference held at New York University, a legal scholar considered what drones meant for privacy, and suggested that perhaps recent technological advances required some changes to how we think about what privacy is. It is far […]

At Drone Conference, Talk of Morals and Toys

At New York University this weekend, there was a drone conference focused on commercial and private use. Needless to say, privacy and other moral hazards were a major topic. Or, as the articles author described it, “the checkered reputation remained the day’s subtext.” Many of the visitors and speakers quoted in the article explicitly connected […]

Drone Pilot Fights for Right to Profit in the Unmanned Skies

The subject of drone regulation is very much up in the air. As the word “drone” covers anything from a bird-sized toy to something dozens of feet wide, the current blanket rules often seem arbitrary or unfair. This article describes a man who is arguing in court that the FAA has no authority on unmanned […]

DOJ calls for drone privacy policy 7 years after FBI’s first drone launched

The greatest public concern over domestic drones is privacy. As UAVs become more common and more widely used, the debate over their use and regulation will only get more intense. This year’s revelations about the NSA has presumably not helped various departments’ arguments for self-regulation, though surveys on the subject of drones remain rare and […]