David A.

Banks

Based in Troy, NY
@da_banks
banksd2@rpi.edu
www.davidabanks.org

Education

August 2010- (Expected) May 2016

Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

August 2010 - December 2015

M.S. in Science & Technology Studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

August 2005 - May 2009

B.A. in Urban Studies from New College of Florida

Academic Publications

Eglash, Ron, and David A. Banks. 2014. Recursive Depth in Generative Spaces:
Democratization in Three Dimensions of Technosocial Self-Organization. The Information
Society 30 (2): 10615. doi:10.1080/01972243.2014.875775.

Banks, David A., Ron Eglash, Daniel Lyles, and Britney Summit-Gil. Editorial Preface. 2013.
PsychNology Special Issue on the proceedings of the Technoscience as Activism Conference.
1 (11): 7-9.

Herkert, Joseph R, and David A Banks. 2012. I Have Seen the Future!: Ethics, Progress, and
the Grand Challenges for Engineering. International Journal of Engineering, Social Justice,
and Peace 1 (2): 109122.

Banks, David A. and David J. Hess. 2010. Minnesota and The Twin Cities Pp. 75-87. in
Building Clean-Energy Industries and Green Jobs: Policy Innovations at the State and Local
Government Level, edited by David J. Hess, David A. Banks, Bob Darrow, Joseph Datko,
Jaime D. Ewalt, Rebecca Gresh, Matthew Homann, Anthony Sarkis, and Logan D.A.
Williams. Science and Technology Studies Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
www.davidjhess.org

Banks, David A. and David J. Hess. 2010. Florida and Gainesville, Orlando Pp. 184-196. in
Building Clean-Energy Industries and Green Jobs: Policy Innovations at the State and Local
Government Level, edited by David J. Hess, David A. Banks, Bob Darrow, Joseph Datko,
Jaime D. Ewalt, Rebecca Gresh, Matthew Homann, Anthony Sarkis, and Logan D.A.
Williams. Science and Technology Studies Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
www.davidjhess.org

David A. Banks

Curriculum Vitae

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Popular Publications

Naming Nameless in The New Inquiry November 18, 2014: http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/

naming-nameless/

Towards a Politics of Delight and Desire in The Baer Blog September 25, 2014: http://
www.thebaer.com/blog/towards-politics-delight-desire/

Vapor Eyes in The New Inquiry June 2, 2014: http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/vapor-eyes/

The Power of a Decentralized Left in Tikkun Magazine April 8, 2014: http://www.tikkun.org/

nextgen/the-power-of-a-decentralized-left

Very Serious Populists in The New Inquiry December 20, 2013: http://thenewinquiry.com/
essays/very-serious-populists/

Can We Make an Anti-Racist Reddit? in The Daily Dot May, 2013 http://www.dailydot.com/
opinion/anti-racist-reddit-design-problem-charles-ramsey/

February 2011 - October 2014, Regular contributor to The Society Pages Cyborgology

Selected Posts:

-You Wont Believe What This Web Site Does to the Liberal Left! October 11, 2013 http://
thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2013/10/11/you-wont-believe-what-this-web-site-does-tothe-liberal-left/

-The Cost of Opting Out Posted November 21, 2012. http://thesocietypages.org/

cyborgology/2012/11/21/the-cost-of-opting-out/

-Sherlock: A Perspective on Technology and Story Telling. Posted January 25, 2012. http://
thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2012/01/25/sherlock-a-perspective-on-technology-andstory-telling/

Administrative Service

October 2014- Present, Editor of The Society Pages Cyborgology Blog

Regularly posts and edits guest contributions with fellow editor Dr. Jenny Davis. The blog
receives an average of 1,000 page views a day and covers a wide variety of topics including
social media, surveillance, design, and self-quantification. Founded by Nathan Jurgenson and
P.J. Rey from the University of Maryland, College Park.

July 2013- May 2014, Program Coordinator for Vasudha Living & Learning Community

Developed programming for an undergraduate residential community focused on

sustainability. Responsibilities included putting together a speaker series of authors and
political leaders, organizing field trips, and developing educational activities in coordination
with professors and department administration.

David A. Banks

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Fall 2013, Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Colloquium Committee

Member of a small committee of graduate students selected by the associate dean to

nominate high-profile speakers for a school-wide colloquium focused on interdisciplinary
research.

October 2013, Hosted department Brown Bag workshop Writing for a Popular Audience.

Organized and presented at a workshop to help social scientists write for popular press and
online publications. Included instructional advice on using social media, pitching an idea to an
editor, identifying venues for your writing, and how to maximize interaction with readership.
Slides and more information at: http://davidabanks.org/blog/public-audience

June 2011 - Spring 2013, Science & Technology Studies Department Colloquium Committee

Spearheaded eorts to bring authors and academics from around the country to the STS
department to give lectures on new and recently published research. Collected speaker
recommendations from department colleagues, extended formal invitations and coordinated
presentation logistics.

October 2010 - October 2013, New College Alumni Association Board

Popularly elected by fellow alumni to a three-year term. Organized pledge drives and
reunions. Served on subcommittees that awarded teaching fellowships based on a
competitive application process. Also provided reports on social media usage and alumnicollege relations.

January 2007 - May 2009, Ad Hoc Campus Master Plan Advisory Committee

Only undergraduate student on a four-person committee to oversee all new construction on

the campus to assure compliance with 2006 New College of Florida Campus Master Plan.

Academic Service

David A. Banks

June 2007 - January 2008, New College Academic Master Planning Committee

Served as one of two undergraduate students with six faculty members on the provosts
committee to create a roadmap for administrative and academic change and expansion over
10 years. Plan adopted by the Board of Trustees on January 29, 2008.

June 2014- Present, Theorizing the Web Conference Organizing Committee

Invited to participate in organizing a non-disciplinary conference on digital technology and

society that attracts high-profile scholars, authors, and commentators. Responsibilities
included evaluating submitted abstracts, conference site logistics, and coordinating an invited
panel on De-Centering the Western Web featuring panelists from Harvards Berkman Center,
the University of Torontos Citizen Lab, University of Virginias Department of Engineering and
Society, and ThoughtWorks.

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Co-Editor with Ron Eglash, Dan Lyles, and Britney Summit-Gil, Special Issue of PsychNology

Guest editor of a special issue of the multidisciplinary journal PsychNology. Contained

proceedings from the Technoscience as Activism conference held at RPI.

Organizing Chair: The Conference on Technoscience as Activism

Organizing chairperson for a 3-day academic conference and participatory workshop for k-12
educators, local activists, and STS scholars. June 26-29, 2012

Academic Presentations Eciency is Dead (Panelist on session titled Theorizing Generative Justice.) Generative
Justice Conference, Troy, New York in June, 2014.

Critical Commotion: Wireless Networking for Alternative Media and Community

Organization (Panelist on session titled Critical Making: Material Practices, Design, and STS
I: Experiences and Experiments.) 4S Meeting in San Diego, California in October 2013.

On the Political Origins of Digital Dualism: From Rousseau's Masturbating Habits to The
Front Page of the New York Times (Panelist on session titled IRL in the URL: Digital Dualism
of the Real and the Virtual.) Theorizing the Web 2013 at the CUNY Graduate Center. March
2, 2013

Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (Twitter Backchannel Moderator.) Theorizing the Web
a the CUNY Graduate Center. March 2, 2013

New Urbanism and Scientism Discourse: Regulating as if Humans Matter? (Panelist on

session titled Strategies of Transition towards Green, Post Carbon Societies.) 4S Meeting in
Cleveland, Ohio in November 2011.

DNA Rockstar!: Using Interactive Media to Teach Genetic Science. (Poster Presentation)
Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy in Atlanta Georgia in September 2011.

New Urbanism and Scientism Discourse: Regulating as if Humans Matter? (Graduate

Student Presenter) New Political Sociology of Science Conference at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute in May 2011.

Practical Cyborg Theory: Discovering a Metric for the Emancipatory Potential of Technology.
(Paper presentation) Theorizing the Web Conference at University of Maryland, College Park
in April 2011.

Augmented Reality. (Panel Moderator) Theorizing the Web Conference at University of

Maryland, College Park in April 2011.

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DNA Rockstar:Presenting Educational Content Within Interactive Media (Poster

Presentation) 2011 Annual Conference forGK-12Projects in Washington D.C. in March 2011.

Panel on the Question: What shifts in social relations are occurring inthecontext
oftheinformation age and social networking within radical movements and social struggles,
in both generative and debilitating ways? (Invited Panelist) Renewing The Anarchist Tradition
in Baltimore, Maryland in November 2010.

Endangered Speciousness All Power to the Imagination! Radical Theory Conference at

New College of Florida in Spring 2010.

City, Sweet City: A Study of the Implementation of New Urbanism and the Public Process.
National Conference on Undergraduate Research at the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse in
Spring 2009.

Built Environments: The Spatial Components of Social Justice All Power to the Imagination!
Radical Theory Conference at New College of Florida in Spring 2009.

Teaching Experience

Spring 2015, Teaching Assistant for Dr. James Malazitas Design, Innovation, and Society
Studio VI (Organizational Design)

Required studio course for undergraduates majoring in Design, Innovation, and Society: one
of the worlds only design programs based in a Science and Technology Studies Department.
The Program specializes in designing for under-served communities, as well as in
understanding social and environmental pitfalls to traditional, consumerist design practices.
Collaborated with professor to build the reading list and assignments. Lead class discussion
and coordinated presentations by people who had founded a variety of organizations.

Fall 2014, Teaching Assistance for Dr. Steve Breymans Introduction to Science, Technology,
and Society.

Class introducing social science concepts to first year engineering students. Led hour-long
discussion section. Graded student blog posts and participated in end-of-year course redesign.

Fall 2013- Spring 2014 Teaching and Learning Assistant, Science and Technology Studies

Tutor and substitute teaching assistant for Sustainability and Science and Technology Studies
classes. Responsibilities part of the Vasudha Program Coordinator position (See
Administrative Service.)

Spring 2013 Teaching Assistant for Dr. Edward J. Woodhouses Introduction to Science,
Technology, and Society.

Class introducing social science concepts to first year engineering students. Led hour-long
discussion section. Made tests, prepared reviews, and graded exams.

David A. Banks

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Awards and Honors

David A. Banks

Fall 2012 Co-Instructor for Dr. Michael Mascarenhass Environment and Society

Led hour-long discussion section. Prepared lectures for entire class, graded section
assignments, made tests, and prepared reviews.

Spring 2009 Undergraduate Teaching Assistant for Dr. David Brains Practicum for Community
Building

Found course material, assisted students in workshops, and logistics support for public
design workshops.

Invited Guest Lectures

Have given prepared lectures for the following classes:

-Self-Organization in Science and Society: Cross-listed graduate and undergraduate

humanities course on self-organizing and self-replicating systems in technology and society.
Presentation on Networked activism and creative expression. RPI, Spring 2014, Spring 2013
& Fall 2011

-Senior Project: Advanced undergraduate seminar for senior capstone projects. Guest lecture
on the basics of library research and peer-reviewed journals. RPI, Spring 2013

-Youth & Teens Online: Advanced undergraduate course covering the intersections between
youth and information technologies. Presentation on critiquing the digital divide rhetoric and
race and class online. RPI, Fall 2012

-Cross-Cultural Graphics: Advanced undergraduate course meant to study graphic design

from a cross-cultural perspective. Presentation on mapping techniques in cities with informal
street networks. RPI, Fall 2011

Certificate of Accomplishment from the National Science Foundations GK-12 Fellowship

Program (Awarded March 11, 2011)

In recognition for valuable contributions to STEM education.

Awarded National Science Foundations GK-12 Triple Helix Program Two Year Fellowship
(Awarded September, 2010)

Research assistant on National Science Foundations GK-12 Fellowship. Collaborated with

middle school teachers to develop new STEM learning technologies and curricula for underserved communities. Deliverables include DNA Rockstar!, a browser-based game in which
students play a DNA strand as they would a song from such popular video games as
Guitar Hero or Rockband.

Summer Research Stipend and Training Seminar The Greening of Economic

Development (SES-0947429) (Awarded May, 2010)

Worked with fellow graduate students under Dr. David J. Hess to write a white paper on
Green Jobs in the United States. Work was also used as the basis for Good Green Jobs in a
Global Economy: Making and Keeping New Industries in the United States (MIT Press, 2012).

Curriculum Vitae

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Full text of the white paper available here: http://www.davidjhess.org/

BuildCleanEnergyReport_6MB.pdf

Media Appearances

Invited guest contributor to Marketplace Techs Silicon Tally segment on NPR.

Segment where host and guest try to guess and then discuss important numbers in the
weeks news. Full segment available here: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/tech/silicontally/silicon-tally-bounce-me

Invited Panelist on Freedom to Connect Panel for Changing the Climate: (r)Evolution for
Social and Environmental Justice Convergence

Panel hosted by prominent media activist Dr. Dee Dee Halleck. Open to the public and hosted
by The Sanctuary for Independent Media.

Interview on The Australian Broadcast Companys RadioNational show The List

Discussed privatized science funding and Felix Baumgartners Red Bull- funded space jump.
Full interview audio here: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/commonknowledge/
cke-21-oct/4323236

Professional Associations Society for Social Studies of Science

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Curriculum Vitae

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