Academia-intelligence agency collaborations are on the rise for a variety of reasons. These can take many forms, one of which is in the classroom, using students to stand in for intelligence analysts. Classrooms, however, are ethically complex spaces, with students considered vulnerable populations, and become even more complex when layering multiple goals, activities, tools, and stakeholders over those traditionally present. This does not necessarily mean one must shy away from academia-intelligence agency partnerships in classrooms, but that these must be conducted (...) carefully and reflexively. This paper hopes to contribute to this conversation by describing one purposeful classroom encounter that occurred between a professor, students, and intelligence practitioners in the fall of 2015 at North Carolina State University: an experiment conducted as part of a graduate-level political science class that involved students working with a prototype analytic technology, a type of participatory sensing/self-tracking device, developed by the National Security Agency. This experiment opened up the following questions that this paper will explore: What social, ethical, and pedagogical considerations arise with the deployment of a prototype intelligence technology in the college classroom, and how can they be addressed? How can academia-intelligence agency collaboration in the classroom be conducted in ways that provide benefits to all parties, while minimizing disruptions and negative consequences? This paper will discuss the experimental findings in the context of ethical perspectives involved in values in design and participatory/self-tracking data practices, and discuss lessons learned for the ethics of future academia-intelligence agency partnerships in the classroom. (shrink)

Recent studies have revamped the conceptual geography of nationalism and posited the new "cultural" conception of the notion that avoids the two stools of theethnic and civic conceptions. Cultural nationalism is distinct from ethnic nationalism and is morally innocent of the evils perpetrated in the name of nationalism. Indeed, it is a positive form of social organization that recognizes social identity and individual dignity very much in line with Charles Taylor's thought. The paper illustrates such theoretical studies of nationalism with (...) reference to the concrete manifestations of nationalism in Canada and the Baltic States and argues that there are strong elements of cultural nationalism that can be identilied in the cultural policies and the political life of these nations. (shrink)

Recent studies have revamped the conceptual geography of nationalism and posited the new "cultural" conception of the notion that avoids the two stools of theethnic and civic conceptions. Cultural nationalism is distinct from ethnic nationalism and is morally innocent of the evils perpetrated in the name of nationalism. Indeed, it is a positive form of social organization that recognizes social identity and individual dignity very much in line with Charles Taylor's thought. The paper illustrates such theoretical studies of nationalism with (...) reference to the concrete manifestations of nationalism in Canada and the Baltic States and argues that there are strong elements of cultural nationalism that can be identilied in the cultural policies and the political life of these nations. (shrink)

Academia-intelligence agency collaborations are on the rise for a variety of reasons. These can take many forms, one of which is in the classroom, using students to stand in for intelligence analysts. Classrooms, however, are ethically complex spaces, with students considered vulnerable populations, and become even more complex when layering multiple goals, activities, tools, and stakeholders over those traditionally present. This does not necessarily mean one must shy away from academia-intelligence agency partnerships in classrooms, but that these must be conducted (...) carefully and reflexively. This paper hopes to contribute to this conversation by describing one purposeful classroom encounter that occurred between a professor, students, and intelligence practitioners in the fall of 2015 at North Carolina State University: an experiment conducted as part of a graduate-level political science class that involved students working with a prototype analytic technology, a type of participatory sensing/self-tracking device, developed by the National Security Agency. This experiment opened up the following questions that this paper will explore: What social, ethical, and pedagogical considerations arise with the deployment of a prototype intelligence technology in the college classroom, and how can they be addressed? How can academia-intelligence agency collaboration in the classroom be conducted in ways that provide benefits to all parties, while minimizing disruptions and negative consequences? This paper will discuss the experimental findings in the context of ethical perspectives involved in values in design and participatory/self-tracking data practices, and discuss lessons learned for the ethics of future academia-intelligence agency partnerships in the classroom. (shrink)