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Events

Explore our upcoming events, find video and audio from our past events, and subscribe to stay updated on all of our talks, panels, and live webcasts.

Welcome to the Berkman Klein Center’s events. These get-togethers are all about having great conversations and making new connections in a friendly and inclusive space. We believe everyone has something interesting to say. Please bring your ideas, experiences, and unique perspectives. Feel free to critique ideas and speak from your own experience, all in the spirit of lively and respectful discourse.

Thanks for helping us create a great community atmosphere!

Our hybrid and virtual events are hosted on Zoom with closed-captioning. Questions can be submitted to the moderator, who will highlight popular and emerging themes and relay them to the speakers. Please note that translation services are currently unavailable.

Public event recordings will be available one week after the event. You can find them on the event page or BKC’s YouTube channel. For the latest updates, follow BKC on X or LinkedIn.

Respiratory illnesses like flu, COVID-19, and RSV affect millions annually. Protect yourself and others by wearing a high-quality face mask in crowded indoor settings and staying home if you're unwell.

Harvard University and the Berkman Klein Center welcome individuals with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you would like to request accommodations or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact our Event Specialist at [email protected] in advance of your participation or visit. Requests for American Sign Language interpreters and/or CART providers should be made at least two weeks in advance, if possible. Please note that the University will make every effort to secure services, but that services are subject to availability.

For further questions about accessibility on Harvard's campus, we invite visitors to check out Harvard University Disability Resources page and the Digital Accessibility page.

For in-person attendees, below is a list of resources regarding parking and accessibility at HLS. Harvard is a tough area to find parking, but we do have a number of options around Lewis.

For those with accessibility needs who have handicap parking permits:

  1. Private HLS parking is available at 10 Everett St Garage (the garage recommended for events) for a moderate fee. Passes must be purchased in advance and printed ahead of time. For more info on Accessible Parking at HLS click here.
  2. Public handicap spots are spread out throughout Cambridge. Click here for a guide to public Cambridge parking, and click for campus interactive accessibility maps. The closest spots within reasonable walking distance and NO major roadways to cross are located at 2 Kirkland St, 23 Everett St, and 12 Oxford St. All 3 locations are located within 1 block of Lewis. Please note, so long as the driver has a legal handicap permit, they can park at any public, paid metered spot, or "Residents Only" spot in Cambridge, but MUST have their permit displayed at all times in their car window. If the permit is not visible, they will be ticketed and/or towed. They do NOT need to park in a handicap spot so long as their permit is visible.
  3. The most accessible streets to park on (meaning no major roadways to cross and within reasonable distance of Lewis) are Everett St, Oxford St, and Kirkland St.

For those not using handicap parking permits:

  1. Private HLS parking is available at 10 Everett St Garage, 52 Oxford St Garage, and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. These are the 3 privately owned Harvard garages recommended. Click here for daily permit purchasing information, which must be done ahead of the event. A day rate is $25. Click here for Harvard’s Parking Map.
  2. Public, metered parking spots are available. They range in maximum parking time limit from 2-4 hours for $1.50-$2.00/hour. Please note, if you pay using the mobile Passport Parking app, you will NOT be able to renew your session once it ends. You will have to feed the meter using coins as the app will not permit you to surpass the maximum parking limit. (continued below).
  3. Car-pooling and public transportation are great ways to save money and time. These methods of transportation are highly recommended to those who can do so! 

The Berkman Klein Center is located on the 4th and 5th floors of the Lewis Law Center. The street address is 1557 Massachusetts Avenue. Most events occur in the 5th floor multipurpose room. The Center is wheelchair-accessible and includes accessible restrooms. The building is key card access only. For public events, staff will be stationed at the door to allow entry.

If an event is being catered, it will be noted in the event description and you will be prompted to indicate your dietary preferences on the RSVP form. Food is always offered on a first come, first served basis. The more we know, the better we can prepare, so please always RSVP. If you were unable to RSVP, please still come but consider not taking a meal unless there is an abundance.

Using a variety of local caterers, BKC does its best to provide an assortment of clearly labeled dietary options at all catered events. We usually have vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options available.

For all event related needs or concerns, please contact someone on our Events Team at [email protected] or call our Event Specialist at 617-384-0596. Thank you.

Past Events

Oct 27, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

Election Chaos: Platform Preparations for the US Election

Video & Podcast: A discussion with evelyn douek and Julie Owono

Video & Podcast: Discover how platforms are preparing for disinformation campaigns in the forthcoming US election.

Oct 20, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

Two Geniuses Walk into a Zoom

Podcast & Video: A Conversation with Tressie McMillan Cottom & Mary L. Gray

Podcast & Video: Tressie McMillan Cottom & Mary L. Gray discuss their latest work in relation to their recent MacArthur Fellows award.

Oct 6, 2020 @ 2:00 PM

Covid State of Play: Authoritarian Politics & COVID-19

Video & Podcast: How Should U.S. public health officials lead in this political moment?

Video & Podcast: How Should U.S. public health officials lead in this political moment?

Oct 5, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

Cybersecurity: How Far Up the Creek Are We?

VIDEO & PODCAST: A Conversation between James Mickens and Jonathan Zittrain

Join BKC Board Members James Mickens and Jonathan Zittrain for a conversation that explores cybersecurity beyond its traditional boundaries of protecting data or code from bad…

Oct 1, 2020 @ 3:30 PM

Fall 2020 Virtual Open House

Berkman Klein Center and Friends

Please join us for our Fall 2020 Virtual Open House to learn about the Berkman Klein Center, our amazing community, and our Harvard friends. Berkman Klein faculty and staff look…

Jul 23, 2020 @ 11:00 AM

Data Alliances

Building capacity and access for data-driven research in the public interest

Christo Wilson and Rebecca Weiss present the state of online measurement platforms as they exist today, why they are not sufficient to address the scope and scale of the social…

Jun 17, 2020 @ 11:00 AM

Contact Tracing and Technology: A Deep Dive

BKC co-hosts conversation on digital data and public health

BKC co-hosts conversation on digital data and public health

Jun 16, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

[Virtual] The Pandemic As a Portal

Video & Podcast: Tracking and enabling new possibilities

Video & Podcast: Three projects dedicated to capturing and documenting the new possible will talk about their experiences in this lunch hour

Event
Jun 2, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

[Virtual] Data and COVID-19

Health data, contact tracing, and misinformation

Health data, contact tracing, and misinformation

May 26, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

[Virtual] COVID-19 and Inequality in the Global South

Economic and healthcare fallouts for low-income countries

A discussion on the economic and healthcare fallouts for low-income countries

Event
May 14, 2020 @ 5:30 PM

[Virtual] Assembly Fellowship Project Showcase

2020 Assembly Fellows present projects designed to tackle the spread of disinformation

Learn about the 2020 Assembly fellowship projects

May 12, 2020 @ 1:00 PM

[Virtual] Building Better Voting Systems

Video & Podcast: Featuring Ben Adida, Co-Founder and Executive Director of VotingWorks

Video & Podcast: It's conventional wisdom that voting machines are terrible. We can do better, and we can make voting safe and trustworthy in the COVID-19 era, says Ben Adida, co…

Apr 29, 2020 @ 2:00 PM

[Virtual] Racial Health Disparities and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Video: Featuring Dr. Guadalupe Marquez-Velarde and Dr. Gabe Miller

Video: The most important factors behind racial health disparities, and how they are influencing health and mortality outcomes in the age of COVID-19.

Event
Apr 29, 2020 @ 1:00 PM

[Virtual] Challenges in Digital Technology Then and Now

A Conversation With Jonathan Zittrain and Brad Smith

Jonathan Zittrain and Microsoft President Brad Smith will discuss how big tech might rise to new challenges and opportunities.

Apr 28, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

[Virtual] Borderless COVID-19, Restricted Vaccines

Video & Podcast: Assessing the global pricing of vaccines and treatments

Video & Podcast: Borderless Covid-19 confronts restricted vaccine

Event
Apr 21, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

[Virtual] Data Overload: Data, Journalism, & COVID-19

Responsibly and accurately interpreting and reporting complicated data

Discussing the challenges journalists face obtaining, analyzing, and explaining data about the current pandemic.

Event
Apr 14, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

[Virtual] Why Fairness Cannot Be Automated

Video & Podcast: Bridging the Gap Between EU Non-Discrimination Law & AI

Fairness and discrimination in algorithmic systems are globally recognized as topics of critical importance. To date, the majority of work in this area starts from an American…

Event
Apr 7, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

[Virtual] Bot or Human? Unreliable Automatic Bot Detection

Video & Podcast: An Analysis of Botometer

Video & Podcast: Jonas Kaiser and Adrian Rauchfleisch discuss their paper on Botometer's diagnostic ability over time

Mar 31, 2020 @ 1:00 PM

Virtual Event: In Principle and in Practice

VIDEO & PODCAST: Featuring Jessica Fjeld and Ryan Budish

VIDEO & PODCAST: A conversation about AI principles

Mar 25, 2020 @ 1:30 PM

[Canceled] Cyberlaw Clinic @ 20

Symposium on Lawyering, Tech, and the Public Interest

This event has been canceled but may be rescheduled.