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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

Mar 17, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

[Canceled] Tech and Human Rights

A Queer Dating Apps Case Study

This event has been canceled but may be rescheduled.

Mar 9, 2020 @ 6:30 PM

Is Intellectual Property Racist?

Live Taping of the Podcast Hate 2 See It with Anjali Vats, Author of The Color of Creatorship

In this live taping of the Harvard Black Law Students Association's podcast Hate 2 See It, Anjali Vats discusses her new book The Color of Creatorship: Race, Intellectual Property…

Mar 3, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

All Data Are Local

VIDEO & PODCAST: Thinking Critically in a Data-Driven Society

VIDEO & PODCAST: How to analyze data settings rather than data sets, acknowledging the meaning-making power of the local.

Feb 18, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

"Everything is better with better broadband" featuring Christopher Ali

VIDEO & PODCAST: Broadband deployment in rural America

VIDEO & PODCAST: The United States spends $6billion a year on rural broadband deployment, and yet the digital divide may be growing. Where is this money going?

Event
Feb 12, 2020 @ 5:00 PM

From JD to Data Science: A Case Study in AI and Law

Co-Hosted with the Harvard Data Science Initiative

Zac Kriegman describes his path from a Harvard JD to a data science career focused on deep learning.

Feb 4, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

Advancing Racial Literacy in Tech

Featuring Dr. Howard Stevenson

Part of the BKC Luncheon Series

Dec 2, 2019 @ 12:00 PM

To Unsafe Harbors: How the new EU Copyright Directive Will Change the Web

Featuring Julia Reda

Former Member of the European Parliament reflects on the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market

Nov 21, 2019 @ 12:00 PM

Between Truth and Power: The Legal Constructions of Informational Capitalism

Featuring Julie Cohen

VIDEO & PODCAST: Julie Cohen explores the relationships between legal institutions and political and economic transformation.

Event
Nov 19, 2019 @ 12:00 PM

Sharenthood: How Parents, Teachers, and Other Trusted Adults Harm Youth Privacy & Opportunity

Featuring Leah Plunkett

VIDEO & PODCAST: How and why adults should not (or should) share information about kids and teens through digital technologies

Nov 18, 2019 @ 12:00 PM

Napster@20: Reflections on the Internet’s Most Controversial Music File Sharing Service

Part of the Cyberlaw Clinic 20th Anniversary Event Series

VIDEO & PODCAST: Examining the direct and indirect legacy of Napster over the past two decades

Nov 12, 2019 @ 12:00 PM

California Consumer Privacy Act: What it Means for Companies and Lawyers

Featuring Zach Lerner

HLS alum Zach Lerner to discuss the California Consumer Privacy Act

Nov 5, 2019 @ 12:00 PM

Regulating Social Media

HLS Journal of Legislation’s 2019 Symposium

A three-day symposium at Harvard Law School

Event
Nov 1, 2019 @ 10:00 AM

Ethics of the Digital Transformation

Special Event with the President of Germany Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier

VIDEO & PODCAST: German President Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier in conversation with Urs Gasser and colleagues

Oct 29, 2019 @ 12:00 PM

North of Havana: A Lawyer's Truth

Featuring Martin Garbus

VIDEO & PODCAST: Martin Garbus discusses his most challenging case: representing five Cuban spies marooned in the U.S. prison system.

Event
Oct 23, 2019 @ 5:00 PM

Protecting Elections from Online Manipulation and Cyber Threats: The Experience of Israel’s 2019 Elections

Featuring Justice Hanan Melcer, Supreme Court of Israel

VIDEO & PODCAST: Justice Hanan Melcer of Israel's Supreme Court speaks about managing two election cycles in Israel

Event
Oct 22, 2019 @ 12:00 PM

Conversion Via Twitter

FEATURING MEGAN PHELPS-ROPER AND BRITTAN HELLER

VIDEO & PODCAST: A discussion about Megan Phelps-Roper's book Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church.

Event
Oct 22, 2019 @ 5:00 PM

Contesting Algorithms

Featuring Niva Elkin-Koren, Professor of Law at the University of Haifa and Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University.

VIDEO & PODCAST: Professor Elkin-Koren proposes to address AI-based content moderation by introducing an adversarial procedure.

Sep 24, 2019 @ 5:00 PM

Fall 2019 Open House

Berkman Klein Center and Friends

Please join us for our Fall 2019 Open House to learn about the Berkman Klein Center, our amazing community and our Harvard friends. Berkman Klein faculty, fellows, and staff look…

Event
Sep 24, 2019 @ 12:00 PM

A New Jim Code?

Featuring Ruha Benjamin on Race, Carceral Technoscience, and Liberatory Imagination in Everyday Life

VIDEO & PODCAST: Ruha Benjamin presents the concept of the “New Jim Code" to explore a range of discriminatory designs that encode inequity: by explicitly amplifying racial…

Sep 19, 2019 @ 12:00 PM

Colonized by Data: The Costs of Connection with Nick Couldry and Ulises Mejias

Book Talk

VIDEO & PODCAST: Couldry and Mejias argue that the role of data in society needs to be grasped as not only a development of capitalism, but as the start of a new phase in human…