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The data-driven products on our devices claim to personalize user experience and improve our time online. But what are the potential risks of this data gathering, and where does our personal information go? Moreover, what rights do we hold over our information today? What does privacy mean in 2023?

These questions will be examined in the U of A Honors College course Privacy, a daily online forum that will be offered May 15-26. The forum is organized by Honors Arkansas, an alliance of colleges across the state committed to enhancing student excellence.

Privacy represents an interdisciplinary collaboration among honors colleges and programs, notes Honors College Dean Lynda Coon. The goal is to take a deep dive into pressing subjects of great interest to this generation of students.

Privacy will bring together faculty experts across disciplines to examine current controversies related to privacy. Perspectives will span anthropological readings of privacy, data science and the ethics of privacy, cybersecurity, legal and constitutional definitions of privacy, philosophies of privacy, medical readings of privacy, archival secrets, state surveillance and individual privacy, architectures of privacy as well as privacy and the supply chain system.

Honors students may enroll in the course, and members of the community are invited to sit in. All who wish to view the course sessions online shouldfill out the interest form.

Through its interdisciplinary investigation of privacies, the forum will prepare students to tackle contemporary problems related to privacy with historical and cultural competencies.

One of those sessions will be led by Micah Hester, professor and chair of the Medical Humanities and Bioethics Department at the University of Arkansas for Medical Science, and will focus on privacy in healthcare.

It is a fundamental obligation of medicine to keep patient information confidential, but is that really even possible? Hester asked.

Hester will explore the debates around protecting ones personal information amid public health considerations, including threats of pandemics, sanitation, bioterrorism and the more daily threat of spreading disease.

Simon Hawkins, a professor of anthropology at University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will lead another session examining cultural conceptions of private and public life.

As we look to struggles over privacy in the future, we need to be aware of its history and the various ways cultures have grappled with the relationship of the individual and the society, he said. Our thoughts about privacy are not separatefrom our larger social structures but have been intertwined throughout history.

Over two weeks, honors instructors across Arkansas will present on additional topics ranging from cybersecurity to the design of private spaces.

Presenters include:

Recordings of each class will be posted online after each session to theHonors College website.

About Honors Arkansas:Honors Arkansasis an alliance of honors colleges and programs from across the state collectively working to enhance the scholarly, professional and social experiences of high-achieving students. Each May Intersession, Honors Arkansas partners honors scholars with faculty from multiple institutions with the goal of diving into pressing subjects of great interest to the current generation of students.

About the U of A Honors College:Established in 2002, the University of Arkansas Honors College helps the universitys top undergraduate students excel academically, flourish personally and experience a world of opportunities. Each year the Honors College awards up to 90 freshman fellowships that provide $72,000 over four years, and more than $1 million in undergraduate research and study abroad grants. The Honors College is nationally recognized for the high caliber of students it admits and graduates. Honors students enjoy small, in-depth classes, and programs are offered in all disciplines, tailored to students academic interests, with interdisciplinary collaborations encouraged. Fifty percent of Honors College graduates have studied abroad and 100 percent of them have engaged in mentored research.

About the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville:As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than$2.2 billion to Arkansas economythrough the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the top 3% of U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity.U.S. News & World Reportranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world atArkansas Research News.

See the article here:

Faculty Researchers to Explore Privacy Issues in Honors Forum - University of Arkansas Newswire