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The Elizabeth D. Rockwell Center on Ethics and Leadership at the Hobby School of Public Affairs sponsors thought-provoking lectures, conferences and educational events that foster cross-disciplinary dialogue about the ethical dimensions of policy issues and leadership challenges.

2025-2026 Rebooting Our Relationship with Tech Lecture Series 

The Elizabeth D. Rockwell Center brings leading voices to the 91Æƽâ°æ campus to examine how digital tools, from smartphones and AI to algorithms and search engines, shape our connections, test our privacy and influence our democracy. The experts will challenge audiences to reflect on the ethical dimensions of technology's growth, convergence and potential for harm.  

How to Break Up with Your Phone 

Best-selling author and health and science journalist Catherine Price shared her expertise on the impact of a screen-based world and provided evidence-based strategies for reconnecting with parts of our lives that don't happen on a screen on Sept. 18 in the Student Center South Theater.   

Inside Texas Internet Privacy Laws with Tyler Bridegan 

Texas has emerged as a national leader in online privacy enforcement. Tyler Bridegan of the Texas Attorney General's office provided insights into the state's comprehensive enforcement approach to enhancing consumer protections on Sept. 29. During his campus visit, he sat down with Dean Jim Granato for a Hobby Talks episode, guiding listeners through holding major technology companies accountable and the security of Texans in an evolving digital world. Listen to the podcast episode on Oct. 6 on a popular podcast application. His campus visit was a collaboration with the 91Æƽâ°æ Law Center.   

AI and Our Future: How AI and Search Engine Algorithms Reinforce Oppression   

Best-selling author and social scientist Safiya Umoja Noble will deliver the 2025 Elizabeth D. Rockwell Distinguished Lecture, sharing her expertise on issues of algorithmic discrimination and technology bias, at 4 p.m. on Oct. 16 in the Rockwell Pavilion at M.D. Anderson Library.  

 
Antisocial Media: How Social Media Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy 

Cultural historian and media scholar Siva Vaidhyanathan will deliver the 2026 Richard Gelwick Endowed Lecture, examining the impact of social media and AI on democracy, at 4 p.m. on Feb. 5 in the Rockwell Pavilion at M.D. Anderson Library.