Four-part lecture series examines identity-tracking technologies

January 6, 2010

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A four-part lecture series on the evolving technologies of identity begins Jan. 13 at the University of Florida and continues through the spring semester.

The Caleb and Michele Grimes Conference on Liberal Arts and Public Affairs will draw attention to existing and future technologies of identity-tracking and their implications for industrialized nations in an increasingly globalized context. Speakers will address the history of criminal identification, the future of biometrics, current demands for surveillance and public security, and the so-called “C.S.I.” effect on jurors’ understanding of the law.

The series, titled “Tracking Citizens and Subjects: Evolving Technologies of Identity,” is co-sponsored by the Caleb and Michele Grimes Fund, the CLAS Dean’s Office, and the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere with support of the Yavitz Fund. It will be held annually on a topic related to the liberal arts and public policy.

Jan. 13, 7:30 p.m., Pugh Hall Ocora
“Who Are You? Criminal Identification Technologies and Practices from the Nineteenth Century to the Present”
Simon Cole is associate professor and chair of the department of criminology, law and society, at University of California Irvine. He is the author of “Suspect Identities: A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification,” which was awarded the 2003 Rachel Carson Prize by the Society for Social Studies of Science.

Feb. 3, 7:30 p.m., Pugh Hall Ocora
“Biometrics for Human Identification: Technology and Policy”
Anil Jain is a professor in the departments of computer science & engineering, and electrical & computer engineering at Michigan State University. He has received a number of awards, including a Guggenheim fellowship and a Humboldt Research award. Jain holds six patents in the area of fingerprints and is the author of several books, including “Handbook of Biometrics.”

March 3, 7:30 p.m., Pugh Hall Ocora
“Surveillance, Public Safety, and Security in a Highly Connected, Sometimes Dangerous, Often Uncertain World”
Randall Murch is the associate director of research program development at the Center for Technology, Security, and Policy of Virginia Tech. He has worked for the departments of Homeland Security and Defense. While performing counterterrorism and counterintelligence investigations as a special agent for the FBI, he created the agency’s Hazardous Materials Response Unit, the national focal point for the forensic investigation of world mass destruction threats.

April 7, 7:30 p.m., Ustler Hall Atrium
“The CSI Effect in Jury Trials”
Carol Henderson is the director of the National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology, and the Law, and professor of law at Stetson University College of Law. She is the author of “Scientific Evidence in Civil and Criminal Cases” and other works related to expert testimony and the impact of popular detective shows on juries’ understanding of the law and expectations about the current state of technology.

The lectures are free and open to the public. For more information on the series, visit www.humanities.ufl.edu/calendar.html.