In Fall 2025, Medhya Goel & Emily Tianshi (sponsored by Professor Bruce Cain) came together to teach POLISCI 33SI, a deep dive into the past, present, and future of civic technology.
Over the course of 10 weeks, we convened 28 preeminent civic technologists to examine 1. Why civic technology matters, 2. Where is it succeeding and failing, and 3. How young people can position themselves to contribute to the effort to revitalize American civicTech. This website contains our materials and learnings from leading this course. We hope that this can serve as a launching pad for aspiring civic technologists across the nation, as a non-partisan, student perspective on the case for effective civic technology, and how to get there.
The deliberate design and deployment of technology in service of democratic capacity—prioritizing legitimacy, resilience, and public trust over speed, scale, or growth.