The DDPI Project has been holding a series of seminars on policy solutions to inequality and disparity, and the potential of digital technology (digital democracy) for such solutions.

The 22nd seminar in the series will be held in person, and will feature Professor Emerita Jennifer Robertson of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who will speak on the theme of “Robo-Buddhism: Kokoro, Technology, and Spirituality in Japan Today. Dr. Robertson is a professor emerita at the University of Washington.

Dr. Robertson is an adjunct faculty member in the Anthropology and Japanese Studies Departments at the University of Washington, Seattle, as well as an adjunct faculty member at Tokyo College of the University of Tokyo in Japan. His current research focuses on the cultural history, art, science, technology, and sexual and gender systems of eugenics in Japan.

In this seminar, we hope to share insights and provide a forum for scholarly discussion on the demystification of “artificial intelligence” and “autonomy” in Japan, and on various aspects of human-robot interaction in Japan and elsewhere.