Robots that encroach on your personal space, baffling emojis, a chatbot that gives you an answer that seems terribly rude — does any of this sound familiar? If so, you may know what it feels like to experience a clash of cultures in technology. Katharina Reinecke, Professor and Associate Director for Research and Communication in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, will present key insights from her book Digital Culture Shock: Who Creates Technology and Why This Matters (Princeton, 2025). Her book shows how culture — shared values, norms, and behaviors — influences both the design of technology and its use. Drawing on a set of common assumptions that do not translate across cultures, the talk will outline what is at stake and how we can resist generalizing our own cultural peccadillos in technology design.

Critical Tech Cafe

The talk is part of the Critical Tech Cafe series, a reading club for students, faculty, and staff at Notre Dame. The book club is open to new participants each semester, who all receive free copies of our selected books.

Please get in touch with facilitators Summer Mengarelli smengare@nd.edu or Alexi Orchard aorchard@nd.edu with any additional questions.

Refreshments will be served.

View the Fall 2025 schedule.