# Event Details - **Event Name**: Book Talk: Degrees of Freedom: On Robotics and Social Justice - **Event Start and End Date**: Fri, 27 Mar, 2026 at 12:00 pm – Fri, 27 Mar, 2026 at 01:30 pm - **Event Description**: Join us to learn about "Degrees of Freedom: On Robotics and Social Justice", featuring a book talk and Q/A.About this EventABOUT THE EVENTJoin Dr. Tom Williams to learn about his new book, Degrees of Freedom: a “must-read” that explores why the field of robotics tends to reinforce white patriarchal systems of power—and how roboticists can work to change these systems. Join us for a book talk + Q/A for this first-of-its-kind book: available for purchase through MIT Press, Penguin, or Bookshop.org — and available to read for free through MIT Direct2Open.ABOUT THE BOOKIn Degrees of Freedom, Tom Williams explores critical questions at the intersection of robotics and social justice. He considers the ways in which roboticists design their robots’ appearance, how robots think and act, how robots perceive people, and the domains into which robots are deployed. The book highlights not only the ways roboticists tend to reinforce white patriarchal power structures but also how roboticists might instead subvert those power structures by applying theories and methods from a diverse range of fields.Drawing on computer science; history and politics; law, criminology, and sociology; feminist, ethnic, and Black studies; literary and media studies; and social, moral, and cognitive psychology, the book connects questions of robot design with larger abolitionist movements by presenting a vision for a more socially just future of robotics.“Working from within the belly of the beast, Williams offers insights from the humanities and social sciences, especially critical social theory, to imagine an equitable robotic future. True to an engineering ethos of ’doing better,’ this book both explores the foundational aspects of power that invisibly shape robot design and suggests how to build robots better suited for advancing social justice.” ~Ericka Johnson, Professor of Gender and Society, Linköping University, Sweden“Degrees of Freedom is a perfect example of how transgressing the boundaries of hegemonic computing epistemologies better informs our collective understanding of not only how societal oppressions are replicated or exacerbated by robotics but also why the eradication of these harms is necessary and possible for a more just society. It’s this transgression that makes this book a must-read for scholars, professionals, students, and activists whose work creates, examines, or uses robots.” ~Nicki Washington, Cue Family Professor of the Practice of Computer Science, Duke UniversityABOUT THE AUTHORTom Williams is Associate Professor of Computer Science at the Colorado School of Mines, where he directs the Mines Interactive Robotics Research Lab. He is an internationally recognized scholar of Human-Robot Interaction whose work examines cognitive, social, and moral dimensions of Human-Robot Interaction, across domains like education, therapy, and space exploration, leveraging a range of techniques including algorithm design, empirical experimentation, participatory and theatre-based design, and feminist critique. He is the winner of Early Career awards from the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and NASA; the Faculty Excellence Award, Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, and W. M. Keck Undergraduate Mentoring Award from the Colorado School of Mines; as well as numerous Best Paper Awards from scientific conferences.EVENT DETAILSGMU students can use the free GMU shuttle to get to the event: GMUshuttle-Sandy-Creek-to-Hazel-Hall-Spring-2025.pdf https://share.google/kvErKRuZo8fN5m1Pd This event is sponsored by GMU’s University Life Mason Square as part of their Sips and Scholars programs. Light food will be provided for students (first come, first serve). - **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/arlington/book-talk-degrees-of-freedom-on-robotics-and-social-justice/100001983618663821 - **Event Categories**: Art, literary-art, Nonprofit, Theatre, fine-arts - **Interested Audience**: - total_interested_count: 0 ## Ticket Details - **Ticket URL**: https://consumer.pxf.io/c/1339408/3151484/39691?partnerpropertyid=1191892&MediaPartnerPropertyId=1191892&svlink=14105511&level=1&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eventbrite.com%2Fe%2Fbook-talk-degrees-of-freedom-on-robotics-and-social-justice-tickets-1983618663821 - **Ticket Price Range**: min: 0, max: 0, currency: USD ## Event venue details - **city**: Arlington - **state**: VA - **country**: United States - **location**: 3401 Fairfax Dr - **lat**: 38.88482610000001 - **long**: -77.101681 - **full address**: 3401 Fairfax Dr, 3401 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, United States ## Event Organizer details - **affiliate_id**: 10 - **organizer**: Tom Williams (https://allevents.in/org/tom-williams/27478746) ## Event gallery - **Alt text**: banner - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events9/banners/e068263a5948b61376a332195a07bbaa977f654b10a0b715b1a7d99244435f2e-rimg-w1200-h600-dc092e21-gmir.jpg?v=1771967781 - **Alt text**: thumbnail - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events9/banners/e3a5cc90613e18d94b78dc7e1faa143442cf8f2e681b7cbdbc3337148f333f86-rimg-w400-h400-dc0a2f22-gmir.jpg?v=1771967781 ## FAQs - **Q**: When is the event happening? - **A:** Fri, 27 Mar, 2026 at 12:00 pm - **Q**: Where is the event happening? - **A:** 3401 Fairfax Dr, 3401 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, United States - **Q**: What is the ticket price? - **A:** starting from 0 up to 0 USD - **Q**: Who is organizing the event? - **A:** Tom Williams - **Q**: What type of event is this? - **A:** Art, literary-art, Nonprofit, Theatre, fine-arts - **Q**: Where can I find ticket details about Book Talk: Degrees of Freedom: On Robotics and Social Justice ? - **A:** You can find ticket details about this event on AllEvents. ## Structured Data (JSON-LD) ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Event", "name": "Book Talk: Degrees of Freedom: On Robotics and Social Justice", "image": "https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events9/banners/e068263a5948b61376a332195a07bbaa977f654b10a0b715b1a7d99244435f2e-rimg-w1200-h600-dc092e21-gmir.jpg?v=1771967781", "startDate": "2026-03-27", "endDate": "2026-03-27", "url": "https://allevents.in/arlington/book-talk-degrees-of-freedom-on-robotics-and-social-justice/100001983618663821", "location": { "@type": "Place", "name": "3401 Fairfax Dr", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "3401 Fairfax Drive", "postalCode": "22226", "addressLocality": "Arlington", "addressRegion": "VA", "addressCountry": "US" }, "geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": "38.88482610000001", "longitude": "-77.101681" } }, "eventAttendanceMode": "https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode", "description": "Join us to learn about \"Degrees of Freedom: On Robotics and Social Justice\", featuring a book talk and Q/A.", "offers": [ { "@type": "AggregateOffer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-04-05", "availabilityEnds": "2026-03-27", "validFrom": "2026-04-05", "lowPrice": "0.00", "highPrice": "0.00", "price": "0.00", "url": "https://allevents.in/arlington/book-talk-degrees-of-freedom-on-robotics-and-social-justice/100001983618663821" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-04-05", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-04-05", "url": "https://allevents.in/arlington/book-talk-degrees-of-freedom-on-robotics-and-social-justice/100001983618663821", "price": 0, "name": "General Admission" } ], "organizer": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Tom Williams", "url": "https://allevents.in/org/tom-williams/27478746" } ] } ] ```