Join the Tech Impact and Policy Center on May 19th from 12PM–1PM Pacific for a seminar with Jay Van Bavel.

Stanford affiliates are invited to join us at 11:40 AM for lunch, prior to the seminar.  The Spring Seminar Series continues through May; see our Spring Seminar Series page for speakers and topics. Sign up for our newsletter for announcements. 

About the Seminar:

Although much of human morality evolved in an environment of small group living, the primary source of moral content for over 5 billion people now comes from social media. I argue that this technological transformation has created an entirely new moral ecosystem--driven by the attention economy--that is often mismatched with our evolved adaptations for social living. One means by which individuals and groups can capture attention and drive engagement on these platforms is by sharing moral-emotional and divisive content. Therefore, social media often acts as an accelerant for existing moral dynamics, amplifying outrage, status seeking, and polarization. I discuss the implications for our epistemic environment and democratic institutions.

About the Speaker:

Jay Van Bavel is a Professor of Psychology & Neural Science at New York University, an affiliate at the Stern School of Business in Management and Organizations, Professor at the Norwegian School of Economics, and Director of the Center for Conflict & Cooperation. He is also an Associate Editor of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nexus. Jay completed his PhD at the University of Toronto and a Postdoctoral Fellowship at The Ohio State University. He studies how shared identities and beliefs can unite people—or drive them apart—and what this reveals about the human mind and society. Specifically, his research examines intergroup conflict and polarization, cooperation and collective intelligence, moral judgment and decision-making, belief formation and misinformation, and the impact of social media and artificial intelligence. His work uses a range of methods spanning social and political psychology, computational social science, cognitive neuroscience, and cross-cultural analysis. 

Jay has published over 150 academic papers (including in Science, Nature, PNAS) and is a Clarivate highly cited researcher (in the top 1% of researchers worldwide). He co-authored The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony (winner of the APA William James Book Award). His work has also been cited in the US Supreme Court and Senate and he has consulted with the White House, United Nations, European Union, and World Health Organization. 

Jay is an active science communicator with over 100,000 social media followers. He writes the Power of Us newsletter and has written for The New York Times, BBC, The Atlantic, Scientific American, The Wall Street Journal, Guardian, LA Times, TIME, and The Washington Post. He has given talks at dozens of psychology departments and business schools, as well as academic conferences, professional events, and non-academic organizations (including the World Bank, World Science Festival, Aspen Ideas Festival, The Atlantic Festival, and TEDx). 

Jay teaches courses on Social Psychology, Social Neuroscience, Attitudes and Evaluation, Intergroup Relations, Group Identity, Moral Psychology, Professional Development, and Introduction to Psychology. He received the NYU Golden Dozen Teaching Award for teaching excellence. He also co-founded a mentoring column for Science Magazine and has created several educational videos (e.g., TED-Ed).

The 2026 Hungarian parliamentary election marked a historic turning point in European politics, as the Péter Magyar-led Tisza Party secured a landslide victory and a two-thirds supermajority, ending Viktor Orbán’s 16-year tenure. Dan Kelemen will analyze the significant implications for the European Union, focusing on how this shift from illiberalism to a pro-European stance may unfreeze crucial EU funds and reshape the balance of power within the European Council. Hanna Folsz will delve into the domestic political landscape, examining the structural factors and rapid mobilization that allowed the Tisza Party to overcome a skewed electoral system and the long-standing dominance of Fidesz. Together, the speakers will evaluate whether this result represents a restoration of liberal democracy in Hungary or a complex transition within a deeply entrenched political and economic framework.

R. Daniel Kelemen is McCourt Chair at the McCourt School of Public Policy. He is also Professor of Law (by courtesy) at Georgetown Law. Kelemen has published widely on the politics and law of the European Union, comparative politics and law, and comparative public policy. Prior to joining Georgetown University, Kelemen was Professor of Political Science and Law at Rutgers University. He also served as Chair of the Department of Political Science and Director of the Center for European Studies at Rutgers. Prior to Rutgers, Kelemen was Fellow in Politics at Lincoln College, University of Oxford. Kelemen is a Senior Associate (Non-Resident), in the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the Executive Committee of the European Union Studies Association. Kelemen comments regularly on EU affairs for European and American media. He was educated at UC Berkeley (A.B. in Sociology) and Stanford (M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science).

Hanna Folsz is a PhD candidate in Political Science at Stanford University. Her research focuses on opposition parties in authoritarian dominant-party regimes, with a particular focus on the challenges and opportunities they face in countering autocratization. More broadly, her work examines the causes and consequences of democratic backsliding, populism, media capture, and political favoritism — primarily in East-Central Europe and, secondarily, in Latin America. She uses a multi-method approach, including modern causal inference and text analysis techniques.

Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the American Political Science Association, among others. She is the co-founder and co-organizer of EEPGW, a monthly online graduate student workshop on East European politics, and a co-founder and regular contributor to The Hungarian Observer, the most widely read online newsletter on Hungarian politics and culture. At Stanford, she is an active member of  CDDRL's Poverty, Violence, and Governance Lab (PovGov).

Join the Tech Impact and Policy Center on May 5th from 12PM–1PM Pacific for a seminar with Caroline Figueroa.

Stanford affiliates are invited to join us at 11:40 AM for lunch, prior to the seminar.  The Spring Seminar Series continues through May; see our Spring Seminar Series page for speakers and topics. Sign up for our newsletter for announcements. 

About the Seminar:

Adolescents worldwide turn to general-purpose generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots for mental health support, despite these tools not having been designed for youth well-being. Industry, policy and research trail far behind this rapid, largely unregulated adoption. Simultaneously, most responsible AI frameworks lack consensus, accountability, and meaningful implementation – particularly regarding adolescent health. Drawing on a policy and AI framework scan, multi-stakeholder workshops, and interviews with adolescents, we identify urgent, actionable priorities to prevent harm and ensure AI responsibly supports adolescent mental health.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Caroline Figueroa is an MD–PhD scientist and expert in artificial intelligence, digital health, and youth mental well-being. She is currently a Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow at Stanford University and Hopelab, where she is co-developing responsible AI frameworks for youth mental health with youth, policymakers and industry partners. She is also a tenured Assistant Professor at Delft University of Technology and leads a Digital Health research group, advancing evidence-based, responsible design for AI-mediated mental health tools. Dr. Figueroa trained as a medical doctor and holds a PhD in the neuroscience of depression from the University of Amsterdam and the University of Oxford and has clinical experience in psychiatry. She was previously a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.

Join the Tech Impact and Policy Center on May 26th from 12PM–1PM Pacific for a seminar with Ying Xu.

Stanford affiliates are invited to join us at 11:40 AM for lunch, prior to the seminar.  The Spring Seminar Series continues through May; see our Spring Seminar Series page for speakers and topics. Sign up for our newsletter for announcements. 

About the Seminar:

This talk will focus on the role and impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on children’s cognitive and social development. It will highlight how children interact with, perceive, and learn from AI systems, including how they develop trust in these “AI companions.” The talk will also discuss emerging evidence and open questions regarding how generative AI tools shape children’s curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking. It will conclude with a discussion of how social science researchers can amplify their collective voice to ensure that AI is developed and implemented in ways that are safe and beneficial for children.
 

About the Speaker:

Ying Xu is an Assistant Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research examines how artificial intelligence may support or hinder children’s cognitive development, academic achievement, and social-emotional well-being. Her work aims to inform evidence-based practices and policies to ensure that AI serves as a positive force in child and youth development while mitigating potential risks. She earned her Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Technology from the University of California, Irvine. Prior to joining Harvard, she was an Assistant Professor of Learning Sciences and Technology at the University of Michigan.
 

Join the Tech Impact and Policy Center on May 12th from 12PM–1PM Pacific for a seminar with Jennifer Heifferon & Alanna Powers-O'Brien.

Stanford affiliates are invited to join us at 11:40 AM for lunch, prior to the seminar.  The Spring Seminar Series continues through May; see our Spring Seminar Series page for speakers and topics. Sign up for our newsletter for announcements. 

About the Seminar:

As adolescence becomes increasingly digital, public discourse tends to focus on screen time, platform design, and online harms. Yet alongside these concerns, a parallel transformation has unfolded: the steady erosion of physical spaces meant for teens. What happens to youth social life when the outside world contracts? This talk argues that the rise of digital adolescence must be understood alongside the decline of third places—low-barrier environments beyond home and school that once supported informal peer culture and autonomy. Drawing on original statewide data from caregiver focus groups and a survey of more than 1,000 teens, we examine how young people navigate belonging amid shrinking real-world options. By reframing youth technology use as intertwined with social infrastructure, this research raises a new policy question: What would it mean to treat third places as essential civic infrastructure for youth in a digital age?
 

About the Speaker:

Jennifer Heifferon is the Child Well-Being Program Director at the California Partners Project, where she leads research and cross-sector initiatives focused on youth development in a digital age. Her work examines how technology, family systems, and community environments intersect to shape adolescent well-being, with an emphasis on translating lived experience and empirical research into insights for families, educators, and civic decision-makers. Jennifer’s background bridges K–12 education as a teacher, learning specialist, and equity leader, formal training and facilitation in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and ongoing leadership in youth sports coaching. Prior to her work in education, she worked in digital media as an interactive producer. She holds a BA in Psychology from Stanford University and an MA in Teaching from the University of San Francisco.
 

Alanna Powers-O'Brien is the Research Specialist for the Family Online Safety Institute, managing FOSI's research projects. She is passionate about creating safer experiences for kids and families online. Alanna has created several resources and managed research projects that focus on informing parents, educators and other stakeholders about concepts such as digital literacy, wellbeing and AI. Her prior experiences were in both media and education. Alanna has taught English and communications courses at both the high school and college level, and concentrated on the subject of media literacy education during her master’s program. Alanna has a master’s degree in Media Studies from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She also holds undergraduate degrees in both Public Relations and English from Penn State University, and is a Fulbright alumna.