Data Science Institute
Center for Technological Responsibility, Reimagination and Redesign
CNTR Tech & Policy Summer School
About the Program
Brown University Center for Technological Responsibility, Reimagination and Redesign (CNTR) is launching an AI Policy Summer School for graduate students from Tuesday, July 22nd, through Thursday, July 31st, 2025. This summer school will take place in both Providence, RI and Washington, DC.
The goals of this summer school are to:
- enable graduate students to conduct high-quality policy-informed AI research
- empower students to advocate for new AI policies or changes to existing policy
- build a pipeline of qualified technologists to fill emerging needs in government
What to Expect
In the first week, you will participate in seminars, reading groups, and discussions in collaboration with Brown CNTR and many guest speakers. During this time, you will learn the fundamentals of AI Policy - starting with how the U.S. federal government works and proceeding through a tour of the important hallmark efforts on AI Policy to date (like, for example, the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, which was coauthored by Brown CNTR's very own Prof Suresh Venkatasubramanian).
In the second week, we will travel to Washington, D.C. to discuss any relevant draft legislation and general AI policy priorities with offices of Members of Congress. We will also meet with some executive agencies and civil society to learn about their AI policy efforts and priorities.
In the second week, we will travel to Washington, D.C. to discuss any relevant draft legislation and general AI policy priorities with offices of Members of Congress. We will also meet with some executive agencies and civil society to learn about their AI policy efforts and priorities.
At Brown, the students will study the following topics:
- How US government works
- The Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, the AI Executive Orders, the US Congress’s AI policy efforts
- Policy levers for national security and export controls, consumer protection, government acquisition and procurement, and platform governance and competition
- AI audits and government-backed benchmarking efforts
- Risks from highly advanced AI systems, future risks, and the role of government
- Efforts outside the federal government, like the EU AI Act and State regulatory efforts (e.g., California SB 1047)
- The efficacy of regulation in sectors like aviation, banking, and healthcare
Participants will be required to:
- attend all events in person in Providence, RI and Washington, DC
- read AI policy papers and artifacts, and lead at least one discussion on such an artifact
- come prepared and actively participate in all seminars, reading groups, and meetings
- schedule and lead meetings with Congressional offices (with support from CNTR!)
- research Members of Congress, Executive Agencies, or civil society organizations to prepare for meetings
- follow up after the event
Confirmed Guest Speakers
This summer school will bring together many exciting speakers who are leaders in AI policy. Our confirmed speakers so far include:
- Alan Davidson, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_B._Davidson
- Former Assistant Secretary for Communications & Information and NTIA Administrator, Dept. of Commerce
- Deb Raji
- leader in auditing biases in facial recognition systems
- Gretchen Krueger, https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchen-m-krueger-254a0351/
- Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University
- Helen Toner, https://cset.georgetown.edu/staff/helen-toner/
- Director of Strategy and Foundational Research Grants at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET)
- Jim Langevin
- Former U.S. Representative for Rhode Island's 2nd Congressional District
- Kiri Wagstaff, https://www.wkiri.com/
- Former Principal Researcher at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Elected AAAI Fellow, and former AI Policy Advisor to Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ)
- Malihe Alikhani, https://www.brookings.edu/people/malihe-alikhani/
- Visiting Fellow - Economic Studies, Center on Regulation and Markets, Brookings Institution
- Nik Marda, https://nikmarda.com/
- Technical Lead for AI Governance at Mozilla
- Ollie Stephenson, https://fas.org/expert/oliver-stephenson/
- Associate Director for Artificial Intelligence Policy at the Federation for American Scientists and former AI Policy Advisor to Senator Ed Markey (D-MA)
- Sarah Cen, https://shcen.github.io/
- Assistant Professor at CMU in Engineering & Public Policy and Electrical & Computer Engineering
- Sayash Kapoor, https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~sayashk/
- co-author of AI Snake Oil
- Suresh Venkatasubramanian
- Director, Center for Technological Responsibility, Re-imagination, and Redesign at Brown University
- Willie Boag, https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamboag
- Senior Healthcare Data Lead, MassHealth
Eligibility
The application window has closed and accepted participants for the 2025 cohort have been notified.
Stay tuned for updates later this summer after the summer school has ended.