About
The Society, Technology, and Applied Research (STAR) Lab is a new research lab at Brock University housed in the Department of Digital Humanities. The lab was co-founded by Dr. Aaron Mauro and Dr. Sarah Stang who is serving as the inaugural Lab Director.
We respectfully acknowledge that Brock University and STAR Lab are located on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples, many of whom continue to live and work here today. This territory is covered by the Upper Canada Treaties and is within the land protected by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum agreement. As a feminist, anti-colonial, and social justice oriented research lab, we seek to maintain respectful relationships with all the peoples of the Niagara Region and beyond while working towards reconciliation, decolonisation, and healing.
Our Mission Statement
STAR Lab’s mission is to promote and enable cutting-edge research exploring the intersection of society and technology, with particular focus on inclusive, exploratory, creative, artistic, interventionist, and culturally impactful work. STAR Lab is an interdisciplinary research lab, intended to draw researchers from all experience levels, disciplines, and backgrounds interested in fostering a diverse, inclusive, collaborative community.
Our vision is to engage and facilitate scholarly inquiry into the past, present, and future of society and technology. We aim to foster and support generative collaboration and discussion as well as information and insight sharing. We are a place for mentorship, networks of support, and pedagogic innovation. We encourage a diverse array of perspectives, but our work is specifically related to Game Studies, Digital Humanities, Science and Technology Studies, Media and Communication Studies, as well as any research examining digital and/or online technologies, media, spaces, and cultures. Our goal is to be at the forefront of developments in technologies, media, societies, and cultures, and to promote innovative, inclusive, socially just, feminist, and decolonial research, scholarship, and pedagogy.
All members of STAR Lab commit to working in an open and transparent manner that is collaborative and respectful. With the goal of enhancing research collaboration within the Department of Digital Humanities, aligned members of Brock University, and the wider community committed to this mission, STAR Lab seeks to provide a supportive and inclusive environment to train the next generation of theorists and practitioners.
