David Phillips
Associate Professor
Education:
PhD – Communication - University of Pennsylvania, 1998
MA – Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 1994
MSE – Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania, 1987
BFA – Acting, New York University, 1978
MA – Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 1994
MSE – Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania, 1987
BFA – Acting, New York University, 1978
Administrative responsibilities:
- PhD Program Committee
- Faculty Liason: Sexual Diversity Studies
Biography:
David J. Phillips holds a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School of Communication. He studies the political economy and social shaping of information and communication technologies, especially technologies of surveillance and identification. He is the author of many works exploring the relations among information, economics, ideology, policy, culture, identity, and technology.
Research highlight:
I am currently working on two projects. One looks at the Quantified Self movement, to see how its participants engage with structures and practices of surveillance to fashion senses of self and community. The other studies how iOS and the Android operating system each structure cloud computing in ways that support the corporate interests of their developers - Apple and Google.
Research description:
Research interests:
- Surveillance
- Queer theory
- Identity
- Science and technology studies
- Political economies of media and information
My work investigates the political, economic, social, and technical configuration of surveillance and ubiquitous computing. My overarching question is whether and how these infrastructures of data exchange and knowledge production can be made amenable to democratic action, non-normative identities and ideals, and queer world-making. My theoretical approach is informed by the political economy of communication, science and technology studies, surveillance studies, and queer theory.
Selected publications:
Books & Special Issues
Monahan, T., Murikami-Wood, D., Phillips, D.J. (eds). 2010. “Special Issue on Surveillance and Empowerment.” Surveillance and Society 8(2).
Ball, K.S., Green, N., Koskella, H., Phillips, D.J. (eds). 2009. “Special Issue on Gender, Sexuality, and Surveillance.” Surveillance and Society 6(4).
O’Riordan, K. and Phillips, D.J. (eds.) 2007. Queer Online: Media Technology and Sexuality. New York: Peter Lang.
Refereed Journal Articles
Phillips, D.J. 2005. “Texas 9-1-1: Emergency Telecommunications, Deregulation, and the Genesis of Surveillance Infrastructure.” Telecommunication Policy 29(11): 843–856.
Phillips, D.J. 2005. “From Privacy to Visibility: Context, Identity, and Power in Ubiquitous Computing Environments.” Social Text 23(2): 95-108.
Phillips, D.J. 2004. “Privacy Policy and PETs: The Influence of Policy Regimes on the Development and Social Implications of Privacy Enhancing Technologies.” New Media & Society 6(6): 691-706.
Curry, M., Phillips, D.J., & Regan, P. 2004. “Emergency Response Systems and the Creeping Legibility of People and Places.” The Information Society 20(5): 1-13.
Phillips, D.J. 2003. “Beyond Privacy: Confronting Locational Surveillance in Wireless Communication.” Communication Law and Policy 8(1): 1-23.
Phillips, D.J. 2002. “Negotiating the Digital Closet: Online Pseudonyms and the Politics of Sexual Identity.” Information, Communication, and Society 5(3): 406-424.
Book Chapters
Phillips, D. J. 2011. “Identity and Surveillance Play in Hybrid Space,” in Christensen, M., Jansson, A. and Christensen, C. (eds.), Online Territories: Mediated Practice and Social Space. New York: Peter Lang.
Phillips, D. J. 2009. “Ubiquitous Computing, Spatiality, and the Construction of Identity: Directions for Policy Response,” in Ian Kerr, Valerie Steeves and Carole Lucock (eds.), Privacy, Identity and Anonymity in a Network World: Lessons from the ID Trail. New York: Oxford University Press.
Phillips, D. J. 2008. “Locational Surveillance: Embracing the Patterns of Our Lives,” in Howard, P. and Chadwick, A. (eds.) Handbook of Internet Politics. London: Routledge.
Phillips, D.J. 2007. “Cyberstudies and the Politics of Visibility,” in Silver, D. and Massanari, A. (eds.) Critical Cyberculture Studies: Trends and Terrains in Digital Media and Culture (pp. 216-227). New York: NYU Press.
Phillips, D.J. 1997. “Cryptography, Secrets, and the Structuring of Trust,” in Agre, P. & Rotenberg, M. (eds.) Technology and Privacy: The New Landscape (pp. 243-276). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Supervision:
Doctoral Research
Currently chair of one student’s committee and advisor for 2 pre-candidacy students
Year joined the iSchool:
2006 