https://reneeshelby.com reneeshelby Thu, 29 Jul 2021 16:27:56 +0000 https://reneeshelby.com en https://reneeshelby.com/About Fri, 04 Dec 2020 20:15:41 +0000 reneeshelby https://reneeshelby.com/About <img width="1500" height="1000" width_o="1500" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/09bfe9c4fbf681733bca2a9bb2734ef458207364114cd0ed827972a07910cfc8/N19C10302-P5-002.jpg" data-mid="91084297" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/09bfe9c4fbf681733bca2a9bb2734ef458207364114cd0ed827972a07910cfc8/N19C10302-P5-002.jpg" /> I research and write about technology, harms, and how to make technology work better for people. Currently, I am a Visiting Fellow at the Justice and Technoscience (JusTech) lab at Australian National University and a Staff Research Scientist at Google Research, where I study the social impacts of technology. As a researcher, I have worked with the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation, and youthSpark, among others. I’ve held fellowships with the Carnegie Mellon/ACLS Foundation, the National Humanities Center, the LGBTQ Institute, and the Georgetown Center for Juvenile Justice Reform; and was a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University. My writing has been published in academic outlets and featured in popular venues like The Conversation,&nbsp;Kotaku, Vice, and Stuff Mom Never Told You. I also serve on the board of BURNAWAY—an Atlanta-based digital magazine of contemporary art and criticism from the American South. ︎ ︎ https://reneeshelby.com/Research Fri, 04 Dec 2020 19:23:00 +0000 reneeshelby https://reneeshelby.com/Research RESEARCHMy research focuses on technology and safety, and the kinds of relationships that form between people, information, and AI technologies. I use qualitative and mixed methodologies to study AI systems' design, experience, and social impacts to develop model, policy, and design interventions.&nbsp; My work asks questions like “How does the design of information and digital technologies shape social, safety, and data relations?” And “How can we develop algorithmic systems that result in a more democratic and just society?” PUBLICATIONS *denotes equal authorship Conference Proceeding Papers Who is at Risk? Examining the Prevalence of Risk Factors &amp; Tech-Facilitated Attacks in the United StatesACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (ACM CHI) 2026S. Heung, C. Weizenegger, M. Houtti, S. Consolvo, P. Gage Kelley, T. Matthews, R. Shelby, K. Thomas, &amp; A.M. Walker How Tech Workers Contend with Hazards of Humanlikeness in Generative AIACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (ACM CHI) 2026 M. Diaz, R. Shelby, E. Corbett, &amp; A. Smart How Generative AI Empowers Attackers and Defenders Across Trust &amp; Safety ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (ACM CHI) 2026P. Gage Kelley, S Russo-Schindler, R. Shelby, K. Thomas, &amp; A. Woodruff“It didn’t feel right but I needed a job so desperately”: Understanding People’s Emotions and Help Needs During ScamsACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (ACM CHI) 2026 J. Chanenson, T. Matthews, S. Consolvo, P. Gage Kelley, J. McClearn, S. Meiklejohn, A. Roy, R. Shelby, K. Thomas, A. Hassoun Measuring What Matters: Connecting AI Ethics Evaluations to System Attributes, Hazards and Harm&nbsp;(Best Paper Award Winner)Proceedings of the 2025 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society S. Rismani, R. Shelby, L. Davis, N. Rostamzadeh, &amp; A. Moon Debiasing Text Safety Classifiers through a Fairness-Aware Ensemble Proceedings of the 2024 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing: Industry Track O. Sturman, A. Joshi, B. Radharapu, P. Kumar, &amp; R. Shelby Understanding Help-Seeking and Help-Giving on Social Media for Image-Based Sexual Abuse33rd USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security ‘24) M. Wei, S. Consolvo, P. Gage Kelley, T. Kohno, T. Matthews, S. Meiklejohn, F.&nbsp; Roesner, R. Shelby, K. Thomas, &amp; R. Umbach Painting with Cameras and Drawing with Text: AI Use in Accessible Creativity ACM Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ACM CHI) 2024C. Bennett*, R. Shelby*, N. Rostamzadeh, &amp; S. Kane Generative AI in Creative Practice: ML-Artist Folk Theories of T2I Use, Harm, and Harm-Reduction ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (ACM CHI) 2024R. Shelby, S. Rismani, &amp; N. RostamzadehHow Knowledge Workers Think Generative AI Will (Not) Transform Their IndustriesACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (ACM CHI) 2024A. Woodruff, R. Shelby, P. Kelley, S. Rousso-Schindler, J. Smith-Loud, &amp; L. Wilcox In Whose Voice? Examining AI Agent Representation of People in Social Interaction Through Generative Speech ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (ACM DIS) 2024 A. Hsing-Chi Hwang, O. Siy, R. Shelby, &amp; A. Lentz Creative ML Assemblages: The Interactive Politics of People, Processes, and Product ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (ACM CSCW) 2024 R. Shelby, R. Srinivasan, K. Burgdorf, J. Lena, &amp; N. Rostamzadeh Sociotechnical Harms of Algorithmic Systems: Scoping a Taxonomy for Harm Reduction (Honorable Mention Best Paper Award Winner) AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (ACM AIES) 2023R. Shelby, S. Rismani, K. Henne, A. Moon, N. Rostamzadeh, P. Nicholas, N. Yilla-Akbari, J. Gallegos, A. Smart, E. Garcia, &amp; G. Virk Beyond the ML Model: Applying Safety Engineering Frameworks to Text-to-Image DevelopmentAAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (ACM AIES) 2023 S. Rismani, R. Shelby, A. Smart, R. Delos Santos, A. Moon, &amp;&nbsp;N. Rostamzadeh Infrastructuring Care: How Trans and Non-Binary People Meet Health and Well-Being Needs through Technology (Best Paper Award Winner)ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (ACM CHI) 2023 L. Wilcox, R. Shelby, R. Veeraraghavan, O. Haimson, G. Erickson, M. Turken, &amp; B. Gulotta AI’s Regimes of Representation: A Community-Centered Study of Text-to-Image Models in South AsiaACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (ACM FAccT) 2023 R. Qadri, R. Shelby, C. Bennett, &amp; E. Denton From Plane Crashes to Algorithmic Harm: Applicability of Safety Engineering Frameworks for Responsible ML ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (ACM CHI) 2023 S. Rismani, R. Shelby, A. Smart, E. Jatho, J. Kroll, A. Moon, &amp; N. Rostamzadeh Peer-reviewed Journal Articles AI-Generated Image-Based Sexual Abuse: Perpetration and Consumption Across Three Regions Computers in Human Behavior (2026) R. Umbach, N. Henry, R. Shelby, G. Stevens, &amp; K. Gonzalez-Pons ‘It's still abuse’: Community Attitudes and Perceptions on AI-Generated Image-Based Sexual Abuse Information, Communication, &amp; Society (2026) N. Henry, R. Umbach, R. Shelby, G. Beard, &amp; L.M. Givens&nbsp;Responsible AI Measures Dataset: A Dataset of Ethics Evaluation of AI Systems Nature Scientific Data (2026)S. Rismani, L. Davis, B. Mingole, N. Rostamzadeh, R. Shelby, &amp; A Moon Terms-We-Serve-With: Five Dimensions for Anticipating and Repairing Algorithmic Harm Big Data &amp; Society (2023)B. Rakova, R. Shelby, &amp; M. Ma Situating Questions of Data, Power, and Racial FormationBig Data &amp; Society (2022) R. Shelby &amp; K. Henne The Datafication of #MeToo: Whiteness, Racial Capitalism, and Anti-Violence Technologies Big Data &amp; Society (2021) K. Henne, R. Shelby, &amp; J. HarbTechnology, Sexual Violence, and Power-Evasive Politics: Mapping the Anti-Violence Sociotechnical ImaginaryScience, Technology, and Human Values (2021) R. Shelby The Prevalence and Correlates of Labor and Sex Trafficking in a Community Sample of Youth Experiencing Homelessness in Metro-Atlanta Social Sciences (2021) E. Wright, A. LaBoy, K. Tsukerman, N. Forge, E. Ruel, R. Shelby, M. Higbee, Z. Webb, M. Turner-Harper, A. Darkwa, &amp; C. Wallace Whiteness in and through Data Protection: An Intersectional Approach to Anti-Violence Apps and #MeToo Bots Internet Policy Review (2021) R. Shelby, J.Harb &amp; K. Henne Whose Rape Kit? Stabilizing the Vitullo Kit Through Positivist Criminology and Protocol Feminism Theoretical Criminology (2020) R. Shelby Techno-Physical FeminismFeminist Media Studies (2019) R. Shelby Obscuring Sexual Crime: Examining Media Representations of Sexual Violence in Megan’s Law Criminal Justice Studies (2014) R. Shelby &amp; A. Hatch&nbsp; Book Chapters Hesitancy, Solidarity, and Whiteness: The Limits and Possibilities of Rape Reporting Apps Technocreep: The Creep of Caring Relations (2025) R. Shelby Value-Responsible Design and Sexual Violence InterventionsThe Handbook on Public Criminologies (2020) R. ShelbyThe Pharmacy Prison: Auditing Prison Pharmaceutical RegimeSilent Cells: The Secret Drugging of Captive America (2020) A. Hatch &amp; R. ShelbySex Trafficking, Inequality, and Our Evolving Legal ConsciousnessFocus on Social Problems (2020) R. Shelby&nbsp; Feminism, Intersectionality, and the Problem of Whiteness in Leisure and Sport Spaces and Scholarship The Handbook of Feminisms in Sport, Leisure, and Physical Education (2018) M. McDonald &amp; R. Shelby Proceedings Workshops + Tutorials Toward a Systemic Risk Literacy for Tech-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (ACM CSCW) 2025A.M. Walker, R. Shelby, E. Tseng, &amp; R. Bellini Designing Support for Systematic Sociotechnical Risk Literacy ACM Sixth Decennial Aarhus Conference (2025) A.M. Walker, R. Shelby, A. Schlesinger, E. Tseng, M. Diaz, A. Elliot Ricci, &amp; A.D.R. Smith “What is Safety?”: Building Bridges Across Approaches to Digital Risks and Harms ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (ACM CSCW) 2024A.M. Walker, M.A. DeVito, K. Badillo-Urquiola, R. Bellini, S. Chancellor, J.L. Feuston, K. Henne, P. Gage Kelley, S. Rismani, R. Shelby, &amp; R. Zhang What is Sociotechnical AI Safety? A participatory workshop about defining and expanding responses to sociotechnical risk in AI SafetyACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (ACM FAccT) 2024 A. Smart, S. Ahmed, J. Metcalf, A. Kasirzadeh, L. Belli, S. Rismani, R. Dobbe, A. Jacobs, J. Kroll, D. Martin Jr., R. Shelby, H. Khlaaf, &amp; G. Smith Commentaries The Conjoined Spectacles of the Smart Super Bowl Engaging Science and Technology Studies (2020)R. Shelby, S. Barnes, N. Parvin &amp; M. McDonald ‘I Incite This Meeting to Rebellion’: Sexual Violence, Law Enforcement, and the Radical Feminism of the 1909 Board Game Suffragetto”ROMChip: Journal of Game Histories (2019)R. Shelby Lab Meeting: How Black Lives Matter in Forensic MatterCatalyst: Feminism, Theory, and Technoscience (2017) Public Sociology Access and Opportunity (Chapter 15) The Ethics of Advanced AI Assistants (2024) S. Bergman &amp; R. Shelby Data, Power, and Racial Formation: Situating Data within Interlocking Systems of Oppression&nbsp; &nbsp; Big Data &amp; Society Blog&nbsp;(2022) R. Shelby &amp; K. Henne Apps Against Sexual Abuse Have Been Tried Before. They Don’t Work The Conversation&nbsp;(2021) K. Henne,&nbsp; J. Harb, &amp; R. Shelby Bonus Episode: Rape Kits Stuff Mom Never Told You (2019) R. Shelby Preprints Access and Opportunity (2024) In: “The Ethics of Advanced AI Assistants” A. Stevie Bergman, R. Shelby, &amp; I. Gabriel Harm Amplification in Text-to-Image Models (2024) S. Hao, R. Shelby, Y. Liu, H. Srinivasan, M. Bhutani, B. Karagol Ayan, S. Poddar, &amp; S. Laszlo Safety and Fairness for Content Moderation in Generative Models (2023)S. Hao, P. Kumar, S. Laszlo, S. Poddar, B. Radharapu, &amp; R. Shelby S. Bergman &amp; R. Shelby https://reneeshelby.com/Teaching Thu, 29 Jul 2021 12:11:17 +0000 reneeshelby https://reneeshelby.com/Teaching TeachingI have taught courses with undergraduate and graduate students, online and blended courses, and applied workshops. Currently, I teach courses in science and technology studies, gender and sexuality studies, sociology, and legal studies at Northwestern University. Students in my courses frequently explore the intersection of inequality, power and control through research, writing and critical making. Courses with Undergraduate &amp; Graduate Enrollment Sexuality, Technoscience, and the Law —&nbsp;Northwestern University (2021)&nbsp; Gender-Based Violence, Power, and the Carceral State&nbsp;—&nbsp;Northwestern University (2021) Undergraduate Courses Social Problems&nbsp;—&nbsp;Georgia State University (2014) Intro to Sociology&nbsp;— Georgia State University (2014, 2015) Collaborative Student Projects Controlling Bodies, Regulating Sexualities —&nbsp;A timeline of regulations to control bodies and regulate race, gender, and sexualities since the 1600s. <img width="1530" height="829" width_o="1530" height_o="829" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3a5fc2fe48a381f095f1b4477926ba9cc277726925e3f9569086a8373f3ae824/Screen-Shot-2021-07-26-at-11.37.26-AM.png" data-mid="114954409" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3a5fc2fe48a381f095f1b4477926ba9cc277726925e3f9569086a8373f3ae824/Screen-Shot-2021-07-26-at-11.37.26-AM.png" /> Areas of Expertise Technology and societyCritical data studies Gender and sexualityRace and racism Science and technology studies Social theoryIntersectionality Law and inequality https://reneeshelby.com/Public-Sociology Fri, 04 Dec 2020 19:23:02 +0000 reneeshelby https://reneeshelby.com/Public-Sociology PUBLIC SOCIOLOGY Suffragetto <img width="750" height="941" width_o="750" height_o="941" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f19dcda33a5f5a8cf903ae887110e1d5be1fcc7a236d576b09b9f14e7771c2fd/Suffragetto-2.jpeg" data-mid="114975319" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/750/i/f19dcda33a5f5a8cf903ae887110e1d5be1fcc7a236d576b09b9f14e7771c2fd/Suffragetto-2.jpeg" /> <img width="1852" height="1860" width_o="1852" height_o="1860" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/df747d704908326e9e62fabe15fcff67a9e501e25786586a34b07de6b3e02fb3/Screen-Shot-2020-12-04-at-3.05.33-PM.png" data-mid="114972548" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/df747d704908326e9e62fabe15fcff67a9e501e25786586a34b07de6b3e02fb3/Screen-Shot-2020-12-04-at-3.05.33-PM.png" /> <img width="1000" height="1000" width_o="1000" height_o="1000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d8a08d1bcdf5140844edc66a0ff04061e5a9b1d56776ad8c4546b0cb1df35309/suffragetto-game.jpg" data-mid="114975561" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d8a08d1bcdf5140844edc66a0ff04061e5a9b1d56776ad8c4546b0cb1df35309/suffragetto-game.jpg" /> Disk Wars <img width="1948" height="669" width_o="1948" height_o="669" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fbd5cc64096a797a171d5510b73ab15a933a9f48f8a11c5a5c9733486bc35fde/disketteflatimage.jpg" data-mid="114978426" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/fbd5cc64096a797a171d5510b73ab15a933a9f48f8a11c5a5c9733486bc35fde/disketteflatimage.jpg" /> Regulating Sexualities <img width="1187" height="1110" width_o="1187" height_o="1110" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/16e7f0c9e0bc0fc875bd2aea815004dcbc4b4223ad5cb6537813b7bc43ab6ebc/Regulating-Sexualities.png" data-mid="114975768" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/16e7f0c9e0bc0fc875bd2aea815004dcbc4b4223ad5cb6537813b7bc43ab6ebc/Regulating-Sexualities.png" /> Suffragetto is a cult boardgame where you fight the police. The game was created by the radical British suffragette group, the Women’s Political and Social Union Disk Wars is a three issue archival ‘zine exploring the early history of software piracy. This public sociology project synthesizes critical issues and curates exciting artifacts in the history of microcomputing. ‘Regulating Sexualities’ documents legal efforts to control bodies and sexualities in the U.S. This collaborative project documents moments people have sought equal protection under law—some successful and some unsuccessful.&nbsp; https://reneeshelby.com/Disk-Wars Fri, 04 Dec 2020 19:23:01 +0000 reneeshelby https://reneeshelby.com/Disk-Wars Disk Wars Zine Diskwars is a three issue archival ‘zine exploring the early history of software piracy. This public sociology project synthesizes critical issues and curates exciting artifacts in the history of microcomputing. In the 1970s and 1980s, the advent of microcomputers led to a new age of software, shaped as much by computer hobbyists as by corporate research. Microcomputers went from inaccessible technology to household objects, and magazines proliferated to serve the rapidly expanding communities of computer users. The digital age took hold of the American imagination.For many people, microcomputing magazines served as the only source of connection and communication to other computer users and manufacturers. Diskwars contains curated excerpts from interviews, magazines articles, photographs, and advertisements from this era. We chose a 'zine format in homage to the original computing magazines that provide some of the very limited primary historical documents from early microcomputing and to also reflect the means by which most computer users were able to connect to one another and learn about computer technology. The materials curated for this series spotlight pivotal moments in early computing and piracy to develop a greater understanding of the ideas and conversations that led to modern understandings of software and software piracy, but also the way in which this evidence has survived.We divided the content into three issues that focus on the "hacker ethos" among proficient computer users; the market ethos that arose from the burgeoning industry; and lastly, the conversations about software piracy that emerged during the time. Read the Issues #1 <img width="1240" height="1753" width_o="1240" height_o="1753" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cd189ae871734f7ccb23937e7ffe5bbbc0cdda268ce771583ffff4eb722a5ed9/Issue1Cover.jpg" data-mid="114972389" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cd189ae871734f7ccb23937e7ffe5bbbc0cdda268ce771583ffff4eb722a5ed9/Issue1Cover.jpg" /> #2<img width="1240" height="1753" width_o="1240" height_o="1753" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/80fb5f110b4d2187ff95326bad42880e6fd783081c617ffcc91995d1fdc3599e/Issue2Cover.jpg" data-mid="114972407" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/80fb5f110b4d2187ff95326bad42880e6fd783081c617ffcc91995d1fdc3599e/Issue2Cover.jpg" /> #3<img width="300" height="424" width_o="300" height_o="424" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/08df730dca228690c8423ae5fe1f18f60e077cec03f858c5617f29f5d430edfb/Issue3cover.jpg" data-mid="114972497" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/300/i/08df730dca228690c8423ae5fe1f18f60e077cec03f858c5617f29f5d430edfb/Issue3cover.jpg" /> https://reneeshelby.com/Disk-Wars-Issue-1 Thu, 29 Jul 2021 16:26:22 +0000 reneeshelby https://reneeshelby.com/Disk-Wars-Issue-1 Disk Wars: Issue 1 https://reneeshelby.com/Disk-Wars-Issue-2 Thu, 29 Jul 2021 16:27:34 +0000 reneeshelby https://reneeshelby.com/Disk-Wars-Issue-2 Disk Wars: Issue 2 https://reneeshelby.com/Disk-Wars-Issue-3 Thu, 29 Jul 2021 16:27:56 +0000 reneeshelby https://reneeshelby.com/Disk-Wars-Issue-3 Disk Wars: Issue 3 https://reneeshelby.com/Bad-TV Fri, 04 Dec 2020 19:23:03 +0000 reneeshelby https://reneeshelby.com/Bad-TV