Brian Beaton
Assistant Professor and Director, Center for Expressive Technologies
Field:
- Science, Technology & Society
Contact Information:
- Office: Bldg. 47, Rm. 25M
- Phone: 805-756-2672
- Email: brbeaton@calpoly.edu
About Brian Beaton
Dr. Brian Beaton is Director of the Center for Expressive Tech (CET) and an Assistant Professor in the College of Liberal Arts. Beaton is one of the core faculty members in Cal Poly’s Science, Technology & Society (STS) Program, which focuses on advancing research and practice in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields by drawing on methods from the liberal and creative arts. Beaton’s research and teaching concentrate on information technology (IT) and expert work. With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) much of his current research concentrates on 4IR (fourth industrial revolution); the history and future of cross-domain fields like data science, cybersecurity, and robotics; and cyber-physical experience.
Dr. Beaton did his graduate work at NYU and the University of Toronto, where he trained in Michelle Murphy’s Technoscience Research Unit. Before coming to Cal Poly in 2015, Beaton was a professor in the School of Information Sciences (now the School of Computing and Information) at the University of Pittsburgh, where he directed an endowed research unit on the social impacts of information technologies.
Education
- Ph.D., University of Toronto
- M.A., New York University (NYU)
Courses Taught
- Digital Culture
- History of Network Technology
- Introduction to Science, Technology & Society (STS)
- Advanced Project-Based Learning in STS
Reverse Mentors
- Jess N., current senior, Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies (LAES) Program, Cal Poly