Aiding or Eroding: The Influence of New Technologies on Democracy

A Beyond the Headlines Event

[Greenville, SC] – December 19, 2023 – Upstate International is pleased to announce that Dr. Rachel Vanderhill, a prominent academic and author whose expertise can be drawn from her vast experience in international affairs, will be the distinguished speaker at the upcoming Beyond the Headlines Speaker Series event on January 10^th, 2024, at the Kroc Center in downtown Greenville. Within the last decade, dozens of new technologies have emerged. The rise of these technologies has created a growing concern about global threats to democracy. What are the challenges that these technologies, particularly generative AI, present to democracies in the 21^st century? How do these developments affect democracy? Why is democratic backsliding becoming more prevalent? How can democracies become more resilient? This event seeks to provide insight on these questions.

Dr. Rachel Vanderhill is an Associate Professor of International Affairs and Chair of the Department of Government and International Affairs at Wofford College. Her most recent experience in international relations was an International Affairs Fellowship at the Council on Foreign Relations for Tenured IR Scholars where she served as a Senior Advisor on Authoritarianism at the Center for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG Center) at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). She has also authored and co-authored several books pertaining to government and technology including “Promoting Authoritarianism Abroad” and “Autocracy and Resistance in the Internet Age.”