Nicholas Lustig, Geography

Professor Lustig examines the origins of the recently constructed mass-surveillance centers in urban police departments. These centers are multimillion-dollar intelligence hubs intended to overhaul information infrastructures and expand surveillance capabilities. Lustig’s talk discusses the early programs in New York City and Baltimore, analyzes the varied pathways of diffusion of these centers, examines the most frequent criticisms of them (including privacy violations, targeting political activists, and mission creep), narrates a successful opposition to one in Oakland, and offers speculations about the future of these surveillance programs.

Nicholas Lustig, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography, holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is an urban geographer, whose research draws upon Foucault, new media theory, and variegation studies to examine the technological restructuring of the institutions and infrastructures of American cities over the last several decades. His primary research project analyzes the emergence, spread, and opposition to the mass surveillance programs and real-time crime centers constructed by police departments throughout the US.

Complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres served.

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