The Birds, the Drones

By Arthur Holland Michel Daphne du Maurier’s short story The Birds, which is about enormous flocks of birds attacking the human population of the British Isles, reveals to us a fear that we most likely won’t have to endure at any point in our lives. And yet, the story, which …

As Seen from Above: A Review of “Close Up at a Distance”

Review of Close Up at a Distance: Mapping, Technology and Politics by Laura Kurgan (Zone Books). by Dan Gettinger Detractors of military drones claim that the physical distance that separates the pilots from their targets is problematic. Fighting a war by way of satellite link is admittedly a foreign idea, something …

Tech: Swarming at UPenn’s GRASP Lab

By Arthur Holland Michel Some of the most exciting and advanced technological developments in the world of drones are coming out of the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing & Perception (GRASP) Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. Last year, videos began to circulate of small drones cooperating with each other, independently …

‘Debris’: Picturing The Civilian Toll

by Seojin Jung Debris: The words and images in this collage are taken from the Stanford/NYU report Living Under Drones, which draws on testimony from civilians living in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas to analyze the effect of living with drones. The report sought to shed light on the psychological, and …

Student Responses on Military Drones and the Law

Students in our research seminar are asked to respond to each week’s lectures and readings. In the class of 2/12, the Center for the Study of the Drone hosted Marc Garlasco, senior military advisor for the Human Rights Council, and Peter Rosenblum, Professor of Human Rights Law at Bard College …