Our mission is to resist strategic misinformation, promote an informed society, and strengthen democratic discourse.

EDUCATION

Fostering a more informed public through media literacy education and intergenerational learning in WA 

VIDEO |  APRIL 2025

At the Center for an Informed Public, we’re proud of our efforts to support the development of information literacy resources and educational programming, including intergenerational learning events. In a video, learn more about Leveling Up Seniors, an educational event where Sedro-Woolley High School students taught senior citizens in Skagit County some of the media literacy lessons they’re learning in the classroom. Then the seniors shared some life lessons and skills of their own with the high schoolers.    

NEWS

Emma Spiro and Sarah Nguyen on stage sitting in red chairs.

Sarah Nguyễn awarded 2025 CIP Robert Mason Outstanding Mentorship Award

06.13.2025

The CIP has honored Information School doctoral candidate Sarah Nguyễn with the 2025 CIP Robert Mason Outstanding Mentorship Award for their efforts to foster students and junior researchers within the CIP’s community. Nguyễn has been a CIP graduate research assistant for the past five years while pursuing doctoral research making sense of transnational information and diasporic memories, drawing upon a series of 47 intergenerational Vietnamese community workshops, co-design work and listening sessions in cities across the U.S., including Seattle. 

Kate Starbird presents a lecture on stage in a packed ballroom with a large screen to her left.

During 2025 University Faculty Lecture, CIP’s Kate Starbird discusses how influence and improvisation shape online conversations

02.24.2025

RESEARCH | At the 2025 University Faculty Lecture, CIP co-founder Kate Starbird discussed her work understanding how online rumors, misinformation and disinformation are created and shared in uncertain times — shining a light on the roles we and others play on social media and beyond.

CIP’s Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West introduce new ‘Modern-Day Oracles or Bullshit Machines?’ AI course 

02.05.2025

EDUCATION | The humanities course about how to learn, work and thrive in a world increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence was designed for students with and without a technical background. The entire course is free, available online and built around 18 lessons, each which take 5-10 minutes.

EDUCATION

A group of students sitting at a table working on a group learning activity.

Break-free in a misinformation themed escape room

RESOURCES 

Loki’s Loop games, including the Euphorigen Investigation, immerse people in an interactive escape room of manipulated media, social media bots, deepfakes, and other forms of deception to learn about misinformation. These games, a research project from the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public in partnership with the UW Technology & Social Change Group, UW GAMER Research Group and Puzzle Break, are designed to improve people’s awareness of misinformation tactics and generate reflection on the emotional triggers and psychological biases that make misinformation so powerful. Loki’s Loop games are available for libraries, schools, and organizations with an educational mission, in both online and in-person versions.

PEOPLE

A headshot of Cullen White.

Cullen White starts as the CIP’s new director of strategy and operations

01.24.2025

Cullen White, a strategic operations leader with more than 15 years of experience driving organizational transformation and social impact initiatives, has started as the University of Washington Center for an Informed Public’s new director of strategy and operations. 

Alexandros Efstratiou joins CIP as postdoctoral scholar

02.05.2025

In his work at the CIP, computational social scientist Alexandros Efstratiou will focus on outgroup misperceptions, polarization through entertainment consumption and lifestyle choices, and the meta-science of the study of misinformation.

CIP Updates

 

 

“It’s one of the most  important problems of our time that we as a society need to solve. This is not a left or right issue. This is an issue that transcends political boundaries. Everyone wants to get this right.”

— Jevin West, Co-Founder and Inaugural Director

 

CONFRONTING MISINFORMATION

The spread of misinformation is among the most pressing challenges of our time. New platforms for human interaction and information sharing have opened the door to misinformation, disinformation and other forms of networked manipulation, which not only mislead and create divisions, but also diminish trust in democratic institutions such as science and journalism. The nonpartisan Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington brings diverse voices from across industry, government, nonprofits and other institutions together to confront the problem through our research, education, policy and engagement efforts. Learn More

WHAT WE DO

RESEARCH

We support cutting-edge research with a strong focus on research to practice, which spans disciplines from sociology to information science and law.

EDUCATION

We educate information consumers across the demographic landscape in order to make more informed decisions.

LAW & POLICY

We address information policy through generative analyses of the legal frameworks and the available levers for intervention.

ENGAGEMENT

We engage directly with the public in collaboration with our partners, libraries and community leaders.

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