Chattanooga, TN --- Distinguished author and lecturer, Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, will speak at Chattanooga State Community College in the Humanities Auditorium on September 19th at 10 a.m. The topic of Rainie’s address is In the Land of the Networked.

Rainie will discuss how life in the age of social networking sites, mobile connectivity, and abundant online access has affected some of the basic ways that people interact and act as citizens. An example is how we now seek, share and create knowledge.

The Internet & American Life Project is a non-profit, non–partisan “fact tank” that studies the social impact of the Internet on American society. The Project has issued more than 350 reports based on its surveys that examine people’s online activities and the Internet’s role in their lives.

Rainie’s latest book, Networked: The New Social Operating System, discusses the social impact of technology. The book was co-authored with Barry Wellmen.  Rainie also co-authored a series of books about the future of the Internet that include Up for Grabs, Hopes and Fears, Ubiquity, Mobility, Security, and Challenges and Opportunities.

Prior to launching the Pew Internet Project, Rainie was managing editor of U.S. News & World Report. He is a Harvard University graduate and has a master’s degree in political science from Long Island University in New York.

For additional details about this event, contact Judy Lowe, assistant vice president, Distributed Education & Multi Media at (423) 697-2686 or judy.lowe@chattanoogastate.edu.