[Members] FW: [ASBH] LAST MONTH REMINDER: Smithsonian Fall Conference Information & Computer Science

[Thomas Haigh]

A friend just sent me this (announcement below). People in the DC area might
be interested. “The event celebrates one of the great pioneers of the
Information Age, Admiral Grace Murray Hopper. Admiral "Amazing Grace"
Hopper's scholarship in computer science was the immediate reason for the
implementation of COBOL in 1960, thus inaugurating our Information Age.”

That's not an entirely coherent historical claim, and as one looks closer it
seems odder and odder. The oddness lies not just in the fact that there are
no historians on the panel (we’re used to being ignored at anniversaries,
after all) but also no computer scientists, business data processing types,
or anyone else with an obvious connection to the history of COBOL!  See the
program at
http://www.thechiefinformationgroup.com/conference/smithsonian/1009SIAgenda.
pdf.
 
This event may potentially of interest to someone as an example of the way
in which Grace Hopper’s role as a secular saint of information has spread
beyond computer science. Now that would be a good topic for a cultural
history panel discussion.

Tom

To: ASBH ASBH <asbh at lists.asbh.org>
From: "Dr. Edward Gabriele" <efgabriele at comcast.net>
Sent by: asbh-bounces at lists.asbh.org
Date: 08/02/2010 04:23PM
Subject: [ASBH] LAST MONTH REMINDER: Smithsonian Fall Conference
Colleagues,

We are in the last month prior to the Fall 2010 Smithsonian Conference on
Information and Computer Science. We need your support to energize greater
interest. The summer months are challenging for events such as these.

Please pass on this announcement to any and all interested individuals and
institutions.

Please register ASAP.

This conference discusses the importance of knowledge science and
information technologies in society, education, and professional life.

The conference will be held on Thursday, September 9, 2010, at the
Carmichael Auditorium, National Museum of American History, 14th and
Constitution Avenue NW in DC. The conference is entitled:

"From Knowledge to Wisdom: Reflections on 50 Years of the Information Age."

The event celebrates one of the great pioneers of the Information Age,
Admiral Grace Murray Hopper. Admiral "Amazing Grace" Hopper's scholarship in
computer science was the immediate reason for the implementation of COBOL in
1960, thus inaugurating our Information Age.

The conference will be an open panel discussion on the significance of
knowledge science by very distinguished academic experts in the arts and
sciences. The panelists will discuss the impact that knowledge technologies
are having on human culture --- whether for the good or otherwise. The
discussion will be highly informative and provocative especially for the way
in which computing affects our leadership in human services and our ability
to relate with each other in our professions, in family and in society. 

The event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the
Smithsonian's Office of Sponsored Projects, in partnership with The Navy
Medicine Institute for the Medical Humanities and Research Leadership.

Please register at the following:

http://www.thechiefinformationgroup.com/conference/smithsonian/index.php?c_i
d=16

The registration site also includes a downloadable PDF with fuller details.

Note: If you are using plain text email formats, you will need to copy and
paste the entire URL into your browser and proceed from there. The URL
begins with http and ends with c_id=16.

If you have any questions about logistics, please contact: Julie O'Dell
at O'DellJ at si.edu

For technical issues with registration,
email: conference at thechiefinformationgroup.com

Please feel free to forward this to colleagues, friends, and others who may
be interested.


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