[SIGCIS-Members] Proposal Deadline for the Charles Babbage Institute's "Just Code" Symposium a week away (Oct. 15th)

[Jeffrey Yost]

Dear Colleagues,

Wanted to send a reminder that the deadline for paper proposals (300 to 450
word abstract and 2pp. CV) to CBI's Symposium "Just Code: Power,
Inequality, and the Political Economy of IT" is only 8 days away, October
15th (midnight CST). The event itself is May 8-9, 2020. The CFP is in the
CBI Newsletter at the following link (and it also is pasted below at the
bottom of this message).

http://www.cbi.umn.edu/newsletter/article6.html

My co-leader on this effort UC-Davis' Gerardo Con Diaz ("Con") and I have
been thrilled with the interest scholars worldwide (from many disciplines)
have expressed in recent months. There has also been tremendous
interdisciplinary interest on campus at the University of Minnesota, 14
departments and centers from six colleges (and two college level deans)
have signed on with strong financial support as co-sponsors--from the
College of Science and Engineering/HSTM (CSE is the lead overall UMN
co-sponsor) and University Libraries/Archives and Special Collections to
Computer Science and Engineering (lead UMN dept. co-sponsor), Writing
Studies (Rhetoric), Anthropology, MN Ctr. for the Philosophy of Sci., The
China Center, The Human Rights Ctr., the Institute for Advanced Study,
School Social Work, ECE, Hubbard School of Journalism/Communication,
Wilkins Ctr. for Human Relations and Social Justice, etc.  For this we are
extremely grateful and we expect a sizable symposium with participants and
attendees from many disciplines.

Con and I are greatly looking forward to the event, and subsequently, an
impactful "Just Code..." edited volume we will publish with Springer in the
History of Computing Series (all papers for the volume must pass editorial
and peer review).

For those wanting to attend but not presenting, there is a link below to
the event registration form (and rooms currently are available for you to
book at a discounted rate by telling the Courtyard it is for attending
CBI's Just Code).

Best, Jeff

Jeffrey Yost
Director, Charles Babbage Institute
Research Professor History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
University of Minnesota

--------------

Below is a Call for Papers (deadline Oct. 15th 2019) and registration
information for a Charles Babbage Institute (CBI) Symposium/Workshop I am
co-leading with Univ. of California-Davis' Gerardo Con Diaz (Friday and
Saturday, May 8-9, 2020).  We hope many of you will consider proposing a
paper (or otherwise attending). We encourage (and would appreciate) your
forwarding this to anyone you think might be interested.

*Just Code: Power, Inequality, and the Global Political Economy of IT*
Just Code is a one and a half day CBI symposium/workshop on how code—construed
broadly, from software routines to bodies of law and policy—structures and
reinforces power relations. It will explore the often invisible ways that
individuals and institutions use software, algorithms, and computerized
systems to establish, legitimize, and reinforce widespread social,
material, commercial, and cultural inequalities and power imbalances. The
event will also examine how individuals, unions, political organizations,
and other institutions use code to fight for equality and justice. Other
major themes include the (pre-)history of code/algorithmic thinking; code
as means of concealment or secret communications; codes of conduct in
business, governance, and culture related to IT and its institutions (local
and global exploitation through imperialism, human rights violations, and
environmental degradation); and codes of ethics in information technology.
The papers will draw from across the humanities and qualitative social
sciences, including disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, science
and technology studies, geography, and communications. We anticipate that
papers (collectively) will examine a wide range of themes in the global
business, cultural, social, legal, and environmental history of the
political economy of information technology. Papers will be pre-circulated
(among presenters) and we have plans to publish revised papers (after
editorial and peer review) as an edited volume in the Springer History of
Computing Book Series.

Proposals should include a two-page curriculum vitae and a 300 to 450 word
abstract (as a single PDF) that highlights the key argument(s), connection
of the paper to the symposium's topic/themes, and a description of core
methods/sources.  This should be sent to cbi at umn.edu (please have your last
name in the file name and use the subject line "Just Code Symposium
Proposal").

Deadline for Paper Proposals is Oct. 15, 2019 (notifications will be made
within 30 days)

Deadline for Submission of Papers (for those offered and accepting a place
on the program) is March 31, 2020 (papers will only be pre-circulated to
fellow presenters/panelists on the program, not to all registrants).

Those offered and accepting a spot on the program will have to commit to
participating in the entire workshop, revising their work based on feedback
from peers at the event and the organizers/editors, and submitting it for
consideration to the planned edited volume.

For those offered and accepting a place on the symposium's program
(presenters/panelists), CBI will cover the cost of 2 nights lodging at a
nearby hotel (walking distance to CBI), lunch, and an event dinner. Early
career presenters on the program (graduate students, postdocs, and junior
faculty) can apply for CBI travel grants of $300 to partially offset
their travel
costs (done as a reimbursement/partial reimbursement). Please indicate if
you would like to be considered for one of these travel grants at the
bottom of your abstract.  The program will commence at 8:30 AM on Friday
and conclude at 12:30 PM on Saturday. Registration is automatic for
everyone on the program.

For those wanting to attend who are not presenting, the symposium's
registration is free and open to CBI Friends (and those who become CBI
Friends), and to students, academic staff, and faculty of the Univ. of
Minnesota.  Lunch is provided for all who register. The event dinner is
only for those on the program. Information on becoming a CBI Friend is at
http://www.cbi.umn.edu/about/friends.html

Registration form for those attending but not presenting. The size will be
capped, so we encourage registering far in advance.
https://forms.gle/KK5n37jhN1Mdnyxp9

The event will be at CBI--Andersen Library at the University of Minnesota

["Just Code" is sponsored in major part by a very generous gift/bequest
events endowment to CBI from IT industry veteran Michael J. Samek]

Best,
Jeff and Con

Jeffrey R. Yost, Ph.D., CBI Director & Research Prof. HSTM, Univ. of Minn.
Gerardo Con Diaz, Ph.D., Asst. Prof., Science and Technology Studies, Univ.
of Cal.-Davis





Jeffrey R. Yost, Ph.D.
Director, Charles Babbage Institute
Research Professor, Program in the History of Science, Technology, and
Medicine

222  21st Avenue South
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55455

612 624 5050 Phone
612 625 8054 Fax
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