December 2015 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

Ada Lovelace @ 200
by Andrew Russell 10 Dec '15

10 Dec '15

Dear colleagues - To mark 200 years since Ada Lovelace’s birth, we have published a new book with ACM Press/Morgan & Claypool titled “Ada’s Legacy: Cultures of Computing from the Victorian to the Digital Age”. The book is edited by me and my colleague at Stevens, Robin Hammerman, and features chapters by scholars from disciplines such history (including CBI's Tom Misa), literature, art, Internet studies, and more. Misa’s chapter might be of particular interest for those who think that the claim that Ada was the “world’s first programmer” deserves some scrutiny, context, and a more nuanced interpretation of Ada’s accomplishments. Here is the blurb: Ada's Legacy illustrates the depth and diversity of writers, thinkers, and makers who have been inspired by Ada Lovelace, the English mathematician and writer. The volume, which commemorates the bicentennial of Ada's birth in December 1815, celebrates Lovelace's many achievements as well as the impact of her life and work, which reverberated widely since the late nineteenth century. In the 21st century we have seen a resurgence in Lovelace scholarship, thanks to the growth of interdisciplinary thinking and the expanding influence of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Ada's Legacy is a unique contribution to this scholarship, thanks to its combination of papers on Ada's collaboration with Charles Babbage, Ada's position in the Victorian and Steampunk literary genres, Ada's representation in and inspiration of contemporary art and comics, and Ada's continued relevance in discussions around gender and technology in the digital age. With the 200th anniversary of Ada Lovelace's birth on December 10, 2015, we believe that the timing is perfect to publish this collection of papers. Because of its broad focus on subjects that reach far beyond the life and work of Ada herself, Ada's Legacy will appeal to readers who are curious about Ada's enduring importance in computing and the wider world. Here is the url to order the book from M&C: http://www.morganclaypoolpublishers.com/catalog_Orig/product_info.php?produ… Here are some sample pages (front matter and intro): http://arussell.org/papers/Ada.pdf Finally, if you happen to find yourself in Oxford today (right now!) at the Lovelace Symposium, please find Robin Hammerman to get a copy of the book and an Ada t-shirt :) Happy birthday Ada!! Cheers, Andy (from Hoboken) and Robin (from Oxford)

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CFP: Information Technology and the Environment
by Ensmenger, Nathan 10 Dec '15

10 Dec '15

Rebecca Slayton and I are co-editing a special issue of Information & Culture on information technology and the environment. Here is the call for papers. Please do pass it along to colleagues, students, and anyone else you think it doing relevant research! -Nathan ======== Call for Papers: Information Technology and the Environment Information technology has long played an important role in structuring relationships between humans and their environment. In recent decades, digital information and communications technologies have been heralded as the key to cutting carbon emissions through “smart” electric power grids, improved supply chain management, and other cybernetic visions. Computerized models and sensors have shaped and transformed ways of representing and intervening in the natural world, from efforts to study and manage localized eco-systems, to global climate modeling and proposals for geoengineering. While many environmentalists view computing as a key to protecting the natural environment, others have underscored the environmental damage done through global practices of mining, production, and waste disposal in the computing industry. This special issue aims to deepen understanding of the historically contingent and changing ways that information technology medicates between social and natural worlds. We invite submissions of papers that address the role of information and communications technologies in structuring human and social experience of the environment in any historical period, including the contemporary one. Information and communications technologies are broadly defined and may include non-digital and non-electronic systems. We are particularly interested in papers responding to the following questions: 1) Has the digital turn in environmental studies transformed conceptions of local and global environment, and if so how? 2) How should we weigh environmentally-friendly uses of ICT against the significant levels of natural exploitation and waste by the global ICT industry? 3) How has the late modern environmental movement influenced the production and use of information technology? Target dates To propose a paper for inclusion in the special issue, please submit a short abstract (500 words or less) to rs849(a)cornell.edu by January 7, 2016. Full papers will be peer-reviewed by at least two external reviewers, and will be due for review by April 30, 2016. Authors may be invited to present their research at a workshop in the summer of 2016. Final papers that are accepted for publication will be due for copyediting by December 1 2016. Rebecca Slayton Assistant Professor, Cornell University Department of Science & Technology Studies Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies Uris 130C, Ithaca, NY 14853 Nathan Ensmenger Associate Professor of Informatics School of Informatics and Computing Indiana University, Bloomington homes.soic.indiana.edu/nensmeng/

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CHM Fellows Award - Nomations now open year-round
by Dag Spicer 09 Dec '15

09 Dec '15

Dear Friends, In response to various requests over the years to open up the nomination process into a full year acitivty, as of today and going forward, CHM will now accept Fellows nominations year-round. For more information, please see here: http://www.computerhistory.org/fellowawards/nominations/ The deadline for 2017 Fellows is August 31, 2015. Thank you, Dag -- Dag Spicer Senior Curator Computer History Museum Editorial Board, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 1401 North Shoreline Boulevard Mountain View, CA 94043-1311 Tel: +1 650 810 1035 Fax: +1 650 810 1055

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Fwd: Singapore Meeting Travel Funds Survey
by Andrew Russell 09 Dec '15

09 Dec '15

Dear SIGCIS members (especially grad students and early career scholars) - Please see below, from SHOT Treasurer Ross Bassett. Cheers, Andy Begin forwarded message: From: Society for the History of Technology <shotsec(a)auburn.edu<mailto:shotsec@auburn.edu>> Date: December 7, 2015 at 9:10:25 AM EST To: andrew.russell(a)stevens.edu<mailto:andrew.russell@stevens.edu> Subject: Singapore Meeting Travel Funds Survey Society for the History of Technology 7 December 2015 SHOT has been putting a lot of energy into the Singapore meeting and we especially want to encourage participation by graduate students and young scholars. We are trying to determine the right amounts to allocate to grantees so that as many people as possible can attend. If you are a grad student or a scholar within 5 years of your doctorate, we would appreciate if you would take the following survey. This survey doesn't commit you to attend the Singapore meeting (although we hope you will), nor does it guarantee a certain level of grant, but it will be a great help to SHOT. Thanks for taking this survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/R7T23NV -Ross Bassett, SHOT Treasurer Forward this email<http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=ieifeldab&m=1103106318472&ea=…> [http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/SafeUnsubscribe_Footer_Logo_N…]<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=001Xz26gWD0CDOi01mES8w44A%3D%3…> This email was sent to andrew.russell(a)stevens.edu<mailto:andrew.russell@stevens.edu> by shotsec(a)auburn.edu<mailto:shotsec@auburn.edu> | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=001Xz26gWD0CDOi01mES8w44A%3D%3…>™ | About our service provider<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001poc9Qk6eFR54oQJ2cc5gvxlw2YdKLTeregtzi1R-IZAG…>. [http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/CC_Footer_Logo_New.png]<http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=TEM_BusLet_003> Society for the History of Technology | David Lucsko | Department of History | 310 Thach Hall | Auburn University | AL | 36849-5207

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Grand Central
by Joly MacFie 07 Dec '15

07 Dec '15

http://www.jamesmaherphotography.com/photoblog_view_post/1416-what-lies-und… "The 102 year old computer system, built by Westinghouse and considered to be the first electric computer. " -- --------------------------------------------------------------- Joly MacFie 218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast -------------------------------------------------------------- -

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Singapore Call for Papers -- Panel on Computation and Psychology
by Luke Stark 04 Dec '15

04 Dec '15

Dear SIGCIS members, Following Andrew's exhortation, I wonder if there are any folks here who would be interested in putting together a panel on the relationships broadly defined between the history of computational technologies and those of the psychological and behavioral sciences. I've included a preliminary précis below: there are a wide range of topics that overlap both fields (the development of ELIZA and the Turing test more broadly; developments in human factors and HCI in the 1980s and 1990s; contemporary histories of psychological modeling and its incorporation into digital systems, etc). A wide range of work on different time frames and geographic locales would be very welcome. If you have questions or would like to be involved, please don't hesitate to email me at luke.stark(a)nyu.edu. Best, Luke Luke Stark Ph.D. Candidate Department of Media, Culture, and Communication The Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development New York University 239 Greene Street, 8th Floor New York, NY 10003 tel: (1) 646.530.0400 fax: (1) 212.995.4046 email: luke.stark(a)nyu.edu *** Computation and the Behavioral/Psychological Sciences: Intersecting Histories, Materialities, and Discourses Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) Annual Meeting – Singapore, 22-26 June 2016 The panel highlight the shared history and present of computational and behavioral science/psychological technologies, discourses, techniques, or materials. It is not a secret that computation’s early development took place in an interdisciplinary milieu that included psychologists, psychiatrists, and other behavioural scientists. Elizabeth Wilson (2010) has observed that the early pioneers of computing, such as Alan Turing and Warren McCollough, were engaged with the parallels between electronic brains and human minds. Lydia Liu (2010) has examined the history of digital writing through the lens of psychoanalysis, and numerous scholars have observed that the Marcy Conferences on cybernetics of the 1950s were explicitly a venue where computer scientists could learn from other disciplines about the fundamentals of human cognition, feeling, and motivation; cyberneticists such as Norbert Weiner. More recently, the introduction of cognitive psychology to human factors engineering in computer technology by Stuart Card and others in the 1980s founded the field of human-computer interaction, a discipline that continues to draw heavily on social and applied psychological research. The panel seeks to build on and expand from this set of important but sometimes disconnected dialogues in the history of technology to set a new agenda for historical research around computation and psychology, psychiatry, and other behavioural sciences. Papers dealing with any historical epoch that connect the history of computational technologies with those of the psy sciences are welcome, and work that highlights the contributions of figures "from below" to these these histories (including patients and/or end-users) are encouraged. On Thu, Dec 3, 2015 at 12:26 PM, Andrew Russell <arussell(a)stevens.edu> wrote: > Friends - > > Please take note of the extension of the CFP deadline for the SHOT meeting > in Singapore in June 2016. > > Please also note that the program committee has a strong preference for > panel proposals (as opposed to individual paper proposals) - they even have > gone to the step of underlining that text on the website. > > As you probably know, this list can be a very effective vehicle for > finding other scholars to form a panel. And, as always, I am happy to help > however I can (in my capacity of SIGCIS Chair). > > All the best, > > Andy > > > > Begin forwarded message: > > *From: *Society for the History of Technology <shotsec(a)auburn.edu> > *Date: *December 2, 2015 at 10:52:07 AM EST > *To: *andrew.russell(a)stevens.edu > *Subject: **Singapore Call for Papers -- Deadline Extended* > > Society for the History of Technology > *2 December 2015* > Please note that the Call for Papers deadline for the SHOT conference in > Singapore has been extended, to *31 December 2015*. > > For more information, or to submit a proposal, please visit the 2016 Call > for Papers site at > http://www.historyoftechnology.org/call_for_papers/index.html > <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001XTQZDLyD6BTONvDRklOnmGQTfZNxyD87Uq1RE3q2Ot66…> > . > > The Singapore conference will be held 22-26 June 2016. > > Formed in 1958, SHOT is an interdisciplinary and international > organization concerned not only with the history of technological devices > and processes but also with technology in history, the development of > technology, and its relations with society and culture --that is, the > relationship of technology to politics, economics, science, the arts, and > the organization of production, and with the role it plays in the > differentiation of individuals in society. > > Accordingly, the Program Committee invites paper and session proposals on > any topic in a broadly defined history of technology, including topics that > push the boundaries of the discipline. The Committee welcomes proposals for > complete sessions (preferred) or individual papers from researchers at all > levels. We also welcome proposals from all researchers, whether veterans or > newcomers to SHOT's meetings, and regardless of primary discipline. > Submitters are encouraged to propose sessions that include a diverse mix of > participants: multinational origins, gender, graduate students and junior > scholars with senior scholars, significantly diverse institutional > affiliations, etc. > -David Lucsko, Secretary > Society for the History of Technology > Forward this email > <http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=ieifeldab&m=1103106318472&ea=…> > > <http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=001Xz26gWD0CDOi01mES8w44A%3D%3…> > > This email was sent to andrew.russell(a)stevens.edu by shotsec(a)auburn.edu | > > Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe > <http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=001Xz26gWD0CDOi01mES8w44A%3D%3…>™ > | About our service provider > <http://ui.constantcontact.com/roving/CCPrivacyPolicy.jsp>. > <http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=TEM_BusLet_003> > > Society for the History of Technology | David Lucsko | Department of > History | 310 Thach Hall | Auburn University | AL | 36849-5207 > > > > _______________________________________________ > This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion > list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member > posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list > archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and > you can change your subscription options at > http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org >

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Fwd: Singapore Call for Papers -- Deadline Extended
by Andrew Russell 03 Dec '15

03 Dec '15

Friends - Please take note of the extension of the CFP deadline for the SHOT meeting in Singapore in June 2016. Please also note that the program committee has a strong preference for panel proposals (as opposed to individual paper proposals) - they even have gone to the step of underlining that text on the website. As you probably know, this list can be a very effective vehicle for finding other scholars to form a panel. And, as always, I am happy to help however I can (in my capacity of SIGCIS Chair). All the best, Andy Begin forwarded message: From: Society for the History of Technology <shotsec(a)auburn.edu<mailto:shotsec@auburn.edu>> Date: December 2, 2015 at 10:52:07 AM EST To: andrew.russell(a)stevens.edu<mailto:andrew.russell@stevens.edu> Subject: Singapore Call for Papers -- Deadline Extended Society for the History of Technology 2 December 2015 Please note that the Call for Papers deadline for the SHOT conference in Singapore has been extended, to 31 December 2015. For more information, or to submit a proposal, please visit the 2016 Call for Papers site at http://www.historyoftechnology.org/call_for_papers/index.html<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001XTQZDLyD6BTONvDRklOnmGQTfZNxyD87Uq1RE3q2Ot66…>. The Singapore conference will be held 22-26 June 2016. Formed in 1958, SHOT is an interdisciplinary and international organization concerned not only with the history of technological devices and processes but also with technology in history, the development of technology, and its relations with society and culture --that is, the relationship of technology to politics, economics, science, the arts, and the organization of production, and with the role it plays in the differentiation of individuals in society. Accordingly, the Program Committee invites paper and session proposals on any topic in a broadly defined history of technology, including topics that push the boundaries of the discipline. The Committee welcomes proposals for complete sessions (preferred) or individual papers from researchers at all levels. We also welcome proposals from all researchers, whether veterans or newcomers to SHOT's meetings, and regardless of primary discipline. Submitters are encouraged to propose sessions that include a diverse mix of participants: multinational origins, gender, graduate students and junior scholars with senior scholars, significantly diverse institutional affiliations, etc. -David Lucsko, Secretary Society for the History of Technology Forward this email<http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=ieifeldab&m=1103106318472&ea=…> [http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/SafeUnsubscribe_Footer_Logo_N…]<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=001Xz26gWD0CDOi01mES8w44A%3D%3…> This email was sent to andrew.russell(a)stevens.edu<mailto:andrew.russell@stevens.edu> by shotsec(a)auburn.edu<mailto:shotsec@auburn.edu> | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=001Xz26gWD0CDOi01mES8w44A%3D%3…>™ | About our service provider<http://ui.constantcontact.com/roving/CCPrivacyPolicy.jsp>. [http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/CC_Footer_Logo_New.png]<http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=TEM_BusLet_003> Society for the History of Technology | David Lucsko | Department of History | 310 Thach Hall | Auburn University | AL | 36849-5207

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Open session call for Singapore: Technology in foreign relations
by Corinna Schlombs 03 Dec '15

03 Dec '15

Dear SIGCIS members, Together with Will Chou from OSU, I am also working on an open session on technology in foreign relations. The panel examines how mass production technologies interacted with other contemporary phenomena - the Cold War, consumerism, decolonization, international development - to create multiple avenues of US global power and influence in the decades before and after World War II. Projects that examine both before and after World War II are welcome, as are all geographic regions-Will will present on Japan, I on Germany. Of course, we would welcome papers dealing with information technology in international relations. For more information, please see the open session call below. Best, Corinna. Corinna Schlombs Assistant Professor of History Rochester Institute of Technology Open Session Proposal SHOT 2016 in Singapore Technology and Capitalism as U.S. Foreign Relations Organizers: Corinna Schlombs, Rochester Institute of Technology (cxsgla(a)rit.edu) and William Chou, Ohio State University (chou.153(a)osu.edu) When Henry Luce, the editor of Life magazine, in 1941 declared the 20th century the American Century, he argued that American music and films as well as machines and patented products had already established US cultural, technological, and economic - if not political - leadership. This session explores the role of mass production technologies - from manufacturing methods such as machine tools and rationalization techniques to consumer products such as cars, computers, consumer electronics and others - in manifesting the United States' global power in the decades surrounding Luce's statement. Before World War II, the United States was the center of mass production and consumption, attracting foreigners to Detroit and other cities to study American productivity and emerging consumer society. The manufacture, distribution and use of mass production technologies shaped labor relations, gender roles, class dynamics, the roles of consumer-citizens, and interactions between the public and private sector; mass production technologies were central to the US capitalist economy. After WWII, US diplomats, executives and engineers sought to bring their production and consumption regimes to places around the globe. This session examines how mass production technologies interacted with other contemporary phenomena - the Cold War, consumerism, decolonization, international development - to create multiple avenues of US power and influence that frequently intersected and built on each other in new international contexts. Historians of science, technology and business have explored the modes of global technology transfers. John Krige's American Hegemony as well as Jonathan Zeitlin and Gary Herrigel's Americanization and its Limits emphasized the need for, in Krige's words, "consensual co-construction" in the often creative adaptations of the American model. More recently, Gabrielle Hecht and collaborators showed in Entangled Geographies that technological artifacts, systems and practices embed hybrid forms of power. Building on this literature, papers in this session will assess technologies and power in the global dissemination, resistance, and evolution of the US capitalist model. Our own papers explore productivity technologies in US foreign relations. Chou's paper examines how grassroots transpacific business links shaped Japanese economic development and productivity in the 1950s. Schlombs's paper analyzes the Marshall Plan Productivity Program and West German labor debates for a critical interrogation of the notion of the capitalist "West." We welcome papers focusing on a range of technologies and global regions during the two or three decades before and after WWII. Papers should explore issues surrounding mass production technology in US foreign relations, including: - To what extent were mass production technologies imbued with economic, social, cultural, political or other values? How malleable were such values? - What role did technologies play in US foreign relations? In how far did they serve to create spaces of international intercourse and negotiation? - How did peoples around the globe respond to US mass production technologies? What do technologies reveal about American relations with peoples abroad? - In how far did WWII present a rupture or continuity in the role of technology in US foreign relations? - What do mass production technologies reveal about the variety of capitalist economies around the globe?

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