January 2023 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

New Book: Digital Independence. India's Way Into the Computer Age – an International History
by Michael Homberg 30 Dec '24

30 Dec '24

Dear SIGCIS, please excuse the "self-promotion": I am excited to announce the publication of my new book: "Digital Independence. India's Way Into the Computer Age – an International History" ("Digitale Unabhängigkeit. Indiens Weg ins Computerzeitalter – eine Internationale Geschichte"). It has been published this week by Wallstein, and is largely based upon my habilitation thesis which I finished at the University of Potsdam, Germany, in 2021. The book is in German language only, but an English translation is already planned. I've shared the translated German blurb below. Many thanks for all the inspirations I received from the SIGCIS community, and I hope you all have a lovely weekend. Best regards from Berlin, Michael *** Digitale Unabhängigkeit. Indiens Weg ins Computerzeitalter – eine Internationale Geschichte, Göttingen: Wallstein 2022 (Geschichte der Gegenwart, Bd. 32). URL: https://www.wallstein-verlag.de/9783835352674-digitale-unabhaengigkeit.html. Blurb: The first electronic computers arrived in India in the 1950s. Today, Indian programmers embody our globalized world. This book examines the long and chequered history of India's journey into the digital age. It shows how the emergence of digital expertise in India was the result of both national efforts and international cooperations. From early on, the computer thus became a symbol of Indian nation-building at the end of the colonial era, a tool of technocratic planning in the high modern age, and an instrument of power politics, cultural controversies and economic interests. The book interweaves a national history perspective on the Indian republic, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, with an analysis of the country's global relations, analyzing the different speeds and intensities of the computerization of the living and working worlds in the Global North and the Global South. Thus, it reconstructs the highly international networks of computer specialists, technicians, managers and politicians, development experts and activists in India. Since the early days of the Indian republic, industrialized nations such as the USA and the USSR, but also the Federal Republic of Germany and Great Britain promoted the expansion of computer technology and education in India. This study explores the roots of these international technical assistance programs in the Cold War era and the development of its global geopolitics of expertise, the growing desire in the Indian computer industry for “digital independence” in the global IT market since the 1970s and the triumph of elite programmers in Silicon Valley in the early 21st century. It analyzes the preconditions, dynamics, and consequences of global exchange processes in India after 1947, and thus “decenters” the primarily Western perspective of computer history and its master narratives. Drawing on broad (archival) research in India, the USA, and Europe, the study's sources include governmental records, university archival collections, academic literary estates, parliamentary minutes, and contemporary media. _______________________________ PD Dr. Michael Homberg Senior Scientist/Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam (ZZF) e.V. Am Neuen Markt 1 14467 Potsdam

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SIGCIS 2022 CFP: UNDER CONSTRUCTION | Due June 1
by Laine Nooney 30 Jan '24

30 Jan '24

Dear SIGCIS Community, The SIGCIS Conference Organizing Committee is pleased to *announce the CFP for our 2022 SIGCIS Conference, **UNDER CONSTRUCTION*. Our keynote for the event is Lilly Irani <https://quote.ucsd.edu/lirani/>, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication & Science Studies at the University of California, San Diego. The SIGCIS Conference will take place *November 13th, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, *on the Sunday of the SHOT conference. *Abstracts are due June 1.* Below you can find the full CFP for this year's conference. The CFP can also be viewed as a Google doc here <https://bit.ly/388L3Zk>, or at our conference website: meetings.sigcis.org. Please circulate widely, and we hope to see you at SIGCIS! -Laine Nooney, Morgan G. Ames, Stephanie Dick, and Xiaochang Li -------------------------------------------------------------- *UNDER CONSTRUCTION* *New Orleans, LA, US | November 13, 2022* The Special Interest Group in Computing, Information, and Society [SIGCIS] welcomes submissions to their annual conference meetings.sigcis.org Proposal Due Date: June 1, 2022 KEYNOTE SPEAKER Lilly Irani Associate Professor of Communication & Science Studies University of California, San Diego THEME A shovel strikes dirt in one country, and the Internet goes out in another. Data centers are cooled by local water supplies, fiber-optic cable follows the sightlines left by railroads and telegraph, global hardware semiconductor supplies depend on the labor of rare earth mineral miners: somehow computing always needs more. The past ten years, in particular, have exhibited a perilous turn in the political economy of computing, as software became service, programming became agile, and storage became cloud. This new regime is driven by an accelerated mode of iterative software development that increasingly relies on post-sales bug fixes, security patches, and performance upgrades, producing a litany of products and services whose endless failures aid some and threaten others. From the communities subject to such “innovation” to the shadow workers paid to “be” artificial intelligence to the coders pushing ambient updates by the millions, risk hums through it all. Computation today is locked in a state of perpetual beta testing, forever promising “improved” features—just don’t ask when it will end, and don’t ask who’s doing the work. In the meantime, these new standards of practice generate new labor and resource demands, new forms of risk, and new challenges for accountability and intervention alike. Yet the patched and partial nature of computing isn’t new. Computing is infrastructure, requiring its own forms of construction and maintenance throughout its history, whether tearing up roads, detangling spaghetti code, or hastily soldering circuits. These are metaphors for history too: what better encapsulates the sentiment of doing history, than the feeling that it will never be done? For historians of information and computing itself, such anxieties are particularly acute due to the objects under examination: constant upgrades, absent documentation, planned obsolescence, the failure of historic hardware. For every line of code we save, hundreds, thousands, disappear. As we work to make sense of our contemporary conditions, how does the undone quality of history affect our ability to tell it? The 2022 SIGCIS Conference, convening in-person in New Orleans on November 13 following the SHOT Annual Meeting, invites scholars, museum and archive professionals, journalists, IT practitioners, artists, and independent researchers across the disciplinary spectrum to submit abstracts related to the historical conditions of computing. We are especially interested in (but not limited to) work that relates to the theme of construction, maintenance, and labor, broadly and imaginatively construed. Areas of engagement may include: - Maintenance and infrastructure in the history of computing and information tech - Historically-oriented approaches to the platform and gig economies - Computing as a site of labor struggle - Networks, borders, boundaries - Computational models of resistance: obfuscation, open-source, hacking, going “off grid” - Government’s historic role in the construction of computing industries and infrastructure - Communitarian and utopian applications of computing - Updates, upgrades, failures, and bugs - Modding, re-using, recycling, afterlives - Archival and curatorial practices and methods - Oral history, memory, forgetting - The limits of historical representation SIGCIS is especially welcoming of new directions in scholarship. We maintain an inclusive atmosphere for scholarly inquiry, supporting disciplinary interventions from beyond the traditional history of technology and promoting diversity in STEM. We welcome submissions from: the histories of technology, computing, information, and science; science and technology studies; oral history and archival studies; critical studies of big data and machine learning; studies of women, gender, and sexuality; studies of race, ethnicity, and postcoloniality; film, media, and game studies; software and code studies; network and internet histories; music, sound studies, and art history; and all other applicable domains. The annual SIGCIS Conference begins immediately after the regular annual meeting of our parent organization, the Society for the History of Technology [SHOT]. Information about the annual SHOT conference can be found at: https://bit.ly/3Nswik2 SUBMISSION FORMATS SIGCIS welcomes proposals for individual 15-20 minute papers, 3-4 paper panel proposals, and non-traditional proposals such as roundtables, software demonstrations, art and music performances, hands-on workshops, etc. SUBMISSION PROCEDURES Submissions are due June 1, 2022 via Google form: <https://forms.gle/C8ixar9s3JsCXq8d9>https://forms.gle/sLRowEDz6QitKCfv9. Submissions require: - 300-350 word abstract, summary, or prospectus (as appropriate for the submission type). Full panel proposals should additionally include 200-250 word abstracts for each paper that will be part of the panel. - 100-150 word bios for each participant If you are submitting a co-presented paper, pre-constituted panel, or other submission involving multiple participants, please only have one person submit for the group; contact and professional information for other participants can be included in the Bio submission section. Questions about the submission process should be sent to: xiaochang.li(a)stanford.edu. COSTS/REGISTRATION While last year’s online conference was pay-what-you-can, hosting an in-person event incurs costs related to room and A/V rental, catering, etc. These costs are subsidized in part by our parent organization, SHOT, but participants should expect registration fees in the range of $45-50 for SHOT attendees and $90-120 for those only attending Sunday SIGCIS Conference (we list these rates in good faith, but they are subject to change). Attending SHOT has its own registration costs. TRAVEL AND CARE GRANTS As a new initiative, SIGCIS will be offering grants to support travel expenses and/or expenses related to child, elder, and other forms of care for presenters whose responsibilities at home may present a barrier to in-person participation. The top financial priority of SIGCIS is support for graduate students, visiting faculty without institutional travel support, and others who would be unable to attend the meeting without travel assistance. We understand that for some, participation is more contingent on childcare or elder care, and as such we are opening up these grants to provide that form of support as well. There is no separate application form, though depending on the volume of requests and available resources we may need to contact you for further information before making a decision. Any award offered is contingent on registering for and attending the SIGCIS Conference. Please note that SHOT does not classify the SIGCIS Conference as participation in the SHOT annual meeting, so acceptance by SIGCIS does not imply eligibility for the SHOT travel grant program. ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATIONS REQUESTS The submission Google form will include a field where individuals may make requests for accessibility accommodations. Since our event is coordinated by our parent organization, SHOT, we cannot guarantee our ability to meet all accommodation requests. However, our intent will always be to advocate to meet the accessibility needs of our participants. SIGCIS MEETINGS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Laine Nooney, New York University (SIGCIS Vice-Chair of Meetings) Morgan Ames, University of California, Berkeley Stephanie Dick, Simon Fraser University Xiaochang Li, Stanford University ---- Laine Nooney <http://www.lainenooney.com/> MCC <http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/mcc/> @ NYU <http://www.nyu.edu/> Assistant Professor -Need to make an appt? Click, don't email: https://bit.ly/2GIHuK0 -Probably typed by voice recognition, so please cherish typos

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CFP: 2023 ACM History and Archiving Fellowship
by Tracy, Kim 10 Feb '23

10 Feb '23

SIGCIS members, The ACM History Committee’s call for proposals for the history and archiving fellowship program is now open. We’d appreciate your sharing this call with anyone who may be interested. The full call can be found in the link: https://history.acm.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/ACM-fellowship_CFP_2023_…. The deadline for submissions is February 15th, 2023. The ACM History Committee’s 2023 fellowship competition is for research and archiving projects on or centrally-related to ACM history. The History Committee plans to support up to four projects with awards up to $4,000. The History Committee has awarded over 40 fellowships<https://history.acm.org/projects-and-initiatives/fellowship-for-the-advance…> since the start of this fellowship program in 2009. Thanks for any help in getting the word out, --Kim Kim W. Tracy Visiting Asst. Professor of Computer Science and Software Engineering (he/him/his) ROSE-HULMAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 5500 Wabash Avenue | Terre Haute, IN 47803-3999 Room: Moench D216 | tracy(a)rose-hulman.edu<mailto:tracy@rose-hulman.edu> Phone: 812.877.8343 | Fax: 812.877.8343 www.rose-hulman.edu<http://www.rose-hulman.edu>

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Oral History Position at UC Berkeley
by David Brock 31 Jan '23

31 Jan '23

Great opportunity: https://aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF03791 +++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb(a)dcbrock.net 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock Pronouns: he, him, his

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Von Neumann Computer Game
by Richard Vahrenkamp 31 Jan '23

31 Jan '23

Dear folks, I have now brought out the educational game "von Neumann Computer Game". This educational game can be used in schools to teach pupils the basics of how a computer works in a playful way. The game can also be used in museum education and media education. The goal of the "von Neumann Computer Game" is to recreate the information logistics in the computer in a playful way, how under the supervision of the control unit the data gets from the memory to the arithmetic unit, is processed there and is stored back. The game has been published as an eBook and can be obtained from Amazon for a small price. All the best Richard -- ******************************************** Prof. Dr. Richard Vahrenkamp Logistik Consulting Berlin Phone 0177- 628 3325 E-Mail:Vahrenkamp2@gmx.de Web:www.vahrenkamp.org Heubnerweg 11 14059 Berlin *********************************************

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Asst Professor in Modern Culture and Media at Brown University
by Lachlan Kermode 30 Jan '23

30 Jan '23

Hi all- please see below for an opening in Modern Culture and Media at Brown. Though not explicitly a position for the history of computing, there are many of us here (graduate students and faculty) who are deeply interested in it! Ngā mihi and many thanks, Lachlan Kermode PhD Student in Modern Culture and Media Masters Student in Computer Science ------ Dear MCM Graduate Students, Good news, our search for an Assistant Professor in Theory and Practice has now been posted on Interfolio<http://apply.interfolio.com/120368>. Here it is below. Please forward it along to any of your colleagues. We, of course, are advertising through all our contacts too. Modern Culture and Media at Brown University, seek to appoint at the Assistant Professor level, a top scholar and practitioner who crosses fields of theory and production and whose focus is on the Global South, African diaspora, Black Studies, Indigenous Studies, Latinx Studies, Environmental Studies, Political Critique, Decolonization and / or LGBTQ and queer theory. In addition to a demonstrated publishing record and promising interdisciplinary research trajectory, candidates must be able to demonstrate production skills in media and technologies, photography, documentary, narrative, and / or experimental filmmaking, video production, and / or sound studies. Applicants should send a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, research statement and three letters of reference. The letter of interest should demonstrate commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in applicant's teaching, research, and creative practice. Consideration of applications will begin on February 26, 2023. Applicants are strongly advised to submit their materials by that date in order to receive full consideration. Applicants must apply online to: http://apply.interfolio.com/120368<http://apply.interfolio.com/120368> All best, Macarena _________

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Individual AFR grant - Call for PhD applicants in the History of Digital History | C2DH | Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History
by Schmitt, Martin 27 Jan '23

27 Jan '23

Dear SIGCIS, I just wanted to highlight a job opportunity at the Technical University of Darmstadt in cooperation with the C2DH in Luxembourg. There is a PhD position available to deal with a history of computing of digital humanities. Our new professor at the Institute, Julianne Nyhan, recently published some works on this topic. I think it could be a super interesting project in a great working environment. Best Martin > > https://www.c2dh.uni.lu/news/individual-afr-grant-call-phd-applicants-histo… > > Individual AFR grant - Call for PhD applicants in the History of Digital History > > Individual AFR grant - Call for PhD applicants in the History of Digital History > > The Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH) is looking for motivated and qualified candidates with an interest in the history of digital history to develop, with our help, an application for an individual AFR PhD grant <https://www.fnr.lu/funding-instruments/afr/> (Luxemburg National Research Fund). > > The doctoral project would take place within the framework of a new research project & network about the history of digital humanities that is currently being developed by Dr. Gerben Zaagsma <https://www.c2dh.uni.lu/people/gerben-zaagsma> (C²DH) and Prof. dr. Julianne Nyhan <https://www.geschichte.tu-darmstadt.de/institut_fuer_geschichte_1/ifg_konta…> (Technische Universität Darmstadt/ University College London). > > We are interested in applicants who seek to explore the nexus between (digital) technology and changing modes of historical knowledge production. Possible topics include but are not not limited to: > > The early beginnings of historical computing in the 1950s and 1960s or humanities research from this period or before that integrated algorithmic research methods or thinking, not necessarily using machines. > The development of historical computing in the Eastern bloc. > The international Association for History and Computing (1986-2005) > If selected for an AFR, the PhD candidate will be offered a work contract (up to 4 years) at the University of Luxemburg and will be jointly supervised by Dr. Zaagsma and Prof. Nyhan. > > Your profile > > Candidates should have (or expect to achieve) a Master degree in History, Digital History or Humanities, or a related field in the Humanities > Good verbal communication and academic writing skills in English; > Linguistic skills corresponding to your chosen topic (German, Russian, others). > Enthusiasm for research and critical thinking. > We actively encourage applicants from underrepresented social, economic, and cultural backgrounds to apply, as we strongly believe that an intercultural and diverse team strengthens the research and practice of digital history. > > Successful AFR applicants will be offered: > > An exciting multi-disciplinary and international research environment with ample opportunities to exchange with scholars at the University of Luxembourg; > A highly competitive salary for a full-time PhD position for a period of maximum 4 consecutive years (3+1 years); > A package of mentoring, training and career development as well as access to a wide range of courses and seminars offered by the University of Luxembourg. A close connection with the Chair of Humanities Data Science and Methodology, TU Darmstadt will be encouraged, including the opportunity to actively participate in the research-related events and activities of the Chair, as mutually agreeable. > Doctoral candidates are encouraged to actively engage in disciplinary, interdisciplinary as well as transferable skills trainings and to develop their scientific profile and network through participation in international conferences. > > About the University of Luxembourg and the C²DH > > Founded in 2003, the University of Luxembourg is the only public university of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Multilingual, international and research-oriented, it is also a modern institution with a personal atmosphere. 1,420 academic staff (including 950 doctoral candidates) supporting 268 professors, assistant professors and lecturers in their teaching. The academic staff originates from 94 different countries, and the 6,783 students from 130 different countries. > > The Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH) is the University of Luxembourg’s third interdisciplinary research centre, focusing on high-quality research, analysis and public dissemination in the field of contemporary Luxembourgish and European history. It promotes an interdisciplinary approach with a particular focus on new digital methods and tools for historical research and teaching. > > How to apply? > > Prepare your complete application including: > > a cover letter including your personal motivation for the PhD project; > a CV (incl. links to publications and/or previous projects); > a project description for your PhD project (max. 2 pages) that includes the research area, and objectives. > Please send your application to gerben.zaagsma(a)uni.lu <mailto:gerben.zaagsma@uni.lu>, whom you can also contact for questions. > > The deadline for applications: 13 February 2023 at midnight CET (Luxembourg time) and candidates will be notified of the outcome of their application by 22 February. The deadline for submitting the AFR grant applications is 8 March 2023. The applicants will be informed by July 2023 whether the application has been accepted for funding. > Martin Schmitt Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter | Post-Doc | digital enthusiast Technische Universität Darmstadt Institut für Geschichte Fachgebiet Technikgeschichte Mail: martin.schmitt(a)tu-darmstadt.de Tel: +49 6151-16-57327 http://www.computerisierung.com & Assoziierter Wissenschaftler LEIBNIZ-ZENTRUM FÜR ZEITHISTORISCHE FORSCHUNG | POTSDAM Vice Chair IFIP WG 9.7 „History of computing“ Zuletzt erschienen: Die Digitalisierung der Kreditwirtschaft. Computereinsatz in den Sparkassen der Bundesrepublik und der DDR 1957-1991, Göttingen: Wallstein-Verlag 2021, https://www.wallstein-verlag.de/9783835333710-die-digitalisierung-der-kredi…

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Automation by Design
by Jeffrey Yost 23 Jan '23

23 Jan '23

Dear Colleagues, Wanted to share the event flyer/poster for Automation by Design. Please share with anyone who may be interested. Colette, Honghong, Con, and I (Program Committee) are so looking forward to this event in less than a month!!! We have incredible scholars throughout the six session program further complemented by three excellent keynote speakers. Best, Jeff Full Program and to register CHARLES BABBAGE INSTITUTE for Computing, Information & Culture's Automation by Design <https://cse.umn.edu/cbi/automation-design> Symposium [image: Babbage Institute Virtual Event flyer FINAL.jpg] *Please connect at:* *Mastodon <https://mastodon.social/@JustCodeCulture> Twitter <https://twitter.com/justcodeculture> ** Linkedin <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-yost-b714566>* *Jeffrey Yost, Ph.D. * Director, Charles Babbage Institute <http://www.cse.umn.edu/cbi>; Research Professor, History Sci/Tech/Med 222 21st Avenue South, University of Minnesota; Minneapolis, MN 55455 *Studies in Computing and Culture book series, Johns Hopkins U. Press * Co-Editor *PI, NSF-funded CBI project "Mining a Useable Past: Perspectives, Paradoxes, and Possibilities with Security and Privacy."* *Blockchain & Society Blog and Site* <https://www.blockchainandsociety.com/> (Founder/Leader) *Interfaces: Essays and Reviews in Computing and Culture <https://cse.umn.edu/cbi/interfaces> *Co-Editor (w/ Amanda Wick) *Committee Member, National Academy of Engineering Extraordinary Engineering Impacts on Society* *Making IT Work: A History of the Computer Services Industry (MIT Press) <https://amzn.to/3gqe4R6>*

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Seeking Information on Adding Machines, Mechanical Calculators, etc. Designed and Used in the U.S. Prior to 1877
by Foster, David 18 Jan '23

18 Jan '23

Hello SIGCIS! I have the opportunity to do a research paper for a Spring term historiography course and I’d like to depart from the themes of the assigned readings and return to research in the realm of computing history. Given the chronological constraint of 1877 as the upper year, I can get just a bit into the beginning timeframe of James Cortada’s Before the Computer and had been thinking that devices like de Colmar’s Arithmometre (1820) must have made their way across the Atlantic and inspired some emulation or other ideas. The good people at the reference section of the LOC have given me some useful background and I’ve rec’d some valuable tips on patent search and organization methodologies. I have just started to search the patent history (calculators, adding machines, etc.), but any advice or insights on 19th century American “computing” from the group are greatly appreciated. Happy Holidays & New Year! Regards, Dave Dave Foster PhD Student Department of History Texas Tech University davidfos(a)ttu.edu linkedin.com/in/david-w-foster 806-282-4856 [47HZJ4QTcZx7w2e2Swgm4zzzgs9v9DxTQbyVFNkAgAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC] Learner | Intellection | Context | Ideation | Input

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16th CIFAS Field School in Ethnographic Research Methods in New York City
by Renzo Taddei 12 Jan '23

12 Jan '23

*Apologies for cross-posting. Please disseminate this call to potentially interested parties. * *16th CIFAS Field School in Ethnographic Research Methods in New York City* Online: June 19 to 30, 2023 – 9 AM to 12 PM EDT On-site in New York City: July 24 to August 4, 2023 – 9 AM to 12 PM EDT The Comitas Institute for Anthropological Study (CIFAS) is pleased to announce the 16th CIFAS Field School in Ethnographic Research Methods. The course will take place in two sessions: one in an online format at the end of June and another in a face-to-face modality in New York City in July. The Field School aims to offer training in the foundations and practice of ethnographic methods. The faculty works closely with participants to identify the required field methods to address their academic or professional needs. The Field School is suitable for graduate and undergraduate students in social sciences and other fields of study that use qualitative approaches (such as education, communication, cultural studies, health, social work, human ecology, development studies, and consumer behavior, among others), applied social scientists, professionals, and researchers who have an interest in learning more about ethnographic methods and their applications. *Program:* - Foundations of ethnographic research - Theory and practice: social theories in the field - Ethics - Research design - Data collection techniques - Planning the logistics of field research - Digital ethnography - Ethnography in interface with Social Network Analysis and other trends in the field of the digital humanities - Ethnography in specific fields of activity (applied social sciences, health, social service, environmental studies, public policy design, business, and others) - Principles of organization and indexation of field data - Analyzing field data; qualitative analysis software packages: basic principles The total workload of the course is 30 hours. In this edition of the summer school, the option of earning credits is not available. Places are limited. The tuition fee is US$ 1,200. *Comitas Field School Fellowship:* a limited amount of fellowships are available to students from underrepresented minorities and low-income countries. See information on how to apply at the end of the application form. The application should be completed online *here* <http://cifas.us/field-school-registration-form/>. For more information, please see https://cifas.us/field-school/ or email us at fieldschool(a)cifas.us.

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