January 2023 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

New Open Access Book: Erving Goffman’s 1953 dissertation, Communication Conduct in an Island Community
by Jeff Pooley 09 Jan '23

09 Jan '23

mediastudies.press is a scholar-led, nonprofit, no-fee open access publisher in the media, film, and communication studies fields. We are excited to announce the publication of Erving Goffman’s remarkable 1953 dissertation, Communication Conduct in an Island Community: https://www.mediastudies.press/communication-conduct-in-an-island-community Canadian-born Erving Goffman (1922–1982) was the twentieth century’s most important sociologist writing in English. His 1953 dissertation is published here for the first time, on the hundredth anniversary of his birth. The study, based on fieldwork on a remote Scottish island, presents in embryonic form the full spread of Goffman’s thought. Framed as a “report on a study of conversational interaction,” the dissertation lingers on the modest talk of island “crofters.” It is trademark Goffman: ambitious, unconventional in form, and brimmed with big-picture insight. The thesis is that social order is made and re-made in communication—the “interaction order” he re-visited in a famous and final talk before his 1982 death. The dissertation is, as Yves Winkin writes in a new introduction, the “Rosetta stone for his entire work.” It was here, in 360 dense pages, that Goffman revealed, quietly, his peerless sensitivity to the invisible wireframes of everyday life. The book is available online and as a free download in PDF and ePub. A paperback version is also available. https://www.mediastudies.press/communication-conduct-in-an-island-community Communication Conduct in an Island Community appears in the Public Domain series. Scholars interested in proposing volumes in this or other series are encouraged to reach out with a query: https://www.mediastudies.press/queries You can learn more about mediastudies.press, including our operations and OA principles, on our site: https://www.mediastudies.press/about The press is a member of the Open Book Collective and the ScholarLed consortium, and also publishes the History of Media Studies journal. Please contact us at press(a)mediastudies.press --------- Jeff Pooley Professor of Media & Communication, Muhlenberg College Director, mediastudies.press jeffpooley.com

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Call for papers: special issue on “Gender and Internet/Web History.”
by Janet Abbate 05 Jan '23

05 Jan '23

Call for papers: “Gender and Internet/Web History.” This is a special issue of the journal Internet Histories: Digital Technology, Culture and Society, edited by Leopoldina Fortunati, Autumn Edwards & Janet Abbate. This special issue will take stock of the historical entanglement of gender and the Internet/Web. Facing a critical juncture both in terms of the technological development of the Internet (e.g., the nascent Web 3.0, radical decentralization, the integration of AI and machine learning) and also in terms of sociopolitical struggle on the part of women and gender-linked identity groups on local and global levels, we ask: How can we root the analysis of gender and the Internet on a historical level? How can histories that integrate gender and the Internet/Web help us comprehend the sociological, cultural, and political meaning and dimensions of each? Deadline for the submission of proposals is February 28th, 2023. Full papers will be due March 1st, 2024. Complete CFP details are attached. Submit proposals to each of the editors: • leopoldina.fortunati(a)uniud.it • autumn.edwards(a)wmich.edu • abbate(a)vt.edu Please mention “CFP Gender and Internet/Web History” in the subject line. This is a great opportunity for junior scholars or people exploring a new research area, as you will have nearly a year to write your article once your proposal has been accepted. We hope to hear from many of you! Dr. Janet Abbate Professor, Science, Technology and Society Virginia Tech Co-director, VT National Capital Region STS program liberalarts.vt.edu/sts www.facebook.com/VirginiaTechSTS https://sites.google.com/vt.edu/stsconnect/

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new book
by Dick van Lente 03 Jan '23

03 Jan '23

Dear SIGCIS, Some of you may be interested in a collection of essays that I edited and that just came out with Morgan & Claypool/ACM: ACM Books (morganclaypoolpublishers.com)<https://www.morganclaypoolpublishers.com/catalog_Orig/index.php?cPath=24&so…>. Title & description: Prophets of computing. Visions of society transformed by computing. When electronic digital computers first appeared after World War II, they appeared as a revolutionary force. Business management, the world of work, administrative life, the nation state, and soon enough everyday life were expected to change dramatically with these machines’ use. Ever since, diverse prophecies of computing have continually emerged, through to the present day. As computing spread beyond the US and UK, such prophecies emerged from strikingly different economic, political, and cultural conditions. This volume explores how these expectations differed, assesses unexpected commonalities, and suggests ways to understand the divergences and convergences. This book examines thirteen countries, based on source material in ten different languages—the effort of an international team of scholars. In addition to analyses of debates, political changes, and popular speculations, we also show a wide range of pictorial representations of "the future with computers." Best regards to all, Dick van Lente Dick van Lente Book Review Editor Technology & Culture

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Martin Davis (1928-2023)
by lidemol 03 Jan '23

03 Jan '23

Dear all, it is with great sadness that I wanted to inform you about the death of Martin Davis. Next to his basic contributions to computer science he was, above all, a great person -- humble, kind, honest and with integrity, with my best wishes, Liesbeth

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