Dear SIGCIS members,

After all the great discussions I've been following here, I'd like to share something for the first time.

My name is Magnus Rust and I am currently an assistant/PhD candidate at the University of Basel, where I am doing historical research on the life and work of computer science pioneer and technology skeptic Joe Weizenbaum (1923-2008), whose biography has not yet been researched (as far as I know).

In the year of his 100th birthday, next week I am co-organizing with Christian Strippel of the Weizenbaum Institute in Berlin a two-day workshop entitled:

"Weizenbaum's Worlds: Technological Change and Computer Criticism in the U.S. and Germany, ca. 1960-1990" ´

We’ve got a great line-up of presenters for Friday, November 03:

(1)  Zachary Loeb: “Not Merely Academic Foolery“: Mumford, Weizenbaum, and the Computer as “Authoritarian Technic”

(2)  Jeff Shrager, Art Schwarz, Peggy Weil, Mark Marino, David Berry, Sarah Ciston, Anthony Hay & Peter Millican: Reading ELIZA: Understanding Weizenbaum Through His Code

(3)  Patrick McCray: “I Have Pronounced Heresy” – Joseph Weizenbaum’s Politics of Pessimism

And the best part of it: It all takes place exclusively on Zoom, 3.00 – 8.00 pm CET / 7.00 am – 12.00 am PDT. 

So no reason not to tune in. All critical perspectives welcome.

All infos with abstracts and time schedule:

Best,

Magnus