Hi everyone, I've been asked to participate in a panel at SHOT that discusses how SIGs influence our teaching of the history of technology. There will be one person from each SIG and the panel's goal is to tease out how each SIG's focus influences everything from the teaching of undergraduate survey courses to mentoring graduate students. How do the particular interests of the SIGs aid in "crafting a diversified pedagogical approach"? I'd like to be able to share some insights from members here who have thought about these issues and used specific theories, methods, or topics from the history of computing and information to develop or reorient their approaches to teaching and mentoring. If you have time, I'd be grateful if you would share your ideas with me in the next few days as I finalize my comments. I'd also really like to hear from grad students who can talk about how the SIGCIS might have influenced their learning experiences (as well as their teaching techniques). The panel will be featured on SHOT's new website so that folks can read the presenters' comments before the meeting. Abstract of the panel is below if you'd like to know more. Thanks in advance for your help, Marie Title: Integrating SHOT Special Interest Group Concerns into the Teaching of History of Technology: Rethinking Modes of Instruction in a Diverse Community Organizers: Honghong Tinn, National University of Singapore, Singapore Francesca Bray, University of Edinburgh, UK Discussants: Anna Åberg, the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden Gregory Clancey, National University of Singapore, Singapore Marie Hicks, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA Ann Johnson, University of South Carolina, USA (Chair) Geoff D. Zylstra, the City University of New York, USA Abstract: This roundtable session proposes to discuss the way in which SHOT scholars have incorporated SIG themes in their scholarship as well as in their teaching practices. In recent years, several new Special Interest Groups (SIGs), such as the SHOT Asia Network and Exploring Diversity in Technology’s History (EDITH) have been formed in the Society for the History of Technology. Together with a myriad of well-established SIGs, such as Women In Technology History (WITH), the Prometheans, and the Special Interest Group on Computers, Information, and Society (SIGCIS), SIGs have offered scholars homes of productive space and meaningful interactions during and beyond the annual meetings of SHOT. While we are celebrating the diversification of SIGs as a community, the teaching concerns of the community should also consider the implications of such diversification. In the 2012 SHOT, after the plenary on “Transnationalism and the History of Technology: Lessons from Tensions of Europe and Other Projects,” Ann Johnson brought up an interesting question—how do we mentor graduate students on working in transnational research projects, even as we acknowledge the importance of transnational perspectives? This roundtable session plans to invite SHOT scholars to discuss (1) the possible contributions SIGs could make to advance the field’s graduate student mentoring and undergraduate teaching, and (2) how the recent diversification of SIGs may shape our teaching of survey courses. This session will discuss the hows and whys in crafting a diversified pedagogical approach towards the study of technology’s history, as well as examine the choices of scholars in identifying particular works or approaches in their teaching at both graduate and undergraduate levels. ______________________ Marie Hicks, Ph.D. Asst. Professor, History of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL USA mhicks1@iit.edu | mariehicks.net <http://www.mariehicks.net> | @histoftech<http://twitter.com/histoftech>