We’re very happy to announce a special SIGCIS meeting on March 18-19, 2017, hosted and sponsored by the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. More information is below; for the full call for papers and registration information, please visit http://meetings.sigcis.org/. And please share widely!

The purpose of the meeting, Command Lines: Software, Power, and Performance, is to draw together scholars from a variety of fields that study software, including the history of computing, science and technology studies, software studies, code studies, game studies, media studies, web and internet history, and computer science and engineering. The meeting hopes to explore the connections between the creation and use of software and “power” in multiple senses, and the connection between software and conceptions of technical and cultural “performance.”

We are delighted that the meeting will begin with two keynote speakers - Kavita Philip of University of California, Irvine, and Tom Mullaney of Stanford University.

The SIGCIS organizing committee now seeks proposals for short papers (15-20 min.) to present new work at the conference. We welcome work that hinges on, links to, or reacts against the themes of the meeting. We also welcome submissions that may not connect specifically with the themes but have bearing on the larger project of SIGCIS--the study of computing and sociotechnical change. We especially encourage submissions from graduate students and early career scholars.

Deadlines and Submission Protocol
Proposals for papers are due by December 30th, 2016. Decisions will be made by January 16th, 2017. Proposals should include:

a one-page abstract (maximum 400 words) addressing the paper's topic, approach, sources, and relationship to existing literatures
a one-page CV

Please email your proposal to SIGCIS organizing committee by midnight (Pacific time) on December 30th to Conference Assistant kera [dot] allen [at] gatech [dot] edu.

Financial Support
SIGCIS and the Museum will be able to provide partial financial support to graduate students to present at the meeting. Please note in your proposal if you would like to be considered for a travel award.

Location and Logistics
The meeting events will be held at CHM at 1401 North Shoreline Boulevard, Mountain View, CA 94043. During the event, attendees will have access to CHM’s most recent major exhibit on software and its implications, Make Software: Change the World!

There will be no official meeting hotel or transportation. The meeting has a $40 registration fee, waived for graduate and undergraduate students as well as independent scholars. Presenters and attendees may register here. We encourage early registration, as attendance will be limited.