Dear Colleagues, Wanted to send a reminder that the deadline for paper proposals (300 to 450 word abstract and 2pp. CV) to CBI's Symposium "Just Code: Power, Inequality, and the Political Economy of IT" is only 8 days away, October 15th (midnight CST). The event itself is May 8-9, 2020. The CFP is in the CBI Newsletter at the following link (and it also is pasted below at the bottom of this message). http://www.cbi.umn.edu/newsletter/article6.html My co-leader on this effort UC-Davis' Gerardo Con Diaz ("Con") and I have been thrilled with the interest scholars worldwide (from many disciplines) have expressed in recent months. There has also been tremendous interdisciplinary interest on campus at the University of Minnesota, 14 departments and centers from six colleges (and two college level deans) have signed on with strong financial support as co-sponsors--from the College of Science and Engineering/HSTM (CSE is the lead overall UMN co-sponsor) and University Libraries/Archives and Special Collections to Computer Science and Engineering (lead UMN dept. co-sponsor), Writing Studies (Rhetoric), Anthropology, MN Ctr. for the Philosophy of Sci., The China Center, The Human Rights Ctr., the Institute for Advanced Study, School Social Work, ECE, Hubbard School of Journalism/Communication, Wilkins Ctr. for Human Relations and Social Justice, etc. For this we are extremely grateful and we expect a sizable symposium with participants and attendees from many disciplines. Con and I are greatly looking forward to the event, and subsequently, an impactful "Just Code..." edited volume we will publish with Springer in the History of Computing Series (all papers for the volume must pass editorial and peer review). For those wanting to attend but not presenting, there is a link below to the event registration form (and rooms currently are available for you to book at a discounted rate by telling the Courtyard it is for attending CBI's Just Code). Best, Jeff Jeffrey Yost Director, Charles Babbage Institute Research Professor History of Science, Technology, and Medicine University of Minnesota -------------- Below is a Call for Papers (deadline Oct. 15th 2019) and registration information for a Charles Babbage Institute (CBI) Symposium/Workshop I am co-leading with Univ. of California-Davis' Gerardo Con Diaz (Friday and Saturday, May 8-9, 2020). We hope many of you will consider proposing a paper (or otherwise attending). We encourage (and would appreciate) your forwarding this to anyone you think might be interested. *Just Code: Power, Inequality, and the Global Political Economy of IT* Just Code is a one and a half day CBI symposium/workshop on how code—construed broadly, from software routines to bodies of law and policy—structures and reinforces power relations. It will explore the often invisible ways that individuals and institutions use software, algorithms, and computerized systems to establish, legitimize, and reinforce widespread social, material, commercial, and cultural inequalities and power imbalances. The event will also examine how individuals, unions, political organizations, and other institutions use code to fight for equality and justice. Other major themes include the (pre-)history of code/algorithmic thinking; code as means of concealment or secret communications; codes of conduct in business, governance, and culture related to IT and its institutions (local and global exploitation through imperialism, human rights violations, and environmental degradation); and codes of ethics in information technology. The papers will draw from across the humanities and qualitative social sciences, including disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, science and technology studies, geography, and communications. We anticipate that papers (collectively) will examine a wide range of themes in the global business, cultural, social, legal, and environmental history of the political economy of information technology. Papers will be pre-circulated (among presenters) and we have plans to publish revised papers (after editorial and peer review) as an edited volume in the Springer History of Computing Book Series. Proposals should include a two-page curriculum vitae and a 300 to 450 word abstract (as a single PDF) that highlights the key argument(s), connection of the paper to the symposium's topic/themes, and a description of core methods/sources. This should be sent to cbi@umn.edu (please have your last name in the file name and use the subject line "Just Code Symposium Proposal"). Deadline for Paper Proposals is Oct. 15, 2019 (notifications will be made within 30 days) Deadline for Submission of Papers (for those offered and accepting a place on the program) is March 31, 2020 (papers will only be pre-circulated to fellow presenters/panelists on the program, not to all registrants). Those offered and accepting a spot on the program will have to commit to participating in the entire workshop, revising their work based on feedback from peers at the event and the organizers/editors, and submitting it for consideration to the planned edited volume. For those offered and accepting a place on the symposium's program (presenters/panelists), CBI will cover the cost of 2 nights lodging at a nearby hotel (walking distance to CBI), lunch, and an event dinner. Early career presenters on the program (graduate students, postdocs, and junior faculty) can apply for CBI travel grants of $300 to partially offset their travel costs (done as a reimbursement/partial reimbursement). Please indicate if you would like to be considered for one of these travel grants at the bottom of your abstract. The program will commence at 8:30 AM on Friday and conclude at 12:30 PM on Saturday. Registration is automatic for everyone on the program. For those wanting to attend who are not presenting, the symposium's registration is free and open to CBI Friends (and those who become CBI Friends), and to students, academic staff, and faculty of the Univ. of Minnesota. Lunch is provided for all who register. The event dinner is only for those on the program. Information on becoming a CBI Friend is at http://www.cbi.umn.edu/about/friends.html Registration form for those attending but not presenting. The size will be capped, so we encourage registering far in advance. https://forms.gle/KK5n37jhN1Mdnyxp9 The event will be at CBI--Andersen Library at the University of Minnesota ["Just Code" is sponsored in major part by a very generous gift/bequest events endowment to CBI from IT industry veteran Michael J. Samek] Best, Jeff and Con Jeffrey R. Yost, Ph.D., CBI Director & Research Prof. HSTM, Univ. of Minn. Gerardo Con Diaz, Ph.D., Asst. Prof., Science and Technology Studies, Univ. of Cal.-Davis Jeffrey R. Yost, Ph.D. Director, Charles Babbage Institute Research Professor, Program in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine 222 21st Avenue South University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 55455 612 624 5050 Phone 612 625 8054 Fax