A friend just sent me this (announcement below). People in the DC area might be interested. “The event celebrates one of the great pioneers of the Information Age, Admiral Grace Murray Hopper. Admiral "Amazing Grace" Hopper's scholarship in computer science was the immediate reason for the implementation of COBOL in 1960, thus inaugurating our Information Age.” That's not an entirely coherent historical claim, and as one looks closer it seems odder and odder. The oddness lies not just in the fact that there are no historians on the panel (we’re used to being ignored at anniversaries, after all) but also no computer scientists, business data processing types, or anyone else with an obvious connection to the history of COBOL! See the program at http://www.thechiefinformationgroup.com/conference/smithsonian/1009SIAgenda. pdf. This event may potentially of interest to someone as an example of the way in which Grace Hopper’s role as a secular saint of information has spread beyond computer science. Now that would be a good topic for a cultural history panel discussion. Tom To: ASBH ASBH <asbh@lists.asbh.org> From: "Dr. Edward Gabriele" <efgabriele@comcast.net> Sent by: asbh-bounces@lists.asbh.org Date: 08/02/2010 04:23PM Subject: [ASBH] LAST MONTH REMINDER: Smithsonian Fall Conference Colleagues, We are in the last month prior to the Fall 2010 Smithsonian Conference on Information and Computer Science. We need your support to energize greater interest. The summer months are challenging for events such as these. Please pass on this announcement to any and all interested individuals and institutions. Please register ASAP. This conference discusses the importance of knowledge science and information technologies in society, education, and professional life. The conference will be held on Thursday, September 9, 2010, at the Carmichael Auditorium, National Museum of American History, 14th and Constitution Avenue NW in DC. The conference is entitled: "From Knowledge to Wisdom: Reflections on 50 Years of the Information Age." The event celebrates one of the great pioneers of the Information Age, Admiral Grace Murray Hopper. Admiral "Amazing Grace" Hopper's scholarship in computer science was the immediate reason for the implementation of COBOL in 1960, thus inaugurating our Information Age. The conference will be an open panel discussion on the significance of knowledge science by very distinguished academic experts in the arts and sciences. The panelists will discuss the impact that knowledge technologies are having on human culture --- whether for the good or otherwise. The discussion will be highly informative and provocative especially for the way in which computing affects our leadership in human services and our ability to relate with each other in our professions, in family and in society.  The event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Smithsonian's Office of Sponsored Projects, in partnership with The Navy Medicine Institute for the Medical Humanities and Research Leadership. Please register at the following: http://www.thechiefinformationgroup.com/conference/smithsonian/index.php?c_i d=16 The registration site also includes a downloadable PDF with fuller details. Note: If you are using plain text email formats, you will need to copy and paste the entire URL into your browser and proceed from there. The URL begins with http and ends with c_id=16. If you have any questions about logistics, please contact: Julie O'Dell at O'DellJ@si.edu For technical issues with registration, email: conference@thechiefinformationgroup.com Please feel free to forward this to colleagues, friends, and others who may be interested. _______________________________________________ ASBH mailing list ASBH@lists.asbh.org =