Thanks to all who replied so far. I'd still like to get a little more input because I know there are folks in our SIG doing great things with teaching and mentoring. If you have any general thoughts, or specific classes or assignments that you use to bring benefits from our SIG into your teaching, please do let me know. Best, Marie ______________________ Marie Hicks, Ph.D. Asst. Professor, History of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL USA mariehicks.net | mhicks1@iit.edu | @histoftech On Sep 18, 2013, at 1:17, Marie Hicks <mhicks1@iit.edu> wrote:

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 | @histoftech