[Air-L] CFP: Computer Culture (SWPACA Conference, February 10-13, 2016)

[natasha chuk]

Southwest Popular / American Culture Association

37th Annual Conference

CFP: COMPUTER CULTURE AREA

February 10-13, 2016

Hyatt Regency, Albuquerque, NM
<http://www.southwestpca.org/>*www.southwestpca.org
<http://www.southwestpca.org/>*

*PROPOSAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Sunday, November 1, 2015*

Proposals for papers are now being accepted for the area of Computer
Culture, as one of the many areas within the 37th annual conference of the
Southwest Popular/American Culture Association (SWPACA). Please consider
submitting.

COMPUTER is broadly defined as any computational device, whether smartphone
or abacus, and any form of information technology, including the origins of
concepts of interactive text that may predate computational devices as
traditionally conceived.

CULTURE is rooted in the concept of cultural meaning. We ask not just
operational questions such as, "How do people communicate using computers?"
but questions of meaning such as, "What does it mean when people
communicate using computers instead of using pre-computer approaches to
communication?" Along these lines, we are interested in communication as
well as creative practices/applications and how computer technologies shape
them.

"Computer Culture" can be understood in a variety of ways:

●      the culture of the computer, that is, as computers interact with
each other, what culture do they have of their own?

●      the culture around the computer, that is, (sub)cultures associated
with the production, maintenance, use, and destruction of computers

●      the culture through the computer, that is, explicit treatment of how
computer mediation influences cultural phenomena that exist or have existed
in forms that did not involve computer mediation, and what these influences
mean

●      the culture by the computer, that is, the ways in which new
(sub)cultures or (sub)cultural phenomena have arisen because of computers
and understandings of these given awareness of the nature and/or workings
of computers

Example questions associated with Computer Culture would include, but not
be limited to:

●      What implications are there because of the powerfulness of
(computer/information) technology; and are these implications beneficial,
detrimental, inevitable, or avoidable?

●       What are the cultural origins of computers, computer/information
technologies, and practices associated with them? What is the descriptive
and prescriptive outlook for the conditions of those cultural forces
associated with those cultural origins?

●       How do cultural forces (such as changes from one generation to the
next, trends in education or society, or other cultural phenomena) impact
(and how are they impacted by) computer/information
technologies/market-forces, and what do these impacts (in either direction
or both) mean?


Paper topics might include (but are not limited to) those that address:

●      issues of (re)presentation through computers (website analysis and
design);

●      methods of discourse involving computers (blogging, Twitter, social
networks, YouTube, viral video, live feeds);

●      theories focused on the relationship between computers and culture,
uses of computers in particular contexts and the impacts thereof (such as
computers and pedagogy, online dating, virtual currencies, commerce,
marketing, entertainment, etc.);

●      the relationship between computers and social forces (such as
journalism, community engagement, social change, politics, social media
alternatives, etc.);

●      security/privacy/fraud/surveillance and computers (such as security
breaches, spam, scams, hoaxes, terrorism, etc.);

●      creative practice, web art, generative and digital art, virtual
performance;

●      the self, the “second self,” identity formation/negotiation,
anonymity;

●      “cyberkids,” internet youth cultures;

●      data visualization and digital geographies;

●      hashtag thinking, data organization and archives, search
predictions/autocomplete functions;

●      cultural markers (such as social media trends, memes, internet fame);

●      digital divides (such as internet inclusion/exclusion, user
diversity, interface/software architectures, etc.);

●      the general mediascape (such as issues of governance, mediation,
ownership, the ‘public sphere’, crowdsourcing, etc.)



While we will consider any relevant paper, we have a preference for those
that involve transferable methodological approaches. This is an
interdisciplinary conference, and other conference attendees would benefit
from being able to adapt your research methods to their future research.

Scholars, teachers, professionals, artists, and others interested in
computer culture are encouraged to participate. Graduate students are also
particularly welcome, with award opportunities for the best graduate
papers. More information about awards can be found at
<http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/>
http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/

 Specifically, we would like to highlight the following award opportunities:

●      The "Computer Culture and Game Studies Award"

●      The "Heldrich-Dvorak Travel Fellowships"

Given how papers may often fall into multiple categories, there may be
other award opportunities listed at
<http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/>
http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/ which would be
appropriate for your paper. (However, each presenter may only apply for one
– not including the Travel Fellowships, which can be in addition.)

For consideration, submit 100-200 word abstracts and proposals for panels
by Sunday, November 1, 2015 to the conference’s electronic submission
system, which can be found at:  <http://conference2016.southwestpca.org/>
conference2016.southwestpca.org

If you wish to propose forming your own panel, we would be glad to help
facilitate your needs. This conference is a presentation opportunity.

Visit  <http://www.journaldialogue.org/>http://journaldialogue.org
<http://www.journaldialogue.org/> for information about the organization's
new, peer-reviewed journal, *Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of
Popular Culture and Pedagogy*.

Please feel free to pass along to friends and colleagues. Questions should
be directed to the Computer Culture area chair, Natasha Chuk (nchuk at sva.edu
).

-- 
Natasha Chuk
writer, scholar, and curator
natashachuk.com

Vanishing Points: Articulations of Death, Fragmentation, and the
Unexperienced Experience of Created Objects
Intellect Books, available September 15