[Air-L] CFP: The Cultural Legacies of Ada Lovelace

[Joly MacFie]

(a little off-topic, but not without charm)

*Texts and Contexts: The Cultural Legacies of Ada Lovelace*

*“That brain of mine is more than merely mortal; as time will show.”*

A workshop for graduate students and early career researchers

Tuesday 8th December 2015

Mathematics Institute and St Anne’s College, Oxford

 The mathematician Ada Lovelace (1815-1852), daughter of poet Lord Byron,
is celebrated as a pioneer of computer science. The notes she added to her
translation of Luigi Menabrea’s paper on Charles Babbage’s analytical
engine (1843) are considered to contain a prototype computer program.
During her short life, Lovelace not only contributed original ideas to the
plans for this early computer; she also imagined wider possibilities for
the engine, such as its application to music, and meditated on its
limitations. Lovelace leaves a legacy not just as a computer scientist, but
also as a muse for literary writers, a model to help us understand the role
of women in science in the nineteenth century, and an inspiration for
neo-Victorian and steampunk traditions.

As part of the University of Oxford’s celebrations to mark the 200th
anniversary of Lovelace’s birth, this one-day workshop will bring together
graduates and early career researchers to discuss the varied cultural
legacies of this extraordinary mathematician. The day will feature an
expert panel including graphic novelist *Sydney Padua* and biographer *Richard
Holmes*.

The day will conclude with a reception and buffet when there will be
opportunities to meet with speakers from the Ada Lovelace 200 Symposium,
which will also take place in the Mathematics Institute on the following
two days (9th-10th December). Researchers from all disciplines are invited
to submit proposals for papers on the influences of Lovelace’s work, on
topics including, but not limited to, literature, history, mathematics,
music, visual art, and computer science. This might include:

   - Lovelace’s place in the study of the history of science.
   - Lovelace and *women in science* in the nineteenth century
   - Early nineteenth-century *scientific networks*, including Lovelace’s
   relationship with such individuals as Charles Babbage and Mary Somerville.
   - Lovelace and discussions about the *role of the imagination in
   scientific practice* in the nineteenth century.
   - Lovelace as *translator and commentator*.
   - *Mathematics and music*, and the musical possibilities Lovelace
   envisaged for Babbage’s engine.
   - Lovelace’s own *textual legacies*, such as her correspondence,
   childhood exercises and mathematical notes held in the Bodleian.
   - Lovelace’s *technological legacies*, from her seminal work on
   Babbage’s Analytical Engine to her impact on computer programming today.
   - Lovelace’s role in the *steampunk tradition*, from Gibson and
   Sterling’s *The Difference Engine* to Sydney Padua’s *The Thrilling
   Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage*, and neo-Victorian fashion.
   - Efforts and activities to *commemorate and memorialise *Lovelace, from
   the recent Google Doodle to the annual Ada Lovelace Day.

Proposals, not exceeding 250 words, for 15-minute papers should be
submitted to adalovelaceworkshop at ell.ox.ac.uk
<https://owa.nexus.ox.ac.uk/owa/adalovelaceworkshop@ell.ox.ac.uk/redir.aspx?C=NFswbnWTf0aPj7h5_rlkUzkzdL9jhNII3jvQzYgNWxNKYIQBdG7MHhnkO7M6MCY6T-AxjdpCWwE.&URL=mailto:adalovelaceworkshop@ell.ox.ac.uk>
by *5pm, Friday 28th August 2015*. Those who are accepted to speak at this
graduate workshop will also be offered free registration for the Ada
Lovelace 200 Symposium taking place on the following two days. For more
information, please visit https://adalovelaceworkshop.wordpress.com
<https://owa.nexus.ox.ac.uk/owa/adalovelaceworkshop@ell.ox.ac.uk/redir.aspx?C=NFswbnWTf0aPj7h5_rlkUzkzdL9jhNII3jvQzYgNWxNKYIQBdG7MHhnkO7M6MCY6T-AxjdpCWwE.&URL=https://adalovelaceworkshop.wordpress.com>
.