CfP: Technology’s workforce. Inventing, operating and learning technology throughout history
The 41st History
of Technology Conference will be held at the Klostergut Paradies in
Schlatt near Schaffhausen, Switzerland on 16 and 17 November 2018. The
Conference has served as an outstanding platform for the exchange of
ideas between research, teaching and industry since 1978. The speakers
and the invited guests come from universities, libraries, collections
and museums or contribute their business and industrial experience. The
conferences are renowned for the breadth and topicality of the papers
presented. You can find information on previous conferences at: www.eisenbibliothek.ch.
This
international and interdisciplinary event is organized by the Iron
Library (Eisenbibliothek), Foundation of Georg Fischer Ltd.
Responsibility for the content of the conference is in the hands of a
scientific advisory board consisting of Dr. Gisela Hürlimann (ETH
Zurich), Prof. Reinhold Reith (University of Salzburg) and Prof.
Friedrich Steinle (TU Berlin).
Conference topic in 2018: Technology’s workforce. Inventing, operating and learning technology throughout history
The
interaction between humans and technical artifacts is a constitutive
element of technology history, but this interplay seems to take on a new
quality in the 21st century. On the basis of current developments and
forecasts, we can assume that the work and technical operations done by
human hands will increasingly be taken over, wholly or in part, by
machines that are equipped with artificial intelligence. That is an
exciting starting point for reassessing both the role of humans as
technological actors and technology as a field of human endeavor.
The
Conference will examine the historical change in technical activities
and in those individuals or groups of individuals who learn and practice
these technologies and who develop and maintain technological processes
and equipment. The focal point of the Conference are humans as
technology’s 'actors' and ‘workforce’ – also in their role as men or
women, as 'natives' or 'foreigners' or as members of different social,
ethnic or religious groups. We invite papers that inquire in particular
into the following areas:
Learning and teaching
From
learning by doing to master craftsman and technical college? This
concise formulation outlines a path that has developed – and continues
to co-exist with more formal approaches – in technical training.
Speakers may wish to address the less formalized practices of technical
training and routinized procedures alongside formal educational
establishments and teaching methods as well as the institutions behind
them.
Development
The image of the innovative
engineer encompasses the narrative of technical progress as the epitome
of modernism. The Conference aims to broaden this perspective on the
process of technological discovery and development and inquire into the
conditions for invention. In which social contexts and professional
networks does the knowledge of technical development emerge? What is the
role played by knowledge and practice transfer, and where do imitation
and adaptation come in? Papers will focus on engineers but also on
tinkerers, experienced practitioners, nerds and superusers who bring
about the modifications that are so crucial for sustainable innovation.
Implementing and maintenance
The
biggest contribution to technology as routine practice is made – today
as in the past – by the "workforce": the men and women who implement
technical procedures, who operate apparatus and machines – from weaving
looms to CNC machines – and thereby ensure that technology actually
works. This also involves the important tasks of maintenance and repair,
which are – even today – virtually inseparable from technological
development and continue to offer a wide field of activity.
Proposals for papers on these and other related subjects are welcome.
Format
The
papers may be read in English or in German. Conference documents
including English abstracts of all papers will be prepared by the
organizer. The papers should not exceed 20 minutes in length. Following
the conference, papers will be published in the specialized journal Ferrum, which is published annually by the Iron Library.
Synopsis
Applicants
are kindly invited to submit a synopsis of their paper – no longer than
two A4 pages (4'000 characters) – in English or German, along with an
up-to-date resume, by 30 April 2018 to the Head of the Iron Library,
lic. phil. Franziska Eggimann (franziska.eggimann@georgfischer.com).
The
Iron Library, Foundation of Georg Fischer Ltd, will assume speakers'
travel expenses and the cost of room and board during the Conference. We
expect that speakers will attend the entire Conference.
Timelines
We request you to submit your synopsis by 30 April 2018.
The selection of the speakers will be completed by the end of May 2018.