CfA: HaPoC-6 2021, 27-29 Oct, Zurich, Switzerland

ETH Turing Centre, Zurich, Switzerland



While computing appears as a technological and scientific field in constant progression, our conception and knowledge of computers are also subject to change over time. In particular, digital machines of the 20th century were inspired by the biological individual, replacing with a solipsistic mental view the cultural and social aspects attached to the image of machines in the 19th century. However, the growing cultural import of computing practices has become ever more pressing in our days in all dimensions of social life. Not only have cultural phenomena increasingly become the object of computational analysis, but computational practices have also proved inseparable from the cultural environment in which they evolve.

Therefore, it is urgent to critically address the entanglement of computing practices with the main cultural challenges our epoch is facing. The global and collective nature of such problems (e.g. climate change, global pandemics, systemic inequalities, resurgence of totalitarianism, to name a few) requires a comprehensive perspective on
computing, where social and cultural aspects occupy a central position. For these reasons, thinking about machines asks today for an interdisciplinary approach, where art is as necessary as engineering, anthropological insights as important as psychological models, and the critical perspectives of history and philosophy as decisive as the
axioms and theorems of theoretical computer science.

For more than a decade, the “History and Philosophy of Computing” Conference (HaPoC, www.hapoc.org) has contributed to building such an interdisciplinary community and environment. We aim to bring together historians, philosophers, computer scientists, social scientists, designers, manufacturers, practitioners, artists, logicians, mathematicians, each with their own experience and expertise, to take part in the collective construction of a comprehensive image of computing.

Main Topics

For HaPoC 2021, we welcome contributions from researchers from different disciplinary horizons who intend to participate in the debate on the impact of computers on culture, science, and society from the perspective of their area of expertise, and who are open to engage in interdisciplinary discussions across multiple fields. Topics include but are not limited to:

  • Historical and philosophical perspectives on computing knowledge,
  • objects and practices
  • Social, cultural and pedagogical aspects of computing
  • Computing and the human sciences
  • Epistemological dimensions of computing
  • Impact of computing technologies
  • Computing and the arts


The Program Committee is available at the conference website

How to submit

We cordially invite researchers working in a field relevant to the main
topics of the Conference to submit a short abstract of 180-200 words and
an extended abstract of at most 1000 words (references included) through
EasyChair at:


Accepted papers will be presented in 30-minute slots, including
discussion. Abstracts must be written in English. Please note that the
format of uploaded files must be in .pdf. Submissions without an
extended abstract will not be considered.


Important Dates

Submission deadline: April 15, 2021
Notification of acceptance/rejection: June 15, 2021
Conference dates: October 27-29, 2021


Confirmed keynote speakers:

Barbara Liskov (MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab)
Juliette Kennedy (University of Helsinki)
Thomas Haigh (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)


Publication

A selection of revised contributions to the Conference will be published
in a Special Issue of Minds and Machines (Springer), under the title
“Computing Cultures”. The call is already available at:



Format and Fee

Due to the current pandemic situation, HaPoC-6 will take place in a hybrid format, with attendance and contributions both on-site and online.

The registration fee for contributors (both online and on-site) will be announced soon. Following previous HaPoC editions, a usual low fee is expected. Online contributions are expected to be in real time, although pre-recorded talks will be accepted on request.

Attendance (both online and on-site) will be free of charge.


Travel Grants

The Turing Centre Zurich and the HaPoC Council will propose a limited amount of travel grants to participants with accepted papers who are not beneficiaries of institutional support. More information will be soon made available on the conference webpage and through the HaPoC website (www.hapoc.org).


Organizers

Chairs:
Juan Luis Gastaldi (ETH Zurich, Turing Centre Zurich)
Luc Pellissier (Université de Paris-Est Créteil)

Organized by:
Turing Centre Zurich (ETH)

In collaboration with:
Collegium Helveticum (ETH-UZH-ZHdK)
Chair of History and Philosophy of Mathematical Sciences (ETH Zurich,
D-GESS)

Under the auspices of
DHST/DLMPST Commission for the History and Philosophy of Computing (HaPoC)