Logic List Mailing Archive

CATaC 2012: Cultural Attitudes towards Technology and Communication, Aarhus (Denmark), dates not yet announced

On behalf of the CATaC (Cultural Attitudes towards Technology and 
Communication) Organizing Committee, I am very pleased to pass on to you 
the first CFP for CATaC12: Beyond the digital/cultural divide: 
in/visibility and new media.

The biennial CATaC conference series, begun in 1998, has become a premier 
international forum for current research on the complex interactions 
between culturally-variable norms, practices, and communication 
preferences, and interaction with the design, implementation and use of 
information and communication technologies (ICTs). Our 2012 conference, as 
the title suggests, begins with the recognition that the ongoing issues 
and challenges clustering around digital divides  often involving 
mutually reinforcing cultural divides extends beyond classic and stubborn 
problems of access to new media and communication technologies.

For example, matters of representation come into play, issuing in a cluster
of questions:

* Whose images and words are seen/presented/promoted and whose aren't? And 
why? If activists are using new media to represent realities of, say, 
oppressed indigenous people in a given country, is this better than no 
visibility at all, even if the people in question do not have access or 
skills to present themselves as subjects?

* In particular:
Local and indigenous HCI/ID is about making visible the semiotic scripts 
and political processes of meaning construction that shape the process of 
technology design and knowledge representation from a sociotechnical 
perspective. Making visible these scripts enables the assessment of the 
value of these tools and frameworks from indigenous and/or local 
perspectives. Key concerns here are (1) to examine the meaning and 
validity of democratic values that drive participatory design as a 
discipline, and (2) to question 'exported' representations of what 
constitutes good usability and user experience.

And:
* How do new practices of cloaking messages in otherwise public or 
semi-public media; for example, the strategies of online steganography 
work to create intentional invisibility in otherwise visible spaces? Are 
there important culturally-variable elements in these practices that, when 
brought to the foreground, help illuminate and clarify them in new ways?

Finally:
* What are the role(s) of (culturally) diverse understandings and 
representations of gender in structuring the frameworks and practices of 
design and implementation. How do these roles foster the visibility of 
some vis--vis the invisibility of others (in Levinas sense, in 
particular)?

Additional submissions are encouraged that address further conference points
of emphasis:
? Theoretical and practical approaches to analyzing culture
? New layers of imaging and texting interactions fostering and/or
threatening cultural diversity
? Impact of mobile technologies on privacy and surveillance
? Gender, sexuality and identity issues in social networks
? Cultural diversity in e-learning and/or m-learning
? Culturally-variable approaches to online identity management/creation,
privacy, trust Copyright and intellectual property rights  recent
developments, culturally-variable future directions?
? Culturally-variable responses to commodification in online environments

Both short (3-5 pages) and long (10-15 pages) original papers are sought for
presentation. Panel proposals addressing a specific theme or topic are also
encouraged.
Our provisional schedule:
     Submission of papers (short or full), panel proposals: 17. February 2012
     Notification of acceptance: 16. March, 2012
     Final formatted papers (for conference proceedings): 19. April 2012

??urther details regarding program (including keynote speakers and
pre-conference activities), registration fees, travel and accommodations
will be available soon on the conference website,
<http://www.catacconference.org/>.

We look forward to welcoming you to Aarhus next June!

Charles Ess (IMV, Aarhus University), Chair
Fay Sudweeks (Professor Emerita, Murdoch University, Perth, Western
Australia)  honorary chair
Herbert Hrachovec (University of Vienna)
Leah Macfadyen (University of British Columbia)
Jos Abdelnour Nocera (University of West London, UK)
Kenneth Reeder (University of British Columbia)
Ylva Hrd af Segerstad (Gteborgs universitet, Gteborg, SE)
Michele M. Strano (Bridgewater College, Virginia, USA)
Andra Siibak (University of Tartu, Estonia)
Maja van der Velden (University of Oslo)