CFP: Transnational Times: Locality, Globality and Mobility in Technology Design and Use

CFP: Transnational Times: Locality, Globality and Mobility in
Technology Design and Use
A workshop at Ubicomp 2010
September 26, 2010 Copenhagen, Denmark

Organizers: Irina Shklovski, Silvia Lindtner, Janet Vertesi, Paul
Dourish

We seek interdisciplinary scholars interested in exploring the role of
ubiquitous computing, the use of information and communication
technologies and the politics of technological design in transnational
settings to participate in our workshop, TRANSNATIONAL TIMES, at
Ubicomp 2010. Through this workshop we aim to expand our current
scholarly vocabulary for the conceptualization of information and
communication technologies (ICTs) in addressing the interplay of local
and global user interaction.
Current work in Ubiquitous computing is already considering the use of
technologies in the developing world and marginalized users in the
developed world. This workshop extends such an interest to examine
interactions with ubiquitous technology in a transnational context.
After all, technologies such as mobile phones, social networking
applications and the internet writ large complicate the framing of use
and culture as bounded by national or geographical borders, as such
illuminating diverse user practices and identities. In this analytical
frame we take inspiration from theorists of the global in
anthropology, sociology, and HCI who focus on flows across boundaries,
hybridity and transnationality.

Examples of possible papers or research topics of interest include
(but are not limited to): the use of pervasive technologies such as
multiplayer gaming across borders, studies of the use of social
network sites among diaspora communities, use of the internet and
other ICTs in censorship state zones, the role of mobile technologies
in reconfiguring the local and the global, technology in the context
of international migration networks, ubiquitous computing and cross-
cultural collaboration, and the role of technology in international
politics. Papers that develop theoretical approaches, that examine or
report on empirical work, or that design technological artifacts are
welcome, and need not be limited to "developing world" sites of
interest.

We hope to attract submissions from scholars working in a range of
fields across computational, social and humanistic studies, such as
human computer interaction, anthropology, media studies, sociology,
science and technology studies and social and cultural geography. The
goal of the workshop is to assemble like minds and projects, to
develop a language and toolset appropriate for the study of ubiquitous
technologies in transnational spaces, and to engage a wider community
of researchers working in this area. We also hope this workshop will
interest technology designers and developers currently working in non-
western contexts. Full papers may later be solicited for a potential
edited volume.

TO APPLY:

Interested participants should submit a 2-4 page paper in Ubicomp
Archival Format describing your current project and its contribution
to the workshop topic and themes. As you prepare your paper we
suggest you visit our website at <
http://www.ics.uci.edu/~lindtner/transnationaltimes<http://www.ics.uci.edu/%7Elindtner/transnationaltimes>
> for more information.

Papers must be emailed to transnationaltimes@gmail.com by JUNE 15,
2010. Decisions will be announced by June 30.

All accepted participants should plan to attend at least one full day
of Ubicomp 2010 in addition to the workshop. Registration will be
handled by Ubicomp 2010's central registration page via <
http://www.ubicomp2010.org


--
Christina Dunbar-Hester

Postdoctoral Fellow
Virtual Knowledge Studio for the Humanities & Social Sciences
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts & Sciences
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

http://virtualknowledgestudio.nl/