[ecrea] CFP: Computer Culture (SWPACA Conference, February 19-22, 2014)

Computer Culture area

35th Annual Southwest Popular / American Culture Association Conference

February 19-22, 2014

Hyatt Regency, Albuquerque, NM

www.southwestpca.org

We are accepting papers and forming panels for the area of Computer 
Culture, as one of the many areas within the 35th annual conference of 
the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association (SWPACA).

The conference was formerly named the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture 
Association / American Culture Association (SW/TX PCA/ACA).

Computer is broadly defined as any computational device, whether 
smartphone or abacus, and any form of information technology, including 
the origins of concepts of interactive text which may predate 
computational devices as traditionally conceived.

Culture is rooted in the concept of cultural meaning. We ask not just 
operational questions such as, "How do people communicate using 
computers?" but questions of meaning such as, "What does it mean when 
people communicate using computers instead of using pre-computer 
approaches to communication?"

"Computer Culture" can be understood in a variety of ways:

*

the culture of the computer, that is, as computers interact with each 
other, what culture do they have of their own?
*

the culture around the computer, that is, (sub)cultures associated with 
the production, maintenance, use, and destruction of computers
*

the culture through the computer, that is, explicit treatment of how 
computer mediation influences cultural phenomena that exist or has 
existed in forms that did not involve computer mediation, and what these 
influences mean
*

the culture by the computer, that is, the ways in which new 
(sub)cultures or (sub)cultural phenomena have arisen because of 
computers and understandings of these given awareness of the nature 
and/or workings of computers


Example questions associated with Computer Culture would include, but 
not be limited to:

*

What implications are there because of the powerfulness of 
(computer/information) technology ___ and are these implications 
beneficial, detrimental, inevitable, or avoidable?
*

What are the cultural origins of computers, computer/information 
technologies, and practices (such as ____) associated with them? What is 
the descriptive and prescriptive outlook for the conditions of those 
cultural forces associated with those cultural origins?
*

How do cultural forces (such as changes from one generation to the next, 
trends in education or society, or other cultural phenomena) impact (and 
are impacted by) computer/information technologies/market-forces, and 
what do these impacts (in either direction or both) mean?


Paper topics might include (but are not limited to) those that address:

*

issues of (re)presentation through computers (Web site analysis and design),
*

methods of discourse involving computers (blogging, Twitter, social 
networks, viral video, live feeds),
*

theories focused on the relationship between computers and culture,
*

uses of computers in particular contexts and the impacts thereof 
(computers and pedagogy, online literary journals),
*

the relationship between computers and cultural forces (such as news, 
politics, and terrorism),
*

security/privacy/fraud and computers (online security issues, spam, 
scams, and hoaxes),
*

and others.


While we will consider any relevant paper, we have a preference for 
those that involve transferable methodological approaches. This is an 
interdisciplinary conference, and other conference attendees would 
benefit from being able to adapt your research methods to their future 
research.

Scholars, teachers, professionals, artists, and others interested in 
computer culture are encouraged to participate.

Graduate students are also particularly welcome with award opportunities 
for the best graduate papers. More information about awards can be found at
http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/
Specifically, we would like to highlight the following award opportunities:

*

The "Computer Culture and Game Studies Award"
*

The "Heldrich-Dvorak Travel Fellowships"

Given how papers may often fall into multiple categories, there may be 
other award opportunities listed at 
http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/ which would 
be appropriate for your paper. (However, each presenter may only apply 
for one – not including the Travel Fellowships, which can be in addition.)

If you wish to form your own panel, we would be glad to facilitate your 
needs.

This conference is a presentation opportunity. For a publication 
opportunity, we encourage you to consider submitting your paper to the 
Southwest PCA/ACA’s new journal, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal 
of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, at

http://journaldialogue.org/call-for-papers/

Please pass along this call to friends and colleagues.

For consideration, submit 100-200 word abstracts and proposals for 
panels before

Friday, November 1, 2013

to the conference’s electronic submission system which can be found at:
http://conference2014.southwestpca.org/

If you have any questions, contact the Computer Culture area co-chairs,
Andrew Chen ((andrewsw /at/ gmail.com)) and Joseph Chaney ((jchaney /at/ iusb.edu)).

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