[Commlist] Women and Minorities in Creative Computing: Open Call for Case Studies

*Open Call for Case Studies: Women and Minorities in Creative Computing*


This open call for case studies is undertaken as part of the COST Action 
21141 Grassroots of Digital Europe: from Historic to Contemporary 
Cultures of Creative Computing (costgrade.eu), and it seeks to identify 
a list of historically significant women and minority individuals (or 
groups) who have contributed to the field of creative computing in 
Europe. For the purposes of this call, we define creative computing as 
any result of a creative process that requires a computing 
platform (e.g. making demos, electronic music, media art, video games or 
programming). Our aim is ultimately to develop a series of case studies 
which outline the roles and contribution of women, minorities and other 
overlooked groups in creative computing cultures. Selected case studies 
will be included in Open Educational Resources (OER) on Women and 
Minorities in Creative Computing. The OER will be available in the 
public domain under the Creative Commons license, for future use of 
researchers, educators and policy makers.
  Background
Unfortunately, creative computing as a field of practice suffers from 
the same diversity issues as the IT sector in general (see Turkle 2005, 
Abbate 2012, Shaw 2015, Vitores and Gil-Juárez 2016, Dunbar-Hester 
2020). The lack of representation can be seen on two levels. The first 
level relates to the actual gender distribution of the past creators. 
The second level – one that can be altered – is the lack of visibility 
of women and minorities who participated in these movements. One of the 
aims of GRADE is to find these cases and restore their place in the 
ongoing narrative about the history of grassroots movements and creative 
computing culture.
In line with insights from critical social thought, cultural studies, 
and diversity-oriented approaches in historiography and archive science, 
GRADE is committed to enriching the history of creative computing in 
Europe by contributing to the documentation and preservation of its 
diversity. In other words, we are interested in the work and input of 
the broadest range of individuals, socio-economic groups, and 
communities of practice and identification. To acknowledge and promote 
these contributions, the GRADE action places specific emphasis on 
identifying, preserving, and working with individuals, groups, and 
communities that have, for different reasons, been overlooked in extant 
scholarship.
References
Abbate, J. (2012). Recoding gender: Women’s changing participation in 
computing. Mit Press.
Dunbar-Hester, C. (2020). Hacking diversity: The politics of inclusion 
in open technology cultures. Princeton University Press.
Shaw, A. (2015). Gaming at the edge: Sexuality and gender at the margins 
of gamer culture. University of Minnesota Press.
Turkle, S. (2005). The second self: Computers and the human spirit. MIT 
Press.
Vitores, A., & Gil-Juárez, A. (2016). The trouble with ‘women in 
computing’: a critical examination of the deployment of research on the 
gender gap in computer science. Journal of Gender Studies, 25(6), 666-680.
Eligibility
This call is open to any member of the GRADE research network.
If you are not a member yet, you can apply easily using the eCOST portal 
(you will need to create an account if you do not have one yet): 
https://e-services.cost.eu/action/CA21141/working-groups/apply 
<https://e-services.cost.eu/action/CA21141/working-groups/apply>. 
Working Group Membership applications are evaluated based on the 
following three criteria: (1) motivation for joining the Action, (2) 
prior experience in relevant fields, (3) proposed contribution to the 
network. The application does not have to be long – a paragraph per 
section suffices – just remember to state how you can contribute to the 
Action’s specific working group outcomes (e.g. by submitting a case 
study relevant to this call). A detailed outline of the evaluation 
criteria can be found here: 
https://tinyurl.com/cost-grassroots-evaluation 
<https://tinyurl.com/cost-grassroots-evaluation>.
Submissions can be made by an individual or a group of individuals.
Personal data
This open call is a part of GRADE’s process of creating a set of Open 
Educational Resources (OER) on the role of women and minorities in 
creative computing histories in Europe. The process involves two 
distinct (pre)production phases: 1) Collection of case study proposals 
through this open call – these case study proposals will be made 
available to a designated task force, strictly for internal use within 
the research network. 2) Selection of proposals to be included in the 
OER pack, and development of case studies. This phase will entail 
communication with the persons involved in the case studies, and the 
acquisition of their informed consent to participate in the proposed 
research and resource development. For more information, please consult 
the full Privacy Notice <https://seafile.utu.fi/f/588df62ede464c9981c9/>.
Selection Criteria
The Action Leadership will consider all submissions based on the 
following criteria:

  * Overall quality and clarity of the proposal (it should be clear
    which individuals or communities, and for which reasons are
    proposed; proposals should also address the case study’s “European”
    dimension),
  * Alignment of the case study with the topic of the call,
  * Geographic diversity,
  * Agreement with the eligibility criteria.
Each successful proponent case study will be shortlisted to apply for a 
Short Term Scientific Mission. Publishable draft of the case study 
should be presented by 31 August, 2025.
Timeline
Release of the Open Call – 27 February 2025
Deadline for submissions – 12 March 2025
Announcement of the selection – 19 March 2025
Deadline to submit case studies – 31 August 2025
All submissions will be reviewed by the Action Leadership.
Submit your application
Applicants must submit their proposal using the following template 
<https://seafile.utu.fi/f/d9dd9756acc5487d9e7c/?dl=1> by 12 March 2025, 
to the following email address: (info /at/ costgrade.eu). 
<mailto:(info /at/ costgrade.eu)>


If you have any questions related to this Open Call, please contact 
Natalija Majsova at (natalija.majsova /at/ fdv.uni-lj.si).


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