<div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Gabriella "Biella" Coleman</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:enid.coleman@mcgill.ca">enid.coleman@mcgill.ca</a>></span><br>Date: 23 December 2015 at 20:13<br>Subject: <nettime> Hackademia summer school, application due Jan 4th, funding available<br>To: <a href="mailto:nettime-l@kein.org">nettime-l@kein.org</a><br><br><br> Hi,<br>
The application deadline for the hacker studies summer school is fast<br>
approaching. Please share widely. Thanks!<br>
All best,<br>
Gabriella<br>
<br>
--------<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.leuphana.de/en/research-centers/cdc/digital-cultures-research-lab/events/summer-school-2016.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.leuphana.de/en/research-centers/cdc/digital-cultures-research-lab/events/summer-school-2016.html</a><br>
<br>
Call For Participants<br>
<br>
Hackademia: empirical studies in computing cultures<br>
<br>
A Digital Cultures Research Lab (DCRL) Summer School<br>
<br>
August 28^th - September 2^nd, 2016<br>
<br>
Leuphana University<br>
<br>
<br>
Curated by<br>
<br>
Paula Bialski, Leuphana University<br>
<br>
Gabriella Coleman, McGill University<br>
<br>
Marcell Mars, Leuphana University<br>
<br>
<br>
Background<br>
<br>
Studying digital media today means studying those<br>
technologists--hackers, security resarchers, game developers, system<br>
administrators, and designers--who create and maintain the digital<br>
worlds we live in. How much agency lies in the hands of programmers,<br>
coders, and engineers to create our digital worlds is still up for<br>
debate, yet this much is true: various hacking and related subcultures<br>
form critical nodes of practice that help shape and condition the<br>
contemporary technologies we use everyday. Whether it is an analyst or<br>
coder implementing algorithms at a large financial institution, a group<br>
of designers working on improving the user interface for a<br>
cryptographic tool, a privacy team securing a browser, a developer<br>
coding her own app, cryptographers working on an open source anoymized<br>
system, a programmer working on a p2p file-sharing platform, hackers<br>
buying and selling zero days in a grey market, a team of system<br>
administrators at Google working to scale up services, a<br>
journalist-coder developing visualization tools, indie game developers<br>
seeking to write a politically minded game, or a hacker-leaker<br>
whistleblowing to salavage privacy - all have something to say about<br>
how digital technology can and should be created.<br>
<br>
These technology workers/experts are now central to every field of<br>
social, political, and economic import. They secure our communications<br>
networks; shape the design and portals we use to connect to our banks,<br>
our friends, our loved ones, our colleagues, our business partners;<br>
inform us about the activities of our governments; design novel<br>
currencies; exfiltrate intellectual property and proof of wrongdoing<br>
from corporate actors; offer us alternative ways of organizing our<br>
political voices whether through political projects or games; function<br>
as conduits and warriors between nations; and allow us to confront the<br>
laws we don't like - through democratic engagements, as in the Free<br>
Software movement, or tools that enable outright circumvention.<br>
<br>
This is an ideal time to understand and ultimately appraise their<br>
activities, actions, their desires, and intentions. While an increasing<br>
number of scholars - ethnographers, cultural anthropologists,<br>
sociologists, and media historians - are undertaking the study of<br>
hacker cultures, there are many methodological questions to pose and<br>
explore: How much technical knowledge is necessary to study the worlds<br>
of computing and programming? How does one gain access to secret nooks<br>
of hacking or corporate sites - whether a security company, gaming<br>
outfit, or blackhat computer forum - where codes, designers, and<br>
hackers labor? How is the study of hackers similar and different to the<br>
study of other experts such as scientists? As participant observers,<br>
how can we fully understand the engineering culture of the hackers we<br>
are studying, and what shortcuts in our methods must be taken in order<br>
to create an understanding?<br>
<br>
Who Should Apply?<br>
<br>
This summer school invites doctoral students in the field of<br>
ethnography, cultural anthropology, media studies, software studies,<br>
sociology, science, technology studies, history, or other, who are<br>
currently working on a dissertation on the life-worlds, practices,<br>
cultures, or platforms of hackers. Hackers here are understood broadly<br>
as programmers, coders, pirates, and computer engineers of all shapes<br>
and forms - and do not necessarily have to be engaged in illegal or<br>
subversive activity or self identify as hackers. Applicants who are<br>
struggling with field entry, are learning to code, or seek to expand<br>
their methods, are particularly welcome.<br>
<br>
Who Will Attend?<br>
<br>
This summer school will provide a dialogue between hackers and<br>
academics. As such, we will additionally invite a number of hackers,<br>
coders, programmers, and technologists. These guests will lead sessions<br>
around the topic of field entrance, knowledge transfer, work<br>
organization and hacker communication practices, feminist critiques,<br>
and standards/protocols. Keynote speakers will also provide evening<br>
lectures, and help lead sessions.<br>
<br>
Where and when will this take place?<br>
<br>
The Hackademia summer school will take place at the Digital Cultures<br>
Research Lab (DCRL), Leuphana University in Luneburg, Germany (30<br>
minutes away from Hamburg), between August 28^th - September 2^nd,<br>
2016.<br>
<br>
How to apply:<br>
<br>
Please submit your CV along with a 500-word abstract of your<br>
dissertation, and a 500-word explanation on why you would like to<br>
attend this summer school. The deadline for applications for the summer<br>
school is January 4th, 2016. Please email your applications (compile<br>
into one PDF) to <a href="mailto:bialski@leuphana.de">bialski@leuphana.de</a><br>
<br>
All applicants will be informed about the selection of participants in<br>
mid-February.<br>
<br>
The working language of the summer school will be English; therefore, a<br>
sufficient understanding of English is expected.<br>
<br>
There is no participation fee. The organizers will cover accommodation<br>
costs. We have a limited amount of need-based travel funding available.<br>
Please indicate in your application letter if you wish to apply for<br>
travel funding.<br>
<br>
For further information on the DCRL, please visit:<br>
<a href="http://cdc.leuphana.com/structure/digital-cultures-research-lab/project/research" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://cdc.leuphana.com/structure/digital-cultures-research-lab/project/research</a><br>
<br>
--<br>
Gabriella Coleman<br>
Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy<br>
Department of Art History & Communication Studies<br>
McGill University<br>
853 Sherbrooke Street West<br>
Montreal, PQ<br>
H3A 0G5<br>
<a href="http://gabriellacoleman.org/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://gabriellacoleman.org/</a><br>
514-398-8572<br>
<br>
<br>
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