*Apologies for cross postings. Deadline extended to February 1.*

Call for Participation

4s 2018 Pre-Conference Workshop



*Making Sense of the Underground*

*University of Wollongong**, Australia*

*August 27-28, 2018*


*DUE DATE EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY 1, 2018*



What does the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) have to say
about the underground? Mining, subterranean exploration, burial, and other
forms of underground work are rich areas of investigation for STS scholars.
This workshop aims to strengthen and expand the network of researchers in
STS who address the underground in their work. Our focus will be on
methodology: *what research methods and analytical strategies can we use to
observe and make sense of human interactions with subterranean materials
and places? *By focusing on method, we can better understand and share the
ways in which we come to know and mobilize the underground spaces and
places that are so difficult to see, explore and develop.



Our workshop will be sited in Wollongong, about 1.5 hrs from Sydney, and
located in the heart of what is called the “Southern Coal Fields” of New
South Wales.  The workshop will include opportunities to share research in
progress and network with international colleagues. Activities will include
a keynote address by a noted scholar, a field excursion to a coal mining
region, a panel discussion with activists confronting the mining industry,
and exchanges with Sydney-based scientists and engineers working in mining
and other related fields.



This workshop is sponsored by the United States National Science
Foundation, the University of New South Wales and the Australian Centre for
Cultural Environmental Research (AUSCCER) at the University of Wollongong.
It is organized by Roopali Phadke (Macalester College), Jessica Smith
(Colorado School of Mines), Abby Kinchy (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
and Matthew Kearnes (U. of New South Wales).



Applications to participate should include a 200-word biographical
statement and a 500-word statement that describes and reflects upon the
methodological challenges and opportunities that subterranean STS entails.
For example, applicants could focus on:

   - Research techniques for probing, seeing, and representing human
   interactions with the underground.
   - Ways of connecting with networks and partners to facilitate engaged
   and community based practice.
   - Analytical frameworks that move up and down scales of analysis.



We are particularly interested in including scholars whose work addresses
public issues or involves collaboration with scientists, engineers, or
members of the lay public.



Applications to participate in the workshop are due on *February 1, 2018* and
should be emailed to Abby Kinchy ([email protected]). The subject line of the
email should read “STSU Sydney (surname of applicant)”.



Up two twenty applications will be chosen. Travel from Sydney to
Wollongong, lodging and meals will be covered by the organizers. Ten
workshop participants will be selected to receive a travel stipend of $500.
Priority for stipends will be given to those traveling from outside
Australia, particularly graduate students and junior scholars.



The workshop is timed to precede the 2018 meetings of the Society for
Social Studies of Science in Sydney. There will be a related panel (open
session) for the 4S meetings titled “STS UNDERGROUND: Investigating the
Technoscientific Worlds of Mining and Subterranean Extraction”. Please
consider submitting a paper abstract to that session (listed as #12 under
open panels on the 4S Sydney meeting website), in addition to applying to
participate in this workshop. The deadline for applying for 4S Sydney open
sessions is *February 1, 2018*.



Questions about the workshop can be directed to Abby Kinchy ([email protected]
).



-- 
Dr. Roopali Phadke
Professor
Environmental Studies Department
Macalester College
St. Paul, MN 55105
O: 651 696 6802
Email: [email protected]
http://www.macalester.edu/environmentalstudies/facultystaff/roopaliphadke/

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