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