Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Cleveland, Ohio

A call for 6 minute 40 second presentations and eager discussion participants

The International Network for Engineering Studies (INES) and the Prometheans special interest group in the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) announce a joint one-day workshop on engineering studies and the history of engineering.

The workshop will take place on Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio. It is hosted by Peter Meiksins, Professor of Sociology at Cleveland State. November 2 is the day before the joint HSS/SHOT/4S meetings begin.

Thanks to sponsorship by Taylor & Francis/Routledge, publishers of Engineering Studies: Journal of the International Network for Engineering Studies, the meeting is free to members of INES and the Prometheans who pre-register. It may include support for breakfast and lunch (more on logistics later).

The workshop’s purpose is to bring researchers in engineering studies and history of engineering together in concise, fast-moving, wide-ranging, and hopefully entertaining discussions of the contents of current research and its possible implications for different audiences inside and outside scholarly arenas.

The workshop’s more general goals include deepening scholarly connections among researchers; attracting more researchers to engineering studies and history of engineering; heightening the visibility of this research across the memberships of HSS, SHOT, and 4S; and increasing the extent to which this research makes a difference beyond scholarly arenas.

The workshop will use a PechaKucha approach to presentation and discussion (www.pecha-kucha.org). Speakers are free to draw on up to 20 slides for 20 seconds each. They must stop after their 6 minute 40 second slot expires (even if in mid-sentence).

With up to 4 presentations in 45-minute slots every hour, separated by 15-minute breaks and lunch, as many as 24 scholars will present between 9am and 3:45pm. The organizers welcome suggestions for a final plenary discussion, ending around 5pm.

To present at the workshop, send a confirming message to the INES Secretary/Treasurer Crystal Harrell (crcrigge@vt.edu) by May 15, 2011. Include in the body of the message your name, institutional affiliation, title, and 50-100 word abstract of your proposed presentation. Offering to present constitutes registration. The program committee will notify you by June 15 regarding your inclusion in the program.

To pre-register, send a message by September 1, 2011 to the same address (crcrigge@vt.edu). Include your name, institutional affiliation, and membership status in INES and/or the Prometheans.

Join us! It will be fun!

Collegially,

The program committee

Maria Paula Diogo (U Nova de Lisboa)

Gary Downey (Virginia Tech)

Ann Johnson (U South Carolina)

Peter Meiksins (Cleveland State U)

Cherrice Traver (Union College)