[Linganth] Technology and Language

[David Zeitlyn]

Of interest to readers of this list I think. NB I am not connected with 
this at all

david


  Technology and Language (first issue and call for contributions

Date: Tue, 29 Dec 2020 01:25:56 +0100
From: Alfred Nordmann <nordmann at PHIL.TU-DARMSTADT.DE>
Subject: Technology and Language (first issue and call for contributions)

The first issue of Technology and Language has just appeared. Individual 
essays and the whole issue are freely available at

https://soctech.spbstu.ru/en/issue/1/

To set the stage and indicate the scope of possible topics, the first 
issue features not a handful of research papers but 23 short essays from 
philosophy, cultural studies/STS, history and theory of art, philosophy 
of technology, mechanical engineering and forensics research, 
sociolinguistics - from China, Russia, Europe, and the US:

Holm Altenbach, Larissa Aronin, Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, Daria 
Bylieva, Mark Coeckelbergh, Natalia Ershova, Don Ihde, Tim Ingold, Anna 
Kotomina, Claire Kramsch, Eduard Krylov, Eugene Kuchinov, LIU Yongmou, 
Carl Mitcham, Dmitriy Mokhorov/Alexander Fedyukovsky, Alexander 
Nesterov, Natalia Nikiforova, Alfred Nordmann, Andrey Pavlenko, Peter 
Pelz, Hartmut Wickert, WU Guolin, Cheryce von Xylander

Technology and Language invites interdisciplinary explorations at the 
interface of technology and language - contributed papers in English or 
Russian are welcome at any time. In addition, there is a call for 
contributions to four special issues in 2021:

In the Beginning was the Word - The Word as a Technical Artefact 
(Deadline for inquiries/proposals: January 10th, 2021):

The word is a technical object in a variety of ways, most famously 
perhaps as the „redeeming word“ known from fairy-tales, transformative 
spells, and magical thinking. Its current incarnation is the password or 
encryption key which opens doors to secret places and new worlds. 
Another prominent field of inquiry is naming as a technological activity 
especially where this involves formal ontologies, but also in the design 
process and the creation of new machine/user interfaces. And to be sure, 
it is said that in the beginning was the word as an original act of 
creation, and it is the final word that seals a deal from the position 
of power. The second issue of T&L invites sustained analyses and playful 
explorations of these and other aspects of the theme. (Editors: Daria 
Bylieva and Alfred Nordmann)

Forensic Examinations - Terms and Techniques (Deadline: March 21st, 2021):

The topic of the special issue is forensic science which, historically, 
is deeply associated with linguistic technologies. Forensics involves 
the reading and interpretation of traces, and many early success-stories 
of forensic expertise concern the identification of forgeries. In 
today‘s forensic science, procedures and protocols establish the terms 
of technical practice. Accordingly, innovations in forensic science can 
be linguistic innovations, calling for the observation and analysis of 
trends in the development of the language and practice of forensic 
science. (Guest editors: Dmitriy Mokhorov and Anna Mokhorova)

Technology and the Media Environment of the Information Society 
(Deadline: June 21st, 2021):

Social networks and communication systems, new modes of reading and 
writing, the hybridization of symbolic codes stand for the disruptive 
effects of digital and cyber-technologies on practices of communication 
and expression not only in the internet but also in traditional media. 
We invite contributions to interdisciplinary investigations of human and 
social prospects, the past and future of language, in this technological 
condition. Possible topics include 1) nudging, disinformation, and 
technologies for the manipulation of behavior and consciousness in 
digital environments, 2) the digital language of intelligent 
environments, 3) information technologies in social engine eering 
environments and technocracies, 4) cognitive technology and 
sociolinguistic practice. (Guest editor: Olga Shipunova)

Technology as Language - Understanding Action in a Technical Condition 
(Deadline: September 21st, 2021):

The philosophy of technology and language meets theories of action. 
Actions are understood in reference to reasons and causes which are 
formed in a social setting. The hermeneutics of action takes on a 
further dimension, however, when technical agency and technological 
activity are brought into play. Of particular interest are the symbols 
and tools of labor as knowledge is translated into action. Another focus 
is on technology and semiosis or the technical generation of the signs 
and sign systems that structure and constrain action – especially 
interesting and problematic in the age of self-learning technical 
systems. (Guest editor: Alexander Nesterow)

Queries, suggestions, and submissions can be addressed to
soctech at spbstu.ru  or to Daria Bylieva (bylieva_ds at spbstu.ru)  and
Alfred Nordmann (nordmann at phil.tu-darmstadt.de).

----------
Alfred Nordmann
Institut für Philosophie, Technische Universität Darmstadt
www.philosophie.tu-darmstadt.de/nordmann

Daria Bylieva
Philosophy, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University
soctech at spbstu.ru
https://soctech.spbstu.ru/en/