SIRG is delighted to announce that the next meeting will be devoted to a presentation by the distinguished academic Professor Judy Wacman of the London School of Economics. The meeting (which is open to all) will be at 2.00 in the Systems Seminar Room (Venables, S0049) at Walton Hall. Professor Wajcman has supplied the following abstract.
Life in the fast lane? Towards a sociology of technology and time
The subject of time has become a major preoccupation in academic and popular writing because people feel short of it. It is now conventional wisdom to think that more and more aspects of our lives are speeding up. While many factors are contributing to this phenomenon, information and communication technologies are seen as the main drivers. Images of technologically tethered, blackberry-addicted workers abound. This talk considers the way social theorists analyse concepts of time and acceleration and then examines how these claims might be assessed in the light of empirical research. Such research shows that time compression has multiple dimensions, and that the effect of digital devices like the mobile phone is not simply one of acceleration. In particular, I suggest that the social studies of technology offers a richer analysis of the reciprocal relationship between technological innovation and changing time practices.
Judy Wacjman’s web page:
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/sociology/whoswho/academic/wajcman.aspx
I’m pleased to announce that Dr Jane Gregory has been appointed as Visiting Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Communication and Systems. Jane will be associated with SIRG.
Jane has a distinguished record in the field of science and technology studies (STS), and was most recently a member of the STS department at University College London.
I’ve had a paper accepted for a panel organised by Tim Boon, Chief Curator of the UK Science Museum, for the 3 Societies Conference in Philadelphia in July (www.hssonline.org/Meeting/3_Society.html).
The paper is ‘Joe Trenaman’s Investigation of BBC Listeners’ Understanding of Science’ and is based on a talk I gave at SIRG a couple of months ago.
Allan
The March meeting of SIRG will be on Wednesday 28 March at 2.00 p.m. in the David Gorham Library, Venables Building (room N1015). All welcome.
Elizabeth Bruton (Leeds University) will give a presentation based on her research. Elizabeth has provided the following abstract.
In contrast to the standard historical narrative of wireless history, this presentation explores the institutional support for, and shaping of, wireless communications in Britain in the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century. Using three case studies – the Post Office, the Institution of Electrical Engineers, and the Admiralty – the presentation looks at these institutions’ differing influences on the technologies and regulations of wireless communications during this formative period in its history. Finally the presentation examines how these innovations laid the foundation for the later successes of wireless communications and broadcast radio.
Chris Bissell and I (Allan Jones) have had a paper accepted for a forthcoming issue of Research in Learning Technology. The paper is ‘The social construction of educational technology through the use of authentic software tools’ and uses ideas from the social study of technology to look at educational technology.
I (= Allan) have finally had an official acceptance for a paper I began a year ago! It’s ‘Mary Adams and the producer’s role in early BBC science broadcasts’ and will appear – who knows when? – in Public Understanding of Science.