How the Humanities and STEM Can Find Common Ground in the History of Technology
September 19, 2024
Technology Humanities Speaker Series
Start time: 4:00 p.m.
End time: 6:00 p.m
Location: The Commons Theater (907 Floyd Ave, Richmond, VA 23284)
Description
Sometimes a bug is a feature, both historically and technologically. In other words, sometimes perceived problems have actually been designed into the systems and infrastructures that we use and live within. Using lesser-known histories of computing, labor, gender and social change, this talk shows how the history of technology can unite STEM and humanities scholars alike. It explains how many histories of technology that aren't as readily apparent to us hold enormous power for helping us understand our current technological context and our potential collective technological future—as well as how we can shape those technological future(s) to repeat fewer of the mistakes of the past.
About the Speaker
Mar Hicks, PhD is an author, historian, and professor doing research on hidden histories of computing, as well as the history of labor and technology. Hicks is currently an Associate Professor at The University of Virginia's School of Data Science, in Charlottesville, teaching courses on the history of technology, computing and society, and the larger implications of powerful and widespread digital infrastructures. Their research focuses on how gender and sexuality bring hidden technological dynamics to light, and how the experiences of women and LGBTQIA people change the core narratives of the history of computing in unexpected ways. Hicks's multiple award-winning book, Programmed Inequality, looks at how the British lost their early lead in computing by discarding women computer workers, and what this cautionary tale tells us about current issues in high tech. Their new work looks at resistance and queerness in the history of technology. Hicks is also co-editor of the book Your Computer Is On Fire (MIT Press, 2021), a volume of essays about how we can begin to fix our broken high tech infrastructures. Other writing and more information can be found at: marhicks.com.