Call for Proposals! HASTAC 2019: “Decolonizing Technologies, Reprogramming Education” Due Monday October 15

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

On 16-18 May 2019, the Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory (HASTAC), in partnership with the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Department of English at the University of Victoria (UVic), will be guests on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓-speaking Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) people, facilitating a conference about decolonizing technologies and reprogramming education.

Deadline for proposals is Monday 15 October 2018.

Submit a proposal: https://www.conftool.org/hastac2019/.

Please note: This link will take you to a new website (HASTAC’s installation of ConfTool), where you will create a new user account to submit your proposal. Proposals may be submitted in English, French, or Spanish.

CONFERENCE THEME

The conference will hold up and support Indigenous scholars and knowledges, centering work by Indigenous women and women of colour. It will engage how technologies are, can be, and have been decolonized. How, for instance, are extraction technologies repurposed for resurgence? Or, echoing Ellen Cushman, how do we decolonize digital archives? Equally important, how do decolonial and anti-colonial practices shape technologies and education? How, following Kimberlé Crenshaw, are such practices intersectional? How do they correspond with what Grace Dillon calls Indigenous Futurisms? And how do they foster what Eve Tuck and Wayne Yang describe as an ethic of incommensurability, unsettling not only assumptions of innocence but also discourses of reconciliation?

With these investments, HASTAC 2019: “Decolonizing Technologies, Reprogramming Education” invites submissions addressing topics such as:

* Indigenous new media and infrastructures,

* Self-determination and data sovereignty, accountability, and consent,

* Racist data and biased algorithms,

* Land-based pedagogy and practices,

* Art, history, and theory as decolonial or anti-colonial practices,

* Decolonizing the classroom or university,

* Decolonial or anti-colonial approaches involving intersectional feminist, trans-feminist, critical race, and queer research methods,

* The roles of technologies and education in the reclamation of language, land, and water,

* Decolonial or anti-colonial approaches to technologies and education around the world,

* Everyday and radical resistance to dispossession, extraction, and appropriation,

* Decolonial or anti-colonial design, engineering, and computing,

* Alternatives to settler heteropatriarchy and institutionalized ableism in education,

* Unsettling or defying settler geopolitics and frontiers,

* Trans-Indigenous activism, networks, and knowledges, and

* Indigenous resurgence through technologies and education.

PRESENTATION FORMATS

HASTAC 2019: “Decolonizing Technologies, Reprogramming Education” welcomes submissions from practitioners at all stages of their careers; from all disciplines, occupations, and fields; from the public, non-profit, and private sectors; and from groups as well as individuals, including independent scholar-practitioners and artists.

Presentations may assume the form of:

* Short talks (5-8 minutes),

* Long talks (15-20 minutes),

*  Panels of short talks (5-7 speakers, plus a facilitator; no manels, please),

* Panels of long talks (3-4 speakers, plus a facilitator; no manels, please),

* Roundtables (4-7 speakers, plus a facilitator; no manels, please),

* Project demonstrations (8-10 minutes),

* Workshops (45 minutes, with at least one facilitator; may be discussion- or technology-based),

* Posters (print or electronic; please be available for at least 45 minutes to present alongside your poster),

* Art installations (to be displayed during one day of the conference), or

* Performances (time frame is flexible; please include details in your proposal).

Presentations about or involving Indigenous languages are especially invited. Proposals may be submitted in English, French, or Spanish.

All proposals will be peer-reviewed by HASTAC and the programming committee, and all presentations will occur on either Friday, May 17th or Saturday, May 18th. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by HASTAC in late November or early December 2018.

There is no membership fee to participate in HASTAC. Participation in the conference only requires you to register for it. You need not be affiliated with a university to present at or attend the conference. Registration fees will be determined in late 2018, when online registration will also open. Rates for students, sessionals, as well as people who are not presenting at the conference will be available.

HASTAC 2019 will do everything possible to ensure a safe and accessible conference for all participants. In late 2018, we will solicit information and feedback regarding accessibility and participant needs.

Child-minding services will also be available during the conference. Costs (if any) and hours of availability for these services will be determined in late 2018 or early 2019. Thank you for your patience.

HASTAC, UBC, and UVic will host a welcome event for Indigenous participants and their guests at the UBC Longhouse on Thursday 16 May 2019.

PLENARY PRESENTATIONS

The following people will give plenary presentations during the conference:

* Marisa Duarte (Arizona State University),

* Jules Arita Koostachin (MoshKeKo Cree, Attawapiskat First Nation; Social Justice Institute, University of British Columbia),
* Elizabeth LaPensée (Anishinaabe and Métis; Michigan State University),
* Karyn Recollet (Women and Gender Studies Institute, University of Toronto),
* Alana Sayers (Hupacasath and Alexander First Nations; University of Victoria), and
* Leanne Betasamosake Simpson.

A complete program will be available in late 2018 or early 2019.

SUBMIT A PROPOSAL

Proposals for presentations require the following information:

* Your name, brief bio, and contact information, including email address; you may also provide an affiliation (academic or not), if you wish;
* Abstract (250-500 words) describing your presentation and its relationship to the conference theme of “Decolonizing Technologies, Reprogramming Education”; and,
* Any technical requirements or other support (including space) for the presentation. For demonstrations, installations, and performances, please indicate any equipment you cannot bring with you. If your proposal is accepted, then we will do our best to make that equipment available to you during the conference.

Presenters may be first author on only one submission; however, they may appear as second author on one other submission. In addition, they may facilitate one panel, roundtable, or workshop.

Deadline for proposals is Monday 15 October 2018.

Please note: This link will take you to a new website (HASTAC’s installation of ConfTool), where you will create a new user account to submit your proposal. Proposals may be submitted in English, French, or Spanish.

CONFERENCE LOGO

Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) artist, Diamond Point, designed the conference logo. She writes:

As an emerging artist, I intend to create artwork that connects the old with the new and is constantly changing the more life experience I gain. I wanted to represent that idea with this piece. I describe my artwork as contemporary because my designs are current but also respectful of traditional design elements. I wanted the logo to convey the conference’s theme, “Decolonizing Technologies, Reprogramming Education.” The Thunderbird not only represents UBC, but also represents the theme of the conference. Thunderbird is known to be highly intelligent, carries out protocol, and asserts justice into communities in need. I thought this fit well with the concept of decolonization. Within the Thunderbird design I have incorporated Coast Salish design elements in order to showcase the beautiful artwork our ancestors have created for thousands of years. In a contemporary aspect, I decided to make the circles within Thunderbird pixelated. The circle represents the symbol of life. Today, technology has become such a big influence within day-to-day life. Technology connects all of us. In saying that, sometimes being so technologically connected can come with cautions. Thunderbird is able to protect us and give us strength moving forward for the future generations to come.

ORGANIZERS

The Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Department of English at the University of Victoria (UVic) are organizing HASTAC 2019: “Decolonizing Technologies, Reprogramming Education” with the following members of the programming committee:

* Jeffrey Ansloos (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto),
* Candis Callison (Graduate School of Journalism, University of British Columbia),
* Karrmen Crey (Stó:lō, Cheam Band; School of Communication, Simon Fraser University),
* David Gaertner (First Nations and Indigenous Studies, University of British Columbia),
* Michelle Habell-Pallán (Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, and Public Scholarship, University of Washington),
* Gerry Lawson (Oral History and Language Lab, University of British Columbia),
* Debra Martel (First Nations House of Learning, University of British Columbia),
* Megan Meredith-Lobay (Advanced Research Computing, University of British Columbia),
* Deanna Reder (First Nations Studies and English, Simon Fraser University),
* Daisy Rosenblum (First Nations and Endangered Languages, University of British Columbia),
* Alana Sayers (Hupacasath and Alexander First Nations; University of Victoria),
* Jentery Sayers (English, University of Victoria),
* June Scudeler (Métis; First Nations Studies and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, Simon Fraser University), and
* Robina Thomas (Indigenous Academic and Community Engagement, University of Victoria).

The organizers and programming committee are collaborating with HASTAC’s administrative team:

* Cathy Davidson (co-director of HASTAC; Graduate Center, CUNY),
* Elizabeth Grumbach (Institute for Humanities Research, Arizona State University),
* Katina Rogers (Graduate Center, CUNY), and
* Jacqueline Wernimont (co-director of HASTAC; Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies, Dartmouth College).

As well as the conference communications team:

* Kailey Fukushima (English, University of Victoria),
* David Gaertner (First Nations and Indigenous Studies, University of British Columbia),
* Stephanie Harrington (Humanities, University of Victoria),
* Jodi Litvin (English, University of Victoria),
* Hector Lopez (English, University of Victoria), and
* Jentery Sayers (English, University of Victoria).

PARTNERS AND SPONSORS

HASTAC 2019 is supported by the following partners:

* First Nations House of Learning at the University of British Columbia,
* The Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies at the University of British Columbia,
* The Faculty of Arts at the University of British Columbia,
* University of British Columbia Conferences and Accommodation,
* The Department of English at the University of Victoria,
* The Faculty of Humanities at the University of Victoria,
* Cultural, Social, and Political Thought at the University of Victoria,
* University of Victoria Libraries,
* The School of Communication at Simon Fraser University,
* The Simpson Center for the Humanities at the University of Washington,
* The Sound Women Collaboratory at the University of Washington,
* City University of New York,
* Arizona State University, and
* Dartmouth College.

It is also supported by a Connection Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

PRE-CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES

Prior to the conference (16-18 May 2019), HASTAC 2019 participants are invited to attend the “Digital Democracies” conference, scheduled for 14-16 May 2019 on the traditional territories of the Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm), Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw), and Tsleil-Waututh (səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ) Nations at the Harbour Centre on Simon Fraser University’s downtown Vancouver campus. People confirmed to speak at “Digital Democracies” include Jonathan Albright, Ariella Azoulay, Jodi Byrd, Laura Kurgan, Lisa Nakamura, Helen Nissenbaum, Safiya Noble, Lisa Parks, Hito Steyerl, and Siva Vaidhyanathan. “Digital Democracies” is being organized by Wendy Chun, Svitlana Matviyenko, Zoe Druick, and the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University. Details, including details about registration and accommodations for “Digital Democracies,” are coming soon. Please note that room blocks for HASTAC 2019: “Decolonizing Technologies, Reprogramming Education” will not be available 13-15 May 2019.

QUESTIONS

Please email info@hastac2019.org with any questions you have about the conference.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to acknowledge that the University of British Columbia is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people. We thank the Musqueam Nation for its hospitality and support of our work.

We would also like to acknowledge with respect the Lkwungen-speaking peoples on whose traditional territory the University of Victoria stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt, and WSÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.

HASTAC wishes to express our deep gratitude to the Musqueam people for allowing us to engage digital territories on this unceded land. Changing the way we teach and learn means challenging the colonial foundations of education and technology. We are grateful for the opportunity to do this work here. Thank you.