Papers are being called for the upcoming International Association for Computing and Philosophy (IACAP) annual conference in Denmark this coming July. There are many tracks, but the one that might be most relevant to this list is one on IT, Culture and Globalization, chaired by Philip Brey and myself. - Soraj

International Association for Computing and Philosophy (IACAP)
First International Conference of IACAP:
celebrating 25 years of Computing and Philosophy (CAP) conferences
Conference Theme: “The Computational Turn: Past, Presents, Futures?”
Aarhus University – July 4-6, 2011

Important dates
Feb 15, 2011: Abstract submission deadline
March 15, 2011: Notification of acceptance
April 15, 2011: Early registration deadline
NB: Up to six bursaries of $500.00 each will be awarded to authors of the best PhD student or post-doc extended abstract, in support of travel and related costs for attending IACAP‟11.

Organizing Chair
Charles Ess (Department of Information- and Media Studies, Aarhus University)
<imvce@hum.au.dk>

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Presidential address: Tony Beavers, “Is Ethics Computable, or What Other than Can Does Ought Imply?”
Covey Lifetime Achievement Award: Terrell (Terry) Ward Bynum, Professor of Philosophy at Southern Connecticut State University; Director of the Research Center on Computing & Society. Lecture title: “Information and Deep Metaphysics”

Conference Theme, “The Computational Turn: Past, Presents, Futures?”

In the West, philosophical attention to computation and computational devices is at least as old as Leibniz. But since the early 1940s, electronic computers have evolved from a few machines filling several rooms to widely diffused – indeed, ubiquitous – devices, ranging from networked desktops, laptops, smartphones and “the internet of things.” Along the way, initial philosophical attention – in particular, to the ethical and social implications of these devices (so Norbert Wiener, 1950) – became sufficiently broad and influential as to justify the
phrase “the computational turn” by the 1980s. In part, the computational turn referred to the multiple ways in which the increasing availability and usability of computers allowed philosophers to explore a range of traditional philosophical interests – e.g., in logic, artificial intelligence, philosophical mathematics, ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, ontology, to name a few – in new ways, often shedding significant new light on traditional issues and arguments. Simultaneously, computer scientists, mathematicians, and others whose work focused on computation and computational devices often found their work to evoke (if not force) reflection and debate precisely on the philosophical assumptions and potential implications of their research. These two large streams of development - especially as calling for necessary interdisciplinary dialogues that crossed what were otherwise often hard disciplinary boundaries – inspired what became the first of the Computing and Philosophy (CAP) conferences in 1986 (devoted to Computer-Assisted Instruction in philosophy).

Since 1986, CAP conferences have grown in scope and range, to include a bewildering array of intersections between computation and philosophy as explored across a global range of cultures and traditions. In keeping with what has now become a significant tradition, IACAP2011 will accept presentations across this array and range. At the same time, in order to recognize and celebrate the 25th anniversary of the CAP conferences, we specifically encourage submissions that include attention to the past, present(s), and possible future(s) oftheir foci as expressions of this computational turn.

Authors should submit an electronic version of an extended abstract (total word count approximately 1000 words) to the chair of the track most closely affiliated with the proposed paper topic(s): see list of tracks and chair(s) below. The file should also contain a 350 word abstract that will be used for the conference web site/booklet.

NB: if you are a PhD- or post-doc student who would like for your extended abstract to be considered in the competition for the travel bursaries, be sure to indicate this in your submission.


VIII. IT, Culture and Globalization
Chair: Soraj Hongladarom (Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok:
<s.hongladarom@gmail.com>)
Chair: Philip Brey (Twente: <P.A.E.Brey@utwente.nl>)

This track focuses on a web of problems that emerge as a result of the interaction among IT, cultures and globalization. IT has been a powerful engine of globalization; not only is information itself moving at the speed of light, but the information embodies ideas, worldviews, as well as huge amount of funds. It also embodies either powerful way of keeping governments in line or potential threats to security in the case of Wikileaks, whose influence clearly is not limited only to the US. This flow of information does not respect national borders or cultural boundaries. It is very interesting to learn how we can come to terms with this phenomenon, especially in the philosophical, normative sense.

So we look for abstracts that deal, for example, with ethical implications of globalizing information as well as theoretical analysis of the phenomenon in terms of whether local cultures will be obliterated or whether they can retain their identities in one way or another.

Papers dealing with IT, culture and globalization in other ways will be considered too.