success@garnet.berkeley.edu (Allucquere Rosanne Stone) (09/12/90)
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* THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CYBERSPACE
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA APRIL 19-20, 1991
ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS
Sponsored and hosted by
GROUP FOR THE STUDY OF VIRTUAL SYSTEMS (GSVS),
CENTER FOR CULTURAL STUDIES
University of California, Santa Cruz
The Second International Conference on Cyberspace will be held April 19-20,
1991 at the University of California, Santa Cruz. This is a call for abstracts,
approximately fifteen of which will be selected for development and
presentation at the Conference. All papers, and a number of selected
abstracts, will be published in Proceedings, available late 1991.
Abstracts should be between 600 and 1000 words, and are due by December
1, 1990. Submission of an abstract indicates the submitter's intention and
capability to write and present the corresponding, full length paper, if
chosen.
Participation in the Conference is limited to 140 people in the following
categories:
1. Participants who have been invited to present papers based on
their abstracts. (Limit 15)
2. Participants who have submitted abstracts judged by the Program
Committee to be of particular interest. (Limit 35)
3. Participants with creative and clearly stated interests in the topic who
are involved with work on cyberspace in any capacity. (Limit 60)
4. Visitors & observers, who are not actively working in the field at this
time but who have expressed interest in the subject. (Limit 30)
As with the First Conference at Austin in 1990, the Second International
Conference on Cyberspace is not primarily about the enabling technology of
VR, 3-D interfaces or high speed computer graphics. Its focus is on the
nature of cyberspace conceived of as an independent realm, a shared virtual
environment whose inhabitants, objects and spaces are data, but data which
is visualized, heard and (perhaps) touched. Effective technical means of
access to, and navigation in, cyberspace is assumed.
The focus of the Conference is theoretical and conceptual. The Second
Conference will continue the project, begun at the First Conference in
Austin, of attempting to arrive at the outlines of a consensus and vision of
cyberspace as a workable system. It also seeks to reach an understanding of
how the components of cyberspace already "under construction" in the
development and design of graphic user interfaces, scientific visualization
techniques, video games, CAD, abstract architecture and architectural
design theory, knowledge navigation, "cyberpunk" discourse, cultural
studies, film and narrative theory, virtual and artificial reality systems,
ISDN and other networks, groupware, and hypermedia might someday
function together to create a true, public cyberspace, as well as private,
special-purpose cyberspaces: viable, 3-dimensional, alternate realities
providing the maximum number of individuals with the means of
communication, creativity, productivity, mobility, and control over the
shapes of their lives within the new information and media environment.
The Second International Conference on Cyberspace is scheduled to take
place in six sessions over two days and two nights. The sessions, outlined
below, follow along the lines of the First Conference.
I. WHY CYBERSPACE? Representative subtopics: the nature/
validity/lessons of William Gibson's vision; cyberspace and
mythology; the nature of work and power in an "informated"
society (cf. Zuboff); cyberspace as the site of multinational/
multilocational business; the role of cyberspace in corporate life
and the corporation in cyberspace; implosion and media; global vs.
local vs. private systems; costs and benefits of reifying
information; the directions and futures of computing; is
cyberspace entertainment or work, addiction or production;
McLuhan revisited: global village or global dream. . .
II. LOGICAL AND ONTOLOGICAL PROBLEMS. Representative
subtopics: space-time axiomatics; magic vs. logic; the
presence of self and others; the meaning of travel and
action; what does nature mean in a technological environment
(cf. Dagognet); the framing of cyberspace; strategies of search and
navigation; requisite levels of structure and consensus; dealing with
subjectivity in virtual space; body as metaphor of coding (cf.
Haraway); rethinking clothing, body surface, prosthesis; what to do
when your best friend is a construct. . .
III. CYBERSPACE, POWER, AND CULTURE: ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION.
Politics of representation in cyberspace; implications for minority
discourse; implications of teleagency; what counts as style, and why;
interactive virtual theater (cf. Laurel); discussion of legal,
economic, and technological factors in the institution of cyberspace(s);
the meaning of surveillance, security, privacy, and control in
cyberspace; the disabled/differently abled in cyberspace;
governments, institutions, corporations, individuals: who owns/
creates/manages cyberspace(s)?; who is excluded and who is
likely to exclude themselves from cyberspace; who becomes invisible
because of cyberspace; whither responsibility?; cops and robbers,
or: what is crime in a virtual world?; who pays, who profits?;
whose vision is cyberspace anyway. . .
IV. REPRESENTING AND MANIPULATING DATA IN SPACE.
Natural vs. artificial coordinate systems; the form and meaning
of data objects; state, phase, and abstract spaces of scientific
visualization; 3-dimensional user interface design; ambiguity,
complexity and learning; visual languages; art and science
together at last?; real world control and feedback; human
performance with abstract stimuli. . .
V. VISUALIZATIONS OF THE SYSTEM. Literary, graphic, or
computer examples of, attempts at, and designs for cyberspace,
at the public or private scale; architecture in, and the
architecture of, cyberspace; alternative spatiotemporal metaphors
from "physical reality"; computational models for large
communication and data networks. . .
VII. DINNER AND WRAP UP. Summary, discussion, and setting
of date and place of the Third International Conference on Cyberspace.
LOCATION. The Conference will take place on the campus of the University
of California at Santa Cruz, overlooking Monterey Bay approximately 70
miles south of San Francisco. UCSC has a well-deserved reputation as one
of the world's most beautiful universities.
ACCOMMODATIONS. Rates range upward from $70 per night, although
slightly lower rates may be unearthed by the perspicacious. The Conference
has reserved a block of rooms at a somewhat reduced rate in the Santa Cruz
Holiday Inn. The Conference office is coordinating reservations and
information will be supplied in the registration packet. There are several
attractive bed-and-breakfast establishments in the area. The Registration
Packet contains information about other hotels, B&Bs, etc.
The Group for the Study of Virtual Systems will attempt to provide
affordable lodging for a limited number of student attendees and others who
demonstrate financial need.
The UC Santa Cruz campus is not within easy walking distance of lodging.
However, there is frequent bus service to and from the campus, and there
are plans for a Conference jitney.
TRANSPORTATION. Closest airports are San Jose International and Monterey.
San Francisco and Oakland International airports are roughly 70 miles from
Santa Cruz. There is frequent bus and limousine service to and from San
Jose.
RECREATION (or quasi-recreation). The proximity of Silicon Valley may
permit Conference attendees to make some on-site visits to Valley
companies. Details will be announced later. For those wishing a more
kinesthetic experience than current cyberspace implementations afford,
Santa Cruz possesses a world-famous rollercoaster. The Monterey Aquarium
and several world-class amusement parks are nearby. Elephant seals will
be mating in their spectacular fashion at the Ano Nuevo National Wildlife
Refuge. Big Sur National Seashore is just to the south. And although March
may not be quite warm enough for swimming, Santa Cruz' sunny beaches are
fine for relaxing.
BUSINESS
DEADLINES. Deadline for submission of abstracts is December 1, 1990.
Notification of selection for presentation by December 30, 1990.
Deadline for registration is January 15, 1990.
REGISTRATION. Cost of registration includes printed material, two lunches,
and final dinner (Session VI). Registration for participants is $180.00,
which includes copies of the Collected Abstracts and preferred seating;
registration for visitors and observers is $100.00, and includes the
Collected Abstracts and one lunch.
SCHOLARSHIPS. A limited number of registrations and accommodations will
be made available at reduced rate to students and others demonstrating
financial need.
CORRESPONDENCE. Address registration, correspondence (and questions) to:
THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CYBERSPACE
Allucquere Rosanne Stone, Program Chair
Group for the Study of Virtual Systems
Center for Cultural Studies
Oakes College
University of California, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
TELEPHONE: (408) 459-4899
Please use email rather than phone whenever possible.
FAX: (408) 429-0146
EMAIL: virtual@ucscc.ucsc.edu
The 1991 Program Committee:
Allucquere Rosanne Stone History of Consciousness
University of California, Santa Cruz
and Department of Sociology
University of California, San Diego
John Ahrens Department of Philosophy
University of Hartford
Steve Bingham President
Alias Research
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Michael Benedikt School of Architecture
University of Texas at Austin
Don Fussell Department of Computer Science
University of Texas at Austin
Charles Grantham Department of Organizational Studies
University of San Francisco