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digest 2002-08-02 #001.txt
litsci-l-digest Friday, August 2 2002 Volume 01 : Number
015
In this issue:
Book Announcement
online copy of Decodings, fall 2002
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Date: Thu, 01 Aug 2002 09:32:15 -0400
From: "Wayne Miller"
Subject: Book Announcement
From David Weininger :
I thought readers of the Society for Literature and Science might be
interested in this book. For more information please visit
http://mitpress.mit.edu/0262072327
From Newspeak to Cyberspeak
A History of Soviet Cybernetics
Slava Gerovitch
In this book Slava Gerovitch argues that Soviet cybernetics was not
just an
intellectual trend but a social movement for radical reform in science
and
society as a whole. Followers of cybernetics viewed computer simulation
as
a universal method of problem solving and the language of cybernetics
as a
language of objectivity and truth. With this new objectivity, they
challenged the existing order of things in economics and politics as
well
as in science.
The history of Soviet cybernetics followed a curious arc. In the 1950s
it
was labeled a reactionary pseudoscience and a weapon of imperialist
ideology. With the arrival of Khrushchev's political "thaw," however,
it
was seen as an innocent victim of political oppression, and it evolved
into
a movement for radical reform of the Stalinist system of science. In
the
early 1960s it was hailed as "science in the service of communism," but
by
the end of the decade it had turned into a shallow fashionable trend.
Using
extensive new archival materials, Gerovitch argues that these
fluctuating
attitudes reflected profound changes in scientific language and
research
methodology across disciplines, in power relations within the
scientific
community, and in the political role of scientists and engineers in
Soviet
society. His detailed analysis of scientific discourse shows how the
Newspeak of the late Stalinist period and the Cyberspeak that
challenged it
eventually blended into "CyberNewspeak."
Slava Gerovitch is a Dibner/Sloan Postdoctoral Researcher at the Dibner
Institute for the History of Science and Technology and a Research
Associate at the Institute for the History of Natural Science and
Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
6 x 9, 357 pp., 30 illus., cloth, ISBN 0-262-07232-7
David Weininger
Associate Publicist
MIT Press
5 Cambridge Center, 4th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02142
617.253.2079
617.253.1709 fax
dgw@mit.edu
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Please see the following URL for the LITSCI-L archive, Web resource
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http://www.law.duke.edu/sls
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Aug 2002 18:24:12 +0000
From: "Carol Colatrella"
Subject: online copy of Decodings, fall 2002
**REMINDER: SEND BALLOTS (from Summer 2002 issue), APPLICATIONS FOR
TRAVEL
SUBSIDIES, AND ESSAYS FOR PRIZES BY SEPTEMBER 1.
**PRINTED DECODINGS MAILED TODAY TO ALL CURRENT MEMBERS
**ATTACHMENT IS SLS2002 CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FORM
**INFORMATION ON JOINING THE SOCIETY APPEARS AT THE END OF THIS MESSAGE
DECODINGS--SLS newsletter
Fall 2002 vol.11, no.3
SLS 2002, Pasadena--Conference Highlights and Schedule
The conference will run from 6 pm, Thursday Oct. 10 through noon
Sunday Oct. 13. Sessions of contributed panels and talks will take
place
Thursday evening, Friday morning and early afternoon, all day
Saturday,and
Sunday morning. The complete detailed schedule may be viewed on the
conference website (http://SLS-2002.caltech.edu/).
The main plenary event will be held on Friday afternoon, from 3-7 pm, at
the Huntington Library in nearby San Marino. This will feature a talk
by
Charles Falco (Professor of Physics, University of Arizona), who has
been collaborating with artist David Hockney on his much-publicized and
controversial recent theory concerning use of lenses by painters. Two
sessions of responses to the plenary talk have been organized for
Saturday morning. There will also be a reception following the talk,
and an
opportunity to visit the library's galleries and gardens before it. Bus
transportation from and to the hotel will be provided.
Two guest scholars will also be featured. Hillel Schwartz, historian
(Never Satisfied: A Cultural History of Diets, Fantasies and Fat; The
French Prophets: The History of a Millenarian Group in 18th-Century
England; Century's End: A Cultural History of the Fin de Si?ãcle from
the
990s through the 1990s; The Culture of the Copy: Striking Likenesses,
Unreasonable Facsimiles) and Director of the Core Program at Sixth
College, UCSD will act as respondent in a session (Saturday morning)
focused on his influence in cultural studies. Fiona Giles, independent
scholar (Fresh Milk: The Secret Life of Breasts, forthcoming) and
Research Associate with the Dept of Media and Communications at
Sydney University, will speak in one session and act as respondent in a
following session, both on Saturday afternoon.
A welcoming reception will take place on Thursday evening. The annual
SLS business lunch (included in registration fee) will be on Saturday,
and the traditional dance on Saturday night. A post-conference event, a
staged reading of love letters between Albert Einstein and Mileva Maric,
will be presented at Caltech on Sunday afternoon.
Chairs are needed for many of the sessions (see the program on the
website to find out which). Attendees interested in chairing particular
sessions should notify Jay Labinger (jal@its.caltech.edu) as soon as
possible.
Conference Registration
Participants are encouraged to register online at the conference
website, paying by credit card. Alternatively the attached form may be
filled out and mailed in, for payment either by check or credit card.
Note
that the registration rates go up after September 15. Questions about
registration may be addressed to Michelle Reinschmidt, 626-395-3563,
michelle@hss.caltech.edu
Important note: If paying by credit card (either online or using a
mail-in
form) you must include the billing address for the credit card, or else
we
cannot process it.
All participants (speakers, panelists, respondents, session chairs) must
be members of SLS for the current calendar year (2002). SLS
membership includes subscriptions to Configurations and Decodings. If
you have not already joined for 2002, you may do so by mailing in the
attached form or by phoning the membership desk at Johns Hopkins
University Press, (800) 548-1784 and paying by credit cards.
Conference Hotel
The conference will be held at the Pasadena Hilton, 168 S. Los Robles
Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101. Rooms have been reserved for SLS
participants at the rate of $109 per night, single or double occupancy.
Triples and quads are $134 and $159 per night respectively.
Reservations should be made by calling 1-800-HILTONS and
mentioning the Society for Literature and Science to get the conference
rate. International attendees who do not want to phone may make
reservations with Maria Sandstrum at the hotel by either e-mail
(maria_sandstrum@hilton.com) or fax (626-584-3207).
Reservations should be made before September 1; rates and availability
cannot be guaranteed after that date.
Attendees seeking possible roommates are encouraged to make use of
the bulletin board on the conference website
(http://SLS-2002.caltech.edu/) and/or the SLS listserv
(LITSCI-L@duke.edu)
The hotel is centrally located in Pasadena, with Old Town Pasadena and
other popular areas within easy walking distance. Hotel amenities
include an outdoor heated pool and spa, a fitness center, cable TV with
complimentary HBO, and ports for high-speed internet access in all
rooms. Parking is available at $10/day. For more information, go to
the
hotel website, at www.pasadena.hilton.com. (Online reservations are
not available at this time.)
Travel
There are two airports convenient to Pasadena.
LAX offers a much better choice of airlines/originating cities/flights;
also
good fares are often easier to obtain using LAX. On the downside, lines
for
check-in and security can be very long at times. It will generally take
about 30 minutes between LAX and Pasadena outside of rush hour, but up
to an
hour or even more at the busiest times.
Burbank is closer (20 minutes) and is generally much quicker to get
through check-in and security than LAX, but is served by fewer airlines
and most often requires connecting flights.
Ontario is another possibility: it's comparable to Burbank in terms of
flights and hassle but about an hour away.
The best airfares these days are frequently to be found online, either
at
individual airline websites or from services such as Orbitz.
From the airport to the hotel there are basically two options:
Shuttle services Two companies, Prime Time Shuttle and SuperShuttle,
serve LAX. There is a pickup stop in front of each terminal on the
arrival
level; just go out to the orange sign labeled "Shared Ride Vans" and
tell
the company representative stationed there where you want to go.
Normally
you'll get your ride within 15 minutes or so. It is possible to make an
advance reservation online (http://www.primetimeshuttle.com/ or
http://www.supershuttle.com/); that may get a better fare but will
probably
not affect how fast you get picked up. Typical one-way fares from LAX
to
Pasadena run about $20-30 per person. The same companies also serve
Burbank
and Ontario, with pickup outside baggage claim areas; the fares will be
somewha$ne
Important note: It less and somewhat more, respectively.
Taxi: from LAX about $50 (or more if traffic is bad); from Burbank about
$25.
Travel Awards for SLS2002
SLS provides a limited number of travel awards for underfunded
individuals attending the annual conference. Members of SLS who
participate in the annual conference may apply for travel subventions.
An applicant should email name, title of SLS presentation, any
information about funding for the conference, and an indication of how
long one has been a member to Carol Colatrella at by September 1.
SLS officers will review the applications and approve funds for one to
three individuals. Each person awarded funds will be presented with a
$200 check at the conference.
2002 Bruns Essay Prize
The Bruns Graduate Essay Prize, in honor of Edward F. Bruns, is
awarded annually to the best essay written by a graduate student
member of the Society for Literature and Science. Graduate students
wishing to have their essays considered for the $250 prize should
submit them by September 1 to N. Katherine Hayles, Department of
English, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1530.
2002 Schachterle Essay Prize
Lance Schachterle, SLS founding president, has established an annual
prize of $250 in honor of his parents to recognize the best new essay on
literature and science written in English by a nontenured scholar.
Eligible authors wishing to submit essays (published or accepted for
publication) should send them prior to September 1 to the SLS
Executive Director, Carol Colatrella, LCC, Georgia Institute of
Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0165; please label envelope
"Schachterle Submission."
Note: SLS travel awards and essay prizes are presented during the
Business Meeting of the annual fall conference. One may submit only
one entry to one of the two essay prize competitions.
A REGISTRATION FORM FOR SLS 2002 IS ENCLOSED IN THIS
ISSUE. YOU MAY REGISTER VIA SURFACE MAIL OR ONLINE AT
THE CONFERENCE REGISTRATION SITE
http://SLS-2002.caltech.edu/
NOTE: ALL REGISTRANTS WHO ARE PRESENTING PAPERS,
ACTING AS RESPONDENTS, OR CHAIRING SESSIONS MUST BE
MEMBERS OF SLS FOR THE CURRENT CALENDAR YEAR (2002).
THE YEAR OF LAST/CURRENT MEMBERSHIP IS INDICATED ON
YOUR ADDRESS LABEL. A MEMBERSHIP FORM IS ENCLOSED.
Looking forward to SLS2003, Austin, Texas: The 17th Annual SLS
Conference will be held in Austin, Texas, at the Marriott at the
Capitol,
October 23-26, 2003. The general theme of the conference is
"Rethinking Space and Time Across Science, Literature, and the Arts,"
although papers and panels on all topics are welcome. Austin offers
many attractions, including its much-celebrated live music scene as well
as the collections of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at
the University of Texas, with its strong literary and history of science
collections (see http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/). The Ransom Center will
have newly reopened in 2003 with an exhibition on Modernism and will
host a reception for SLS attendees on Friday evening, October 24.
More details about the conference will follow. In the meantime, address
any queries and suggestions to co-organizers Linda Henderson
(dnehl@mail.utexas.edu) and Bruce Clarke (bruce.clarke@ttu.edu).
Decodings, the SLS newsletter, a quarterly publication, and
Configurations
are among the benefits of SLS membership. Dues payments, address
changes,
and subscription inquiries should be sent to: Johns Hopkins University
Press, Journals Division, PO Box 19966, Baltimore, MD 21211-0966. email:
jlorder@jhupress.jhu.edu. For faster service, call toll-free
1-800-548-1784$ne
Important note: I
Mon.-Fri., 8:00-5:00, or FAX (410) 516-6968. Membership rates for 2003:
$40
for individuals ($24 for students, $28 for annual income under $20,000),
and
$85 for
institutions (without voting rights). Members/ subscribers should add
$5.40
for Canadian or Mexican addresses, $6.00 for addresses outside North
America, $5 for joint membership. Other correspondence should be
directed
to Carol Colatrella, LCC, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 30332-0165 or
emailed to
carol.colatrella@lcc.gatech.edu
Poetry should be sent to the Decodings Poetry Editor, Elizabeth Anne
Socolow
at 64 Pine Street, Princeton, NJ 08542, or via
e-mail: elizascup@earthlink.net
_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx
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+-+-+-+-+-+
Please see the following URL for the LITSCI-L archive, Web resource
links and unsubscribing info:
http://www.law.duke.edu/sls
------------------------------
End of litsci-l-digest V1 #15
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Please see the following URL for the LITSCI-L archive, Web resource
links and unsubscribing info:
http://www.law.duke.edu/sls
