Conferences

Perspectives on Gender and Technology:
An interdisciplinary conference sponsored by The University of Texas Center for Women’s and Gender Studies

(Part of the 2007-08 CWGS Annual Theme, Gender and Technology)

Registration

You may register for the conference online.

Download a copy of the conference schedule (PDF, 84K)

Download a poster for the conference (PDF, 149K)

April 10, 2008

5 pm Opening reception (ACES lobby)
6 pm Keynote Address (AVAYA Auditorium, ACES 2.302)

Keynote Speaker: Lucy Suchman
Lucy Suchman is Professor & Co-director at the Centre for Science Studies at Lancaster University. She joined the faculty at Lancaster after twenty years as a researcher at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center. She researches the relationship of ethnographies of everyday practice to new technology design. Her 1987 book, Plans and Situated Actions: The Problem of Human-Machine Communication, is a watershed work in the field of human-computer interaction.

April 11, 2008

8 am - 5 pm Perspectives on Gender & Technology: Conference
AVAYA Auditorium, ACES 2.302

Light breakfast, box lunch, and afternoon snacks provided to first 100 registrants

This conference takes a look at the interaction of gender and technology in the contemporary world from many different perspectives. Sessions will explore these and other questions:

• How does technology mediate our responses to cultural and social norms about gender?
• How do changing notions of gender mediate our responses to various technologies (digital, multi-media, architectural and engineering design, sustainability, etc.)?
• How gendered are our constructs of "doing" technology? How does gender shape our ideas about expertise and about careers in technologically-oriented fields?
• What is the inter-relationship of gender and technology in the developing world? Is technology being used as a tool for positive social change?

Session presenters and discussants will explore a wide variety of methodologies and approaches to these questions, from ethnographic studies to feminist theorizing to quantitative empirical studies (and all points in between).

Featured Plenary Speakers:

Three plenary speakers, each an international expert in her field, will anchor the various perspectives explored throughout the day.

Rachel Muir is Founder and Executive Director of Girlstart, a non-profit organization founded in Austin, Texas in 1997 to empower girls in math, science, engineering and technology. Girlstart's programs have been featured on the Today show, the Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, and in Glamour, Texas Monthly, Fast Company, and CosmoGIRL magazines

Eileen Trauth is Associate Dean for Diversity, Outreach and International Engagements, Professor of Information Sciences and Technology, and Director of the Center for the Information Society at Pennsylvania State University. Her research is concerned with socio-cultural and organizational influences on Information Technology and the IT profession, with a special focus on the role of diversity within the field. She currently holds the Universität Klagenfurt — Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Gender Studies.

Debra Howcroft is a Professor at the Manchester Business School, University of Manchester. Her research focuses on technology and organizations within a global context. She is an Associate Editor for the Information Systems Journal and a member of the editorial boards for IT & People, Journal of Information Technology, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, and Qualitative Review of Accounting and Management.