[ Prev | Top | Next ]

Publication Date - 12/3/1999

55. University of Iowa - Obermann Fellowships

The University of Iowa invites applications for the Obermann Fellowships for the 2000 Faculty Research Seminars to be held June 12 - 29, 2000. The topic of this summer's seminar is "The Usable Past: Historical Perspectives on Digital Culture." This interdisciplinary research seminar will address issues of digital culture by examining histories of the social integration of previous new technologies and linking them to present conditions. Precedents for our own digital concerns might be found in technologies as recent as 30 or 100 years ago or as distant as the Industrial Revolution and the Enlightenment, the invention of movable type and the Renaissance, or the invention of paper and Classical Antiquity. A distinctive focus on four inter-related fields of knowledge will provide important touchstones:

• audio-visual cultures' challenges or resistance to print,
• cultures and politics of new information technologies,
• perception and human experience,
• the metaphysics of appearances and artifice.

By focusing on historical models, each seminar participant will be able to contribute reflections on technology, ideology, and culture -- past and present.

Scholars from all fields -- history, English, American studies, communication studies, political science, art and architecture history, cinema and media studies, sociology, philosophy, business, engineering, the sciences -- are invited to apply. Applicants must hold a Ph.D. or comparable professional degree. Ten fellows will be selected. Awards will include a $2,700 stipend, plus $500 for travel/housing expenses for visitors. The deadline for applications is JANUARY 26, 2000.