I’ll be participating in the SoftWhere Software Studies Workshop next week at UCSD. This is one of the first events in the US focused on the meaning and goals of the emerging discipline of Software Studies. Most of the workshop is closed, but there is a public PechaKucha style presentation on Wednesday, May 21st, from 12:30-5:00pm. From the description: “Software studies is a research field that examines software and cyberinfrastructure using approaches from humanities, cultural criticism, and social sciences. The public session will feature a rapid series of short presentations by key national and international figures in this emerging field… Attendees can expect a collage of diverse perspectives on what it means to live in software society and how to study it.”

There are a lot of brilliant people involved and it proves to be a fun couple of days. More information at softwarestudies.com.

The Public School is a new, community driven, program happening at the TELIC Arts Exchange. The idea behind the school is that anyone can sign-up, propose a class they want to teach, or a class they’d like to take, and express interest in classes that others have proposed. A rotating curriculum committee then chooses which classes to offer based on interest, feasibility, etc.

The Public School Diagram

The general thrust of the curriculum is art and technology based, but there has been interest in a variety of topics which hopefully will keep things lively. I’m a member of the course-selection committee (D.A.N.) and after our first meeting I’m even more excited about the school and what’s to come. There are so many great classes proposed so far, I can’t wait for class to begin.