Representations seeks to transform and enrich the understanding of cultures. Our central interests lie in the symbolic dimensions of social practice and the social dimensions of artistic practice.
CSTMS project:
While algorithms are a foundational concept in computer science, there is increasing interest about the roles algorithms play in politics, media, science, organizations, and identity in everyday life. As algorithms become more prevalent and visible in contemporary life, issues around their development and deployment will continue to rise, both in academia and public discourse. In recent years, there has been a growing academic literature taking algorithms as an object of cultural inquiry, as well as many conferences and workshops focused on studying algorithms from a more social scientific or humanistic perspective. In response to this growing approach to algorithms as culture, this interdisciplinary group of scholars will take up algorithms as an object of study in order to examine them as computation, culture and their role in the construction of the self. Four spring/fall events will convene computer scientists, social scientists, and humanities scholars who are interested in opening up the study of algorithms beyond the traditional concerns and approaches of computer science, while still tracking the computational practice that deploys them.