[rohrpost] CFP: Metaphors in science and technology - Darmstadt 10/05

[Ingeborg Reichle]

Graduiertenkolleg "Technisierung und Gesellschaft", TU Darmstadt,
Darmstadt 12.10.2005-14.10.2005, TU Darmstadt, Schloss
Deadline: 15.05.2005

Metaphors in science and technology – Darmstadt 10/05
        
Graduiertenkolleg "Technisierung und Gesellschaft", TU-Darmstadt
12.10.2005-14.10.2005, Schloss TU-Darmstadt
Extended Deadline: 15.05.2005

International conference

Technisierung/Ästhetisierung  - Technological and Aesthetic
(Trans)Formations of Society,
Theme session: Metaphors in science and technology


Darmstadt Technical University, October 12 to 14, 2005


Metaphors are ubiquitous not only in everyday but also in scientific and
technological language. Research on metaphor in discourse can describe
shifts in scientific theories or technological models with the help of
diachronic and synchronic comparisons. Since cognitive metaphor theories
propose a close connection between linguistic metaphorical expressions
and mental concepts, the study of the use of metaphor can also provide
an insight into the structures of our thinking in general. From this
perspective, metaphors figure as a means to grasp abstract concepts
which are not perceptible to our senses. Metaphors are therefore not
merely a linguistic, but a conceptual phenomenon. If so, the research on
metaphor can be a useful tool to describe conceptual structures and the
structure of our scientific and technological thinking.

These general considerations can be made fruitful for the investigation
of how to use and how to deal with metaphors in science and technology.
Here, philosophers, historians, and sociologists of science and
technology as well as linguists and cognitive scientists might approach
a wide range of questions. Which metaphors are used in scientific and
technological contexts? How can one describe and explain the connection
between linguistic and conceptual phenomena? Are metaphors really
unavoidable and universal principles of thinking and speaking? Which
role do they play for scientific models? Can we chose freely which
metaphors we use for scientific and technological research? What does
that mean for our conceptual system? What does it mean for our
conception of science? Can we prove the truthfulness of scientific
arguments, or can we only analyse the metaphors? Are metaphors borders,
or are they useful tools for scientific thinking, or are they neither of
these? Which role do metaphors play for scientific creativity and
innovation? Do aesthetics play a role in this, and if so: which one?

The planned interdisciplinary panel will probe into these questions from
both a theoretical and an empirical view. Cross-connections to other
panels of the conference can (and will) be established, for instance to
those on 'pictures' and 'visualising strategies' in science and
technology.




General conference description:

Technisierung/Ästhetisierung  - Technological and Aesthetic
(Trans)Formations of Society

Darmstadt Technical University, October 12 to 14, 2005

For the past nine years, the interdisciplinary graduate college
“Technisierung und Gesellschaft” considered the technological
(trans)formation of society. As the last cohort of doctoral students
concludes its studies, the final conference widens the perspective and
brings past researches to bear on the interplay of technological and
aesthetic dimensions of formative processes in contemporary societies.

By foregrounding process, the international conference goes beyond the
iconic turn in science and technology studies. Rather than focus on
images, it will explore the work that goes into producing self and
society in the image of technology. This work involves constructions of
time and space, it negotiates forces of globalization and localization,
it construes self and nature as subject and object of technological
shaping. This work also produces tensions between and among aesthetic
and technological ideals.

Plenary Speakers:
•        Michael Hagner (Zürich, Switzerland)
•        Wolfgang Krohn (Bielefeld, Germany)
•        Jeffrey Meikle (Austin, USA)
•        Thomas Sieverts (Bonn, Germany)
•        Christa Sommerer (Gifu, Japan)

Abstracts from a wide variety of disciplines are welcome. These include
philosophy, sociology, history, engineering and the natural sciences,
art history, linguistics or media studies. Submit 500-word abstracts by
May 15, 2005, as a Word or RichText document to

TU Darmstadt
Fachbereich 2
Graduiertenkolleg “Technisierung und Gesellschaft”
Karolinenplatz 5 (Fach 1404)
64289 Darmstadt
Germany
E-mail: tagung-graduiertenkolleg at ifs.tu-darmstadt.de <https://webmailer.hosteurope.de/src/compose.php?send_to=tagung-graduiertenkolleg%40ifs.tu-darmstadt.de>
There will be panels on:

•        Aesthetic Anticipation
•        Art, Technosciences, and Social Criticism
•        Metaphors in Science and Technology
•        The Aesthetic Dimensions of Warfare
•        Urban Spaces and Private Quarters
•        Nature and Technology
•        Technologies of Visualization
•        Normalizing by Images – Imaging Normalization
•        Design between Technology and Aesthetics


Confirmed panel speakers:

•        Nik Brown (York, Great Britain)
•        Ingeborg Reichle (Berlin, Germany)
•        Magdalena Zawislawska (Warsaw, Poland)


Invited panel speakers:

•        Barbara Stafford (Chicago, USA)
•        Angela Krewani (Marburg, Germany)


The conference will be held in English.
For a more detailed call for papers and a collection of topical theses
go to
www.ifs.tu-darmstadt.de/fileadmin/gradkoll/Konferenzen/abschluss/main.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Juliana Goschler

Graduiertenkolleg "Technisierung und Gesellschaft"

030-28387846

juliana.mehls at student.hu-berlin.de <https://webmailer.hosteurope.de/src/compose.php?send_to=juliana.mehls%40student.hu-berlin.de>

Website der Konferenz
<www.ifs.tu-darmstadt.de/fileadmin/gradkoll/Konferenzen/abschluss/main.html>

URL zur Zitation dieses Beitrages
<http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/termine/id=3963>