Anthropology, Technology, and Education:

Exploring the cracks in technological systems

 

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in

(Leonard Cohen “Anthem”)

In June 2022, the Department of Anthropology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology held a symposium in Trondheim, Norway entitled: ‘Technology and Presence.’ Inspired by Martin Heidegger’s analysis of technology as a mode of seeing and enframing the world and Tim Ingold’s social anthropology, this cross-disciplinary meeting fostered discussions about the nature of human being in relation to technology and how technology influences educational relations.

Following this initial meeting we propose to host a follow-up meeting at which participants will be invited to discuss ideas with a view to developing and publishing original articles and essays. The articles will be edited and submitted as a Special Issue of a journal within the field of the philosophy of education (e.g. Journal of Philosophy of Education; Educational Philosophy and Theory; Studies in Philosophy and Education).

The theme is inspired by an interest in questioning the contemporary myth of technology as a reliable and autonomous/self-regulating system. Various cracks seem to be appearing in the edifice of our technological systems and society, cracks which philosophers, anthropologists, artists and others are concerned to reflect on and bear witness to. What might these cracks look like? One example we discussed comes from a project that examines the use of an Artificial Intelligence whose job is to curate material to post to Twitter. While intended as an autonomous system, the selections of the AI seem rather idiosyncratic and sometimes problematic; the AI only appears to work well when a human assistant is on hand - to check, edit and sometimes delete. What is the relation here between technology and the human? Does this make the use of AI redundant or is this an example of a new techno-anthropos? Why do we tend to call the machine ‘intelligent’ and its human the ‘assistant’?

How might these questions relate to education? We could consider educational systems: the dream of reliable and self-regulating educational systems and processes where the production of learning outcomes is a predictable process. But education involves human beings who possess freedom, and so we seem unable to entirely technicise or regulate this process. What is of educational significance cannot be entirely specified in objectives and outcomes. The exercise of human judgement reveals a limitation to the scope of technology in education. Our general question is: what is the place of the human in the educational system?

We are interested in asking what these kinds of ‘crack’ tell us about future relations between humans, technologies, and education. Anthropologists who study technological systems often observe curious workarounds and modifications of design intentions that can be revealing. But what exactly do they reveal? The following questions are indicative of the kinds of discussion that this proposal invites:

  • What is a ‘crack’ in the educational system and how are such cracks made visible?

  • What aspects of education do not yield to a technological analysis?

  • What incalculable aspects of life are educationally significant?

  • What is the place of disruption, alienation, crisis, or finitude within education?

  • How are traditional craft techniques and knowledges passed on, and what do we mean by ‘traditional’ education?

  • Does it make sense to speak of educational technology within indigenous societies?

  • Do technologies that aspire to ‘frictionlessness’ undermine the growth and formation of subjectivity through educational processes?

  • How does ‘nature’ disrupt the tightly organised systems of technics?

  • What is the role for universities in showing these cracks?

  • What kind(s) of higher education are possible or desirable beyond the framing of technological thinking?

  • How do we cultivate an ‘intellectual’ milieu in an increasingly technicised educational culture?

These questions are intended to be illustrative and generative. We invite proposals from research students as well as established academics.

The proposed meeting will take place in (or near) Glasgow in the Autumn of 2023 (proposed dates: 19th-21st September 2023). Invited participants will have their costs covered to attend the meeting. Details to be confirmed.

Submission

Proposals must include a title with a 500-1000 word abstract (excluding references). The abstract should clearly outline the argument being developed, the key literature engaged with, and the approach being taken. The argument should be accessible to a broad interdisciplinary readership although the papers will be submitted to a journal within the field of Philosophy of Education (e.g. The Journal of Philosophy of Education). Therefore, proposals are expected to be theoretical (e.g. conceptual or philosophical analysis) although authors are welcome to draw on empirical data to support their argument where appropriate.

Submission deadline: 28th February 2023.

Proposals will be reviewed by the organising committee who will invite selected authors to the symposium. Authors will be expected to submit a longer draft paper (up to 3000 words) in advance of the symposium (to be submitted end of August 2023). These papers will be presented at the symposium in Autumn 2023. Final drafts of articles should then be submitted to the committee by 31st December 2023. Papers will then be reviewed before submission is made to a journal special issue (early 2024).

Please email proposals to David Lewin: david.lewin@strath.ac.uk

Organising Committee:

Anthropology, Technology, and Education

Exploring the cracks in technological systems