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- Convenor:
-
Autumn Brown
(University College Dublin)
Send message to Convenor
- Chairs:
-
Autumn Brown
(University College Dublin)
Amelia McConville (Trinity College Dublin)
- Format:
- Combined Format Open Panel
- Location:
- Agora 1, main building
- Sessions:
- Thursday 18 July, -, Friday 19 July, -
Time zone: Europe/Amsterdam
Short Abstract:
Exploring the violence, relief, and generative function of silence in a noisy world. This panel seeks to examine how technologies of silence have and continue to shape movements of both liberation and oppression.
Long Abstract:
Silence is rare. It can be in turns transcendent, transgressive, transporting, and terrifying. Throughout history silence has served as a technology of war and a means of resistance, a method of torture and a therapeutic practice. Quiet environments have served as novel experiences, places of sensory retreat, and ‘otherworldly laboratories’. Inspired by the passionate belief that “silence is not the absence of something but the presence of everything,” acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton has devoted his life to locating and conserving that gravely endangered sensorial experience of quietude. In contrast, after an uncanny experience in ‘Beranek’s Box’, or anechoic chamber at Harvard University, artist John Cage emerged with the belief that there was no true silence, only a potential space in which life's music becomes audible. Designed to stop the reflection of sound or magnetic waves– anechoic literally meaning free from echo, these chambers have caused many others great discomfort. Where silence can inspire a sense of ill ease, even dread, it can also be a generative, and wildly imaginative space or state in which dreaming, reflection, and creativity thrive.
Tracing the lineages both technological and cultural this panel invites applications to explore the past, present and future of silencing technologies, the transfers and transformations of knowledge regarding silence, and the ways in which these technologies have and continue to shape society. Applicants are particularly encouraged to explore how bounded environments, defined by technologies of control, have produced movements of improvisation and experimentation that redefined silence as a medium for art, science, and transcendence. We would also welcome pieces which examine or reflect on oppressive deployments of silence, in helping us to consider what is missing, rendered unspeakable, unthinkable, unimaginable. This panel invites papers, reflections, speculative responses, performances, and live experiments exploring technologies of silence throughout history and into the future.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 18 July, 2024, -Paper short abstract:
This proposal explores silence within marginalized communities, informed by fieldwork with former prisoners and Irish Travellers. From projects on prison education and out-of-school initiatives, we uncover how silence functions as both oppression and resilience by enabling resistance.
Paper long abstract:
This proposal aims to delve into the intricate dynamics of silence within marginalized communities. Drawing from two distinct projects—one on prison education in Ireland and Greece and another on out-of-school initiatives addressing educational disadvantage among rural Irish Travellers—we seek to illuminate how silence operates as both a tool of oppression and a source of resilience within these contexts. Through life history interviews and narrative inquiry, we aim to uncover nuanced narratives that reveal the multifaceted nature of silence, shedding light on its role in perpetuating systemic injustices while also serving as a means of survival and resistance.
This presentation will offer a rich account of how silence manifests in the lived experiences of individuals navigating the criminal justice system and nomadic lifestyles. By focusing on the voices of those directly impacted by social marginalization, the aim is to challenge dominant narratives surrounding silence and amplify the voices of marginalized communities. Through narrative elements and insights gleaned from our fieldwork, we hope to contribute to broader discussions on the intersectionality of silence and its implications for social justice and liberation movements.
By centering marginalized voices and incorporating insights from fieldwork, the aim is to shed light on the complex interplay between silence, agency, and resistance within marginalized communities. Through this exploration, we hope to advance our understanding of silence as a dynamic force within the broader context of social inequality and to foster meaningful dialogue around strategies for promoting social justice and liberation.
Paper short abstract:
This working paper employs a transdisciplinary engaged research approach, investigating perspectives on the adoption of smart technology in the sustainable energy transition.
Paper long abstract:
For many decades, energy consumption within the home went unnoticed and unmonitored. These energies, radiant, thermal and otherwise became invisible factors, impacting both personal cost and the environment. This research aims to comprehensively investigate the adoption of unobtrusive technologies in sustainable energy systems, emphasizing the unheard concerns and viewpoints of under researched groups.
Fifty semi-structured interviews with government, civil society, industry, and academia were conducted to uncover perceptions around the adoption of sustainable energy technology. Findings suggest revealed concerns around the lack of education and support for technology adopters. Socioeconomic backgrounds and age demographics emerged as recurring themes, highlighting how technology is often imposed on elderly communities and those in government housing, leaving their voices too often ignored and unaddressed.
Understanding the perspectives of these under researched groups is crucial for developing informed strategies that address the challenges of sustainable technology adoption. Civil society organizations can also play a vital role in amplifying these muted perspectives, promoting public awareness, and education.
This research highlights the silent struggle of minority groups, particularly the elderly and those in government housing, in the adoption process. Their voices often go unheard, resulting in compliance without addressing their concerns. It is essential to bring these silent voices to the forefront in future technology implementation plans, ensuring their needs and challenges are acknowledged and addressed.
Paper short abstract:
This talk will discuss what is not said in conversations around teaching for Responsible AI in academia. These silent topics, while likely less palatable to technologists, are a necessary next step in making sure the field of AI is behaving responsibly.
Paper long abstract:
Responsible AI development is becoming an increasing priority for governments, industry, and research institutions, with degree and professional development programs starting to include elements of Safety, Responsibility or Ethics. But these conversations tend towards some topics more than others.
Concerns focused on engineering, such as verification and security, are perfectly palatable to technical scholars as more problems they can solve with more technology, and are readily added to curricula. Topics that force engineers to consider what their creations will be used for, or by whom, are avoided, and any discussion that might frame technology as at all impotent, such as where the solution requires consulting with and respecting the expertise of other disciplines, is engaged with sparingly.
Against a backdrop of practical skills development that encourages continuous creation of new projects, new features and more complexity, students are left unprepared to criticize or meaningfully refuse development, or to leave space to listen to others attempting the same.
For a truly Responsible field of AI to develop, our education programs need to be joined up and talking with non technical experts, able to understand each other and incorporate our translated expertise into development practices. Our students need to be empowered to be hesitant, critical, and to listen, and educators teaching them must act as exemplars of this difficult, but necessary practice.
Paper short abstract:
Aligning with international calls for participatory science to enhance the voices of various publics across science, technology, and knowledge-production, this talk presents a case study exploring how engaged research is enacted to maximise societal and environmental change.
Paper long abstract:
Aligning with international calls for participatory science to enhance the voices of various publics across science, technology, and knowledge-production, this talk presents a case study exploring how engaged research is perceived and enacted to maximise societal and environmental change within research projects on materials innovation. As a means of revealing historically silenced perspectives, within engaged research refers to a broad range of approaches and methodologies which encompass transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral partnerships. It is a flexible way to tackle epistemic injustice, which holds particular importance within the spheres of sustainable development. This talk will platform research projects that work with emerging technologies, those which have the power to radically reshape the increasingly industrialised spaces we inhabit.
This talk will discuss the hierarchical structure within higher level research and how, even as scientists shape our technological future through extracellular matrix components and spintronics, a silence permeates the procedures and practices of the studied projects that runs counter to the ever-growing funding calls for engaged research. This work will outline the key impacts, challenges, and drivers of forming inclusive and effective cross-sectoral relationships. It will illustrate the potential for overcoming oppressive epistemic injustice through the careful inclusion of publics to meaningfully co-create research; acting on collaborative goals to address societal challenges and participate in research from ideation through evaluation and dissemination.