Call for Proposals: Conference at University of Cambridge

Tacit Engagement in the Digital Age

June 26-28, 2019

The Polanyi Society, in collaboration with CRASSH at the University of Cambridge, UK, is pleased to solicit proposals for inclusion in the above referenced conference. CRASSH (Center for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities) is one of the largest humanities institutes in the world. Its mission is to create interdisciplinary dialogue both across the University of Cambridge’s many faculties and with international scholars. It offers over 200 public events each year. The web site for CRASSH provides further information: http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/ABOUT/ .

Satinder Gill, author of Tacit Engagement: Beyond Interaction and a speaker at the June 2018 Nashotah Polanyi Society Conference, initiated a fall conversation with CRASSH about a Cambridge meeting cooperating with the Polanyi Society. The Polanyi Society Board of Directors at its November 2018 meeting approved support for a summer 2019 meeting.  The three-day meeting format combines features of earlier CRASSH meetings and Polanyi Society conferences.

The first two days of “Tacit Engagement in the Digital Age” have been organised largely by Satinder Gill in conversation with CRASSH. This portion of the conference focus on questions about tacit underpinnings of artificial intelligence and electronic media and related issues in our digital age as indicated by the headings of the following sessions, each lasting for a morning or an afternoon: 

• Exploring Performance as a Paradigm of Knowledge
• Self as Interaction in the Digital Age
• Trust in the Shadows of Machine Thinking
• Possible Futures: Art, Science, Technology, and Science 

In additions to two longer papers for each session, there will be panels for each of these four topics with 4 or 5 presenters giving sharply focused papers of 10 minutes each before more general conversation. A number of panellists and 20 minute paper presenters have already been identified by CRASSH, but additional proposals are sought. 

On June 28 there will be sessions on any Polanyi-related topic given in the traditional format of Polanyi Society’s annual meetings and conferences. Papers for this portion of the conference only are to be posted online (www.polanyisociety.org) by June 10 with provision of 30 to 45 minutes of discussion after a brief summary of the paper’s key points. 

In responding to this call for proposals, please indicate whether your proposal is for a panel or for a paper. Send proposals of roughly 150-250 words as attachments to Walter Gulick at wgulick@msubillings.edu. Priority will be given to proposals received by February 15. Notice of acceptance will be communicated within a week after that date. 

Registration cost for the conference is £50 (£30 for students). A banquet for speakers will be about an additional £20. Arrangements for housing are presently being investigated. If university housing is available, it generally is less expensive; a list of nearby hotels is being put together. Further information about registration, housing, food options, and related information will be listed on the Polanyi Society web page as soon it becomes available.