Technologies for Communities: A Workshop
The workshop will be held at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on April 5, 6, and 7, 2002.
The goal is to bring together researchers at Rensselaer and the University at Albany, with
a few invited outside speakers, who actively study how technology and the built
environment can be developed to make cities, towns, and other regional communities
more just, healthy, green, and/or democratic. Examples of research programs include
communities and information technology, media, urban transportation and design, food
systems, health, urban environmental issues, and other areas. The term “community” is
understood here broadly to include neighborhoods, cities, and regions.
The workshop will begin on Friday afternoon, April 5, 2002, with a graduate student
workshop of students from Rensselaer and SUNY Albany, followed by a guest lecture.
Presentations will continue on Saturday morning, with screenings from the Arts
Department Saturday night. The workshop will probably end early in the afternoon of
Sunday, April 7.
The workshop will be open to the public.
Friday Afternoon, Graduate Student Regional Workshop
This workshop will invite graduate students from STS, LL&C, Arts, and other Rensselaer
departments as well as graduate students from Geography and Planning, Communication,
and other departments at SUNY.
Friday Evening: Guest Speaker
IT and Media: Doug Schuler is a former chair of Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility and a founding member of the Seattle Community Network. He is
considered one of the most knowledgeable people around on community networks. He is
currently teaching at Evergreen College in Washington. Invited.
Saturday Morning: Guest Speakers
Environment and Health: Giovanna DiChiro has studied local-global dynamics and the
convergence of environmental and social justice issues in communities in India and the
United States. Invited.
Urban Design: Timothy Beatley, Associate Professor, Department of Urban and
Environmental Planning, University of Virginia. His recent work focuses on sustainable
communities and strategies to reduce the ecological footprint of urban areas. He has
studied 25 cities in eleven European countries that were examined in his book Green
Urbanism: Lessons from European Cities. Invited.
Saturday Morning and Afternoon
Community Media, IT, and Networks
Each speaker will be asked to present for 20 minutes. Speakers will be grouped around
themes and there will be discussion periods after each group.
Joseph Bowman, is a regent and an assistant professor of education at SUNY Albany,
where he directs the Center for Urban Youth and Technology (CUYT). Among the
courses he teaches are educational television production, multimedia design, and topical
seminars on instructional technology. CUYT develops programs in research, instructional
and curriculum design relating to technology and its impact on rural and urban
communities. Invited.
Nancy Campbell is assistant professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer.
She is leading a HUD-sponsored COPC grant program for neighborhood revitalization
and community informatics in Troy. She and graduate student Virginia Eubanks will
present on their research in Troy. Confirmed.
Ron Eglash is assistant professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rennselaer. He
is working on research to develop culturally appropriate software design for the Shoshone
and for an African-American community. Invited.
Ray Fouche, assistant professor of STS at Rensselaer, and Bill McGiver, assistant
professor at the School of Information Sciences and Policy at SUNY Albany, will
discuss some collaborative work on technology and African-American communities.
Tentative.
Teri Harrison is chair of the Department of Communications at SUNY Albany. She has
researched democracy and information and communication technologies and been a
driving force behind community networking developments in Troy, New York. She will
speak with Jim Zappen, an associate professor of Language, Literature, and
Communication at Rensselaer, on their community networking projects in Troy.
Confirmed.
Branda Miller, Associate Professor of Arts, and Steve Pierce, doctoral student in STS and
president of WRPI. Both have been active in media and arts projects in Troy, including
PEG-access cable television, and they will speak on some of the general insights they
have acquired in the course of their work. Confirmed.
Joseph Sullivan is a lecturer in STS at Rensselaer and a doctoral candidate at SUNY
Albany in sociology. He works on the sociology of computerization in the capital region.
Confirmed.
Langdon Winner is professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer. He is
well-known in the technology field, and he will speak on community informatics.
Confirmed.
Saturday Afternoon
Health, Food, and Environment
Each speaker will be asked to present for 20 minutes. There will be discussion periods
after each group.
Donna Armstrong, Associate Professor of Public Health, SUNY Albany. Her research or
urban community gardens in New York state documents both their general health effects
and broader implications for democracy and justice in cities. She will speak on action
research and “healthy cities.” Her work examines the original concept of healthy cities,
which involves transportation, housing, environment, economic development, etc.
and the co-opted current use of the term, which just means good health
statistics. Confirmed.
Mike Fortun is assistant professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer. He
studies the ethical, legal, and social dimensions of the human genome project, and he will
speak on the relationship between genomics and isolated populations such as Iceland and
Tonga. Confirmed.
David Hess is chair of the Science and Technology Studies Department at Rensselaer.
He has studied extensively the politics of nutritional and mind-body medicine, especially
as alternative cancer therapies. He will speak on some of the relationships between
nutritional approaches to medicine and community food issues. Confirmed.
Kim Fortun is associate professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer,
associate dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and director of the
Center for Ethics and Complex Systems. Her research focuses on the intersections of
information technology and environmental issues, including the design of GIS systems in
relationship to community monitoring of pollution levels. She and graduate students Lane
DeNicola and Erich Schienke will present research on that topic. Confirmed.
Linda Layne is associate professor in the Science and Technology Studies Department
and Hale Distinguished Teaching Professor. An expert on pregnancy loss, she has
studied toxically assaulted communities. Confirmed.
Saturday Evening
Screenings from the Arts Department faculty and grad students
Sunday Morning
Urban and Regional Design
Each speaker will be asked to present for 20 minutes. There will be discussion periods
after each group.
Ray Bromley is chair of the Department of Geography and Planning at SUNY Albany
and the author of numerous studies on urban poverty, planning and international
development. He will speak on "Losing sight of ecumenopolis: rethinking the era of
techno-optimism and high modernism." Confirmed.
Frances Bronet is president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and
an associate professor of architecture at Rensselaer. She will speak on her community
design projects in Troy. Confirmed.
Jeff Hannigan is an associate professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer
and Director of the Product Design and Innovation program. His most recent design
project involved work at Sea Ranch, a “sustainable,” planned community in California.
He will speak on the relationship between new information technologies, “cybersprawl,”
and the quality of life in urban areas. Confirmed.
Catherine Lawson, assistant professor of geography and planning at SUNY Albany,
works on urban transportation issues. Her current work includes intelligent transportation
systems for bus systems. Invited.
Eric Siy, vice-president of the Resource Renewal Institute in Delmar, New York, has
been a leading environmental advocate in New York state, where he also works on green
issues with respect to urban planning. Invited.