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In: Annette Vee
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The English language is a tough one to master. It’s a language full of contradictions, exceptions to seemingly nonsensical rules, and confusing homophones. English Compositionists have spent decades studying how we learn to read and write it, and for most of that time, studies have focused on the language itself; using pens, pencils, and paper—or even a typewriter—little else would likely interfere with or distract from a basic writer’s journey toward mastery. Our April 5, 2021 guest on the podcast, Dr. Annette Vee, studies how writing, and the entire concept of literacy, has changed since the proliferation of digital technologies. For a student to be considered “literate” in an English Composition today, they must not only master the ins and outs of English itself—the minutia of commas, i-before-e, their/there/they’re—but also the computer or device they use to compose: the administrative and participatory tasks of their class’ Learning Management System, their word processing application, the host they send and read class-related emails through, and so much more. And as Dr. Vee points out, a student or employee who pursues a career that uses computers might also be required to learn a programing language before they are considered truly “literate” in the language of their professional world. A lot more goes into language-based literacy today than just words on a page. Dr. Vee is Associate Professor of English and Direction of the Composition Program here at the University of Pittsburgh, as well as a participant and Co-Leader of our Sawyer Seminar, originated in the fall of 2019 (And Read More

A 19th Century Doctor's Visit

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In: Christopher Phillips
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Dr. Christopher Phillips on the Histories of Statistics & Data in Medicine On March 17, our podcast hosted Dr. Christopher Phillips, a Professor and Historian of science, medicine, and statistics Carnegie Mellon University—and also a member of our Seminar! Beginning in the Fall of 2019, Dr. Phillips joined in on our public events and Friday lunchtime sessions. On our podcast interview, he shared how joining the Seminar’s interdisciplinary conversations about data and (reference intended!) information ecosystems has revealed the need for and rewards of approaching the same topics from distinct disciplinary and methodological viewpoints. And during our chat, I was alerted over and over to how valuable a historic approach to understanding science is. So often, we view STEM fields and workplaces as intrinsically separate from, and thus competing against, the humanities. This perceived divide has real-world consequences, among them the myths of STEM disciplines as ahistorical or apolitical, and the ultimately dangerous devaluing and underfunding of humanities programs. But Dr. Phillips’ work stands as a testament to the very real insights to be gained from a historical approach to math, science, statistics, and medicine. His current research focuses on the long histories of precision medicine and statistical approaches within. In the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of precision medicine has come under renewed scrutiny. Precision medicine proposes that medical practices ranging from decisions, diagnoses, treatments, and products can be tailored to precise subgroups of patients—taking into account their genetics, environment, and lifestyle, rather than a “one size fits all” approach. For many Read More

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When you read the phrase “Augmented Reality,” your mind might turn to something like Pokémon GO or the popular running app, Zombies, Run! In both cases, the user experiences a game that, while based in a real-world environment, includes computer-generated perceptual information—most typically visuals and sounds, but including haptic modalities, too. A Pokémon, GO player might make their way down a very real hiking trail or across a downtown street while their phones display that very same location—the only difference being a virtual Growlithe waiting to be captured atop a tree stump or storm drain. Augmented Reality is a term that’s been in the mainstream public consciousness for decades now; for example, AR in the form of what’s known as Heads Up Display (HUD), which allows airplane pilots to read information on a clear glass screen atop the windshield itself (rather than a separate display), has been standard in aviation for decades now. But only very recently, alongside the rise of smartphones and Artificial Intelligence, has the true potentiality of AR become a mainstream, everyday reality—allowing it to flourish most popularly in entertainment, fitness, and marketing and commerce. Pokémon GO and Zombies, Run! have been around since 2016 and 2012 respectively, and in that time a whole world of Augmented Reality experiences have popped up. Alongside the video games and fitness experiences, there’s the Warby Parker app that allows users to virtually try on glasses, an IKEA app that places virtual furniture into users’ homes, and Snapchat filters that turned a Footlocker advertisement into a 3D Read More

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In: Mario Khreiche
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On October 25th, the Seminar was led through a discussion on automation, AI, and the future of work by a fellow participant: recent Virginia Tech graduate and Information Ecosystems Sawyer Seminar Postdoctoral fellow Mario Khreiche. Mario discussed his recent publication in Fast Capitalism, “The Twilight of Automation,” in which he theorizes about “the scope and rate whereby human labor will be replaced by machines” (117). Throughout both this conversation on the 25th, and during his public talk the day before, Khreiche clarified that his approach is not a luddite one; he was quick to point out that AI and automation is, first of all, far from a recent concern—historical perspectives can do much to quiet our contemporary moments of panic—and secondly, that reducing AI and automation to its flaws would be, well, reductionist. Anyone who has spent time, for example, formatting citations on a laptop could imagine how much slower and more painful the whole ordeal would be on a manual typewriter. Khreiche has done an excellent job, then, of illuminating necessary critiques about automation without ignoring its multitude of perks. Khreiche spent much of his time examining the “gig economy” or “gigconomy,” in which temporary, part-time jobs are increasingly replacing the availability of lifelong careers. Khreiche specifically mentioned a part-time earner’s potential amalgamation of Uber, TaskRabbit, Amazon delivery, and Airbnb—a combination of gigs which I have actually met several millennials currently dabbling in at the same time. For those of you asking: what’s the big deal with that? As Khreiche himself points out, “automation unfolds Read More