Please reply here with a brief introduction of yourself and your interests in Critical Code Studies. Some of us are first-timers, others have been attending since 2010. In addition to your general profile, consider briefly sharing new publications or projects, new ideas in progress, or simply new questions. Feel free to also give us a preview of a code critique you plan to post.

The "Introduce Yourself" thread is a great tradition of this Working Group. For a sense of everyone who has come before, browse the self-introductions from 2024, 2022, 2020, and 2018....

calls for papers / CFPs
job calls
grant programs
projects
events
...or anything else that might interest members of the Critical Code Studies Working Group!

I don't have permission yet to share everything we found publicly, but I'm pretty sure that no one's going to sue me for sharing a taste among colleagues:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12RW7YzunHcuAB4PvQPCOtVQdMCGvoqY8

Cheers,
'Jeff

If you're brand new to CCS, you should know:
Critical Code Studies is an emerging field of study exploring the extra-functional significance of computer source code. "Extra" does not mean outside of the function, but growing out from. Code is the means of a discussion, rather than the ends, the entry point into a discussion of technoculture. CCS is not so much an approach but a growing collection of methods and discourse.

To orient yourself, consider reading

The Original Manifesto
The Introduction to_ Critical Code Studies_.
This analysis of the Transborder Immigrant Tool
If you're brand new to the Working Groups, you should know:
During this biennial event, we dig deep into code and coding culture with a diverse, interdisciplinary community of artists, practitioners, and scholars. The past two CCSWGs are available publicly. The previous ones were closed to participants only. However, you can read previous discussions from the first Working Group in electric book review, where this year's weekly discussion was held.

2024 Critical Code Studies Working Group
2022 Critical Code Studies Working Group
2020 Critical Code Studies Working Group
2018 Critical Code Studies Working Group

The challenge is to keep the focus on code, but of course, we discuss many aspects of the programs and their contexts. However, at this event we have an opportunity to tackle the hardest part of this interpretive and creative practice. We encourage you to start a Code Critique thread or to join in on someone else's. Remember, you don't need to know what you want out of that discussion when you post that. Our group has enough specialties, interests, and approaches to find interesting gems in it or interesting ideas to discuss related to it.

But let's use this thread for any questions you have about this emerging field!

Here's the full call.

Retro AI

Archeologies of Artificial Intelligence

In-Person at USC: July 31, August 1

Extended Deadline: Feb 1

The field of artificial intelligence (AI) has long been obsessively focussed on the next big breakthrough which would solve its defining problems. While interventions like critical AI studies are at least starting to ask the right questions of this field, their fixation on the latest innovation often misses the critical histories and genealogies of AI's past. You are invited to a two-day symposium on Retro AI at the University of Southern California (USC) to critically consider these questions and their implications for today.

Sponsored by the Institute on Ethics & Trust in Computing, The Humanities and Critical Code Studies Lab, and the Electronic Literature Organization

Approaches include: Critical code studies, media archaeology, software studies, platform studies, critical AI studies, and science and technology studies

Subjects:

ELIZA and other early chatbots
Early knowledge representation systems
Ethics and early AI
Rule-based natural-language dialogue systems
Propositional and predicate-logic reasoning programs
Pattern-matching conversational systems (e.g., ELIZA-style architectures)
Early expert systems for domain-specific problem solving
Early AI programming languages
Classical planning and search systems
Machine translation prototypes from the mid-20th century
Early neural-network research and perceptron-based models
Interactive fiction engines as precursors to conversational AI
Algorithmic creativity systems (text, music, and art generators)
Human–computer interaction studies related to early AI behavior

Call for Art:

We also seek digital artworks for an online exhibition on the theme of Retro AI.

How to Submit

For written papers, please include a 250-300 word abstract and a short bio. Artwork submissions should include a short description and a link to the work, video documentation, or other supporting materials.

Submit through this form.

Contact Mark Marino with questions. markcmarino @ gmail.com