Registration is now open for the 5th annual international Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference! This year we will be gathering in Chicago, IL from Aug 30 – Sep 2, 2009 for a rich program of talks, demos, conversation, debate and fun! EPIC is the premier international forum bringing together artists, computer scientists, designers, social scientists, marketers, academics and advertisers to discuss recent developments and future advances around ethnographic praxis. The EPIC theme for 2009 is Taking Care of Business: having an impact and staying relevant as ethnographers in today's economic climate.
We want you to be part of this discussion! Come and join us!
New at EPIC:
We are excited to announce some new component to the program this year:
1.) Interruptions
We will disrupt the flow of the conference with periodic unannounced provocations intended to prompt conversations about the basics of what we do, as individuals, as a community, and in relationship to the wider world of global corporate life. These provocations will take form in a variety of ways, will focus on the questions and concerns of people who are new to the field, and highlight practitioners with less than five years' experience as corporate-practicing ethnographers.
2.) The first annual ken anderson EPIC provocation award
This year, the EPIC steering committee is looking to select a paper or artifact for the ‘EPIC Provocation Award’. The award has been set up to coincide with EPIC's fifth year and, especially, to recognize ken anderson's significant contribution to the conference and its growing community. It thus aims to celebrate work that is provocative, either questioning the status quo of research and applied work among the EPIC community or challenging EPIC's outward-facing boundaries.
ken is an iconoclast by nature and a symbolic anthropologist by training. Over the last 20 years, his research has explored the relationship between identity, culture and technology (ICTs). Recent work has included a focus on new media, cultural temporalities and mobilities. Currently, he is researching technologies and social participation. This work highlights the changing nature of identity and the importance of ICTs use, design and adoption in all levels of social action. Besides his research duties, ken is spearheading efforts to develop world-wide university collaborations with Intel around “green by information and communication technologies(ICTs)”. ken's career has included positions in the labs of AT&T, MediaOne, US West, and Apple Computer. He has taught at Brown University, UCHS and Bethel College. He is co-founder and currently president of the board of directors for EPIC (Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference) and on the governing board of National Association for the Practice of Anthropology. His work has appeared in range of sources, including Computer, Journal of Human Computer Interaction, Anthropology and Education and The Harvard Business Review.
