As with human languages (English, French, Swahili), the structures and effects of formal languages such as software are with us everywhere: in kitchen appliances, automobiles, airplanes, and increasingly in smart homes and office buildings. This ubiquity of software creates a world that is highly digital. However, as engaged citizens, we know very little about this world. We do see the effects of the interactive interfaces or “texts” that make the world possible, but not inside the “black box” of how these texts are created/shaped. These texts are known by different names such as code, software, data, and model, but we refer to all of this as “software.” The pervasive nature of software has recently begun to attract artists and humanities scholars. Could software be a new literary form? Prof. Fishwick will overview this trend by suggesting that we need to pay special attention to embodied cognition as a key ingredient in knowledge production in the digital age. Then, he will apply embodied concepts from the philosophy of mind, applied linguistics, and mathematics education to illustrate how an understanding of embodiment in textual production can allow us to represent software to make it more broadly engaging and expand our notion of literacy. Attendees are invited to read the following draft chapter prior to the meeting: http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~fishwick/ac/ACChapter.pdf
Bio: Paul A. Fishwick is Professor and Director of Digital Arts & Science in the Department of Computer and Information Science & Engineering
For more information on the Digital Humanities at UF, see our Digital Humanities grants and resources page.
Center for the Humanities
and the Public Sphere
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