CFP: 2024 Forum on Philosophy, Engineering, and Technology (fPET)

2024 Forum on Philosophy, Engineering, and Technology (17-19 September 2024)

Call for Submissions for fPET 2024

We are delighted to invite you to the 2024 Forum on Philosophy, Engineering, and Technology (fPET 2024) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Karlsruhe, Germany.
The fPET conference will take place from Tuesday 17th until Thursday 19thSeptember 2024.
An optional satellite workshop on Normative Energy Ethics follows on Friday 20th September 2024.

The conference will bring together researchers from the fields of engineering, philosophy, and neighboring disciplines such as technology assessment to address the theme of Understanding, Assessing, and Designing Responsible Futures. fPET 2024 will provide an opportunity to meet like-minded researchers, and to present and discuss issues on the intersection of engineering and philosophy.

The mission of fPET is to encourage reflection on engineering, engineers, and technology; and to build bridges between existing organizations of philosophers, engineers and scholars in related fields.

Topics

We invite abstracts for paper presentations, posters, panels, and experimental sessions on the following (broad) topics:

• Philosophy of engineering and technology
• Ethics, social philosophy, and political philosophy in engineering and technology
• Practitioners' reflections on engineering and technology
• Epistemology of engineering and technology
• Engineering and technology education
• Interdisciplinary studies of engineering and technology, especially (but not limited to) technology assessment (TA), responsible innovation (RI), value-sensitive design (VSD), and science and technology studies (STS)

We explicitly welcome proposals addressing new or underexplored topics, the reflective submissions of engineers or other technology practitioners, and abstracts of an interdisciplinary nature.

Keynote speakers

The following keynote speakers have confirmed their presence:

• Mieke Boon (University of Twente, NL)
• Erik Fisher (Arizona State University)
• Astrid Linder (Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute)

Timeline

• 15 April: extended deadline for abstract submission (papers, posters, panels, experimental sessions)
• 1 June: notification of acceptance
• 15 July: registration deadline
• 17-19 September: fPET conference
• 20 September: satellite workshop

Satellite workshop on Normative Energy Ethics on Friday 20 September

The day after the conference, there will be a satellite workshop on Normative Energy Ethics. During this one-day event, three invited experts will present ethical analyses of current energy policies in different geographical contexts. These three presentations will be followed by Q&A discussions and create opportunities for exploring further international research collaborations. This event will take place at the same venue as the fPET conference and all participants are welcome to join this workshop.

Location

The conference will be held in Karlsruhe as an in-person event. Throughout the conference hybrid-participation will be possible in one parallel-session and the plenary sessions. The other parallel-sessions will be in-person. A limited number of online talks is possible.
The conference venue is the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe (https://zkm.de/en) and the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (https://hfg-karlsruhe.de/en/). Both are located in a listed industrial building, a former munitions factory. The building houses under one roof: exhibition spaces, the Hertz Lab, and libraries, thus combining research and production, exhibitions and events, archive and collection. The ZKM operates at the interface of art and science, and addresses new knowledge in the area of new technologies.

Submission Guidelines

Please submit your abstract for paper presentations or posters, panels, or experimental sessions until 15 April 2024 (extended deadline) via our website: www.fpet2024.org
We invite submissions for ...

• Individual paper presentations or posters that address the conference theme, the topics listed above, or related topics. Abstracts (including references) should not exceed 500 words. Abstracts will be anonymized and reviewed by the conference program committee
• Panel sessions. Panel proposals should include a description of the panel (400 words maximum) and all individual papers of the panel (each 400 words maximum). Panels will be reviewed in their entirety by the conference organizers.
• Experimental sessions, e.g., workshops, roundtable discussions, art exhibitions, etc. The format of these sessions can be chosen by the organizers. Session proposals should include a clear description of the session's aim and approach and should be of maximum 500 words length. Experimental session proposals will be reviewed by the conference organizers.

We especially encourage sessions that bring together philosophers and engineers, as well as practitioners, in inter- and transdisciplinary discussions that are relevant for the conference themes or reflect on inter- and transdisciplinary practices.

Contact

Please direct any queries related to the conference to [email protected].

Registration

Registration will be open in spring 2024. Diversity and inclusion are important for us. We encourage participants from low-income countries as well as all who lack the means to attend the conference to contact us for grants.

Conference organizers

• Co-Chairs: Rafaela Hillerbrand (KIT) & Zachary Pirtle (George Washington University)
• Program Co-Chair: Christine Milchram, Michael Poznic, Michael W. Schmidt, and Giovanni Frigo (for the workshop on normative energy ethics) (all KIT)
• Further members of the local organizing committee: Nico Brähler, Meike Hebich (KIT)

For more information please visit our website