CFP: SPT 2019: ​ The 21st Conference of the Society for Philosophy and Technology

The 21st Conference of the Society for Philosophy and Technology will be held May 20-22, 2019 at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas (USA). 

We invite papers, poster presentations, and panel proposals that investigate all areas of philosophy and technology, especially those that have to do with the conference theme, technology and power.  To give but a few examples,  

• technology can amplify, modify, and extend the power of human perception, capabilities, and acts, and it often results in new opportunities but also new challenges;  

• technology is often involved in the exercise of power and so is implicated in shifts in political power among individuals, organizations, and states;  

• technology and its rapid change are continually powering configurations and reconfiguration of social relations; 

• technology affects the balance of economic, informational, and other kinds of power among individuals, corporations, and governments; and 

• technology can reinforce, disguise, undermine, or reveal existing structural systems of power, especially those that tend to perpetuate inequalities and injustices. 

Submissions that engage in some philosophical aspect of technology are welcomed, including those from disciplines other than philosophy (e.g., STS, history, anthropology, and sociology).  Submissions from practitioners, including entrepreneurs, engineers, and engineering faculty, are also encouraged. 

Those who wish to propose a special track of papers clustered around a theme, topic, approach, or scholar’s work may do so by contacting the conference organizers.  Papers submitted to specialized tracks will be evaluated using the same process as other papers; those that are accepted will be included even if they are not selected for the track.  Track proposals (of about 300 words) should be sent by email to conference organizers (info at spt2019.org) by November 1, 2018.  Please indicate the track chair(s) in the email.  

Paper submissions should include a brief (100 word) abstract and an extended (250-500 word) abstract.  Poster submissions require a brief (150 word plus references) abstract.  Panel proposals should include a brief abstract (250 words), and, for each panelist, title and extended (250-500 word) abstract; note that a panel organizer must be named. 

The submission deadline is December 1, 2018. Notification of acceptance will be sent no later than February 1, 2019. Submissions can be made at https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=spt2019. They should be in a .doc, .docx, or .odt (Open Office) format. If the author wishes to be considered for inclusion in a track or tracks, the track name(s) must be listed in the submitted document after the abstracts.

SPT Early Career Award 

The Society for Philosophy and Technology is proud to sponsor the 2019 SPT Early Career Award. The award, which includes a $500 (USD) prize, will be given to an early career scholar whose accepted paper for SPT 2019, in the judgment of the SPT Executive Board, best embodies exceptional and innovative scholarly work that promises to expand the scope of research in this field. Priority will thus be given to work that promotes growth and open horizons in philosophical research on technology, for example, by developing new ideas, topics, methodologies, arguments, conceptual frameworks, or disciplinary perspectives.  

Early career scholars (less than 10 years since the Ph.D., with exceptions for parental leave) whose abstracts are accepted by the SPT 2019 program committee may submit full papers to the SPT Board at by April 1, 2019 for award consideration; the winner will be notified by April 15 and listed on the conference program. Additional funds for travel to SPT 2019 may be offered. The award will be formally presented to the winner at the closing SPT session on May 22. 

SPT Graduate Student Paper Awards 

The Society for Philosophy and Technology will sponsor graduate student paper awards given to outstanding submissions by graduate students for SPT 2019. These awards include a $500 USD travel stipend. Graduate students (including the equivalent of Ph.D. candidates, doctoral students, or research master students) who wish to be considered for an award must submit a complete draft (max. 3000 words) of the paper to be considered to an independent SPT award committee at the email address below by January 1, 2019, following the separate submission of the abstract by December 1. The full paper should be stripped of identifying information but include a cover sheet with the paper title, 150-200 word abstract, the author’s name, contact info and current graduate program details (e.g., date of enrollment, degree being pursued, department, and institution).  

Submitted papers will be blind reviewed by the SPT award committee. Only authors whose abstracts are accepted by the program committee for the conference program will be eligible to receive a graduate student paper award, and those selected must register and present the paper at the conference to receive the award and stipend. Co-authored submissions are ineligible for graduate student paper awards unless all authors are graduate students and are listed as such, with the required program information, on the paper cover sheet. 

To apply for a graduate paper award, please submit a full paper (max 3000 words) and cover sheet to  by January 1, 2019.