Hi folks. I will be hosting a PhD course at the IT University of Copenhagen on June 2-4 entitled "Mundane Technologies: The Structures and Practice of Everyday Use". The guest lecturers for it will be Lucy Suchman and Nina Wakeford. The course will explore the intersections between the structures of use embedded in technologies (be it physical configurations or software and architectures) and the actual practices that circulate through them. Rather than taking technological artifacts at face value, this course will examine 1) the embedded values, social & political configurations, and use-orientations within a technology (normative orientations) and 2) the intervening ways actual use is constructed, contested, and negotiated. The course will take up the notion of the "imagined user" and draw on work that seeks to understand the (at times messy) co-construction of technology and everyday users. Additionally, consideration will be given to methodological orientations that foster research exploring this relationship. The course will include students from a variety of fields, including those doing work on computer gaming, CSCW, Ubicomp, and internet studies to name a few. Students will focus on exploring - through the readings and reflections on their own research - the intersections between systems, values, and practices. Despite divergent objects of study (across several research departments), the goal of the course is to create a venue for some shared inquiry into the normative aspects of systems and the intervening everyday use of technological artifacts. Space is limited and applications are required. Check out http://www1.itu.dk/sw29224.asp for more details (ECTS will likely be 5 if a paper is submitted and a lesser amount if not). TL -- ___________________________________ T.L. Taylor, Associate Professor Center for Computer Games Research Dept. of Digital Aesthetics and Communication IT University of Copenhagen Rued Langgaards Vej 7, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark +45 7218 5035 (tele) / +45 7218 5001 (fax) tltaylor@itu.dk / http://www.itu.dk/~tltaylor/