Dear CITASA members,‎

The CITASA 2010 Reception and Section sessions in Atlanta had all went
very well ‎and I am personally impressed by the high level and innovative
presentations at the ‎meeting.‎
In Atlanta the CITASA council and business meeting was held. Please
welcome our ‎new officials.‎
Christena Nippert-Eng, a very solid and established scholar and innovative
leader is ‎the new Chair of the Communication and Information Technologies
Section. She ‎brings an inclusive approach to our organization as well as
innovative ideas. If you ‎have a suggestion or comment on our section
direct it to her (nippert@iit.edu).‎

Gina Neff is our new Chair-Elect. She is a high quality researcher and
brings ‎to us great organizational skills and leadership.‎

Rebecca Adams, a well known and innovative sociologist is a new council
member ‎elected-at large. She is a long standing and low profile member of
the section and ‎brings to us extensive experience as former member of ASA
Committees and ‎University administration.‎

Aneesh Aneesh a young and innovative scholar is a new council member
elected-at ‎large. He started his membership in our section as a Graduate
Student and in that ‎capacity had organized ASA sessions on Internet and
Society.‎

The CITASA council appointed Nalini Kotamraju, as our section
Communications ‎Officer. Nalini like Aneesh started her membership in our
section as a Graduate ‎Student and continues contributing to the section as
a faculty member.‎

Keith Hampton ends a three year period as Chair-elect, Chair and past
Chair. Keith ‎has been a key person in developing and implementing the
policies of our section. ‎There are not enough words to express our
gratitude to Keith for his dedicated service ‎to the section. Thank you
Keith for your hard work, advice and continuous support.‎

Membership Drive: our section membership continues to grow slowly from
year to ‎year. In the last year our membership has increased in 10 percent.
Our membership is ‎international in scope with 15 percent of our members
from countries outside the US ‎‎(Canada, Japan, Germany, U.K., Netherlands,
Argentina, Brazil and Israel). But we ‎need to grow more to get more
section sessions at the ASA meeting. Please renew ‎your membership in the
section and encourage your colleagues and graduate ‎students that are ASA
members to join our section as soon as possible. ‎

Finances: I will like to thank in the Section and my name the generous
contributions ‎of Routledge and Microsoft Research. Both organizations have
been supporting our ‎work in the last years and continue to doing so.
Section reception and awards were ‎paid with their contributions.‎

Ics special issue: papers presented in any 2010 ASA session that are
related to ‎Information and communications technologies are eligible for
submission to the 2011 ‎special issue of Information, Communication and
Society. The editors of the issue are ‎Gustavo Mesch and Nalini Kotamraju
and papers should be submitted until ‎September 15th.‎
Thanks: I will like to thank to the individuals that helped to make the
ASA annual ‎meeting a special one and the ones that supported the session
work during the year‎
Special thanks to
Members of the awards committees: Barry Wellman, Anabel Quan-Haase, Keith
‎Hampton, Karin Barzilai-Nahon, Gina Neff, Phil Howard,  Eszter Hargittai ,
Shelia ‎Cotton, Lee Humphreys, Lori Kendall; Coye Cheshire, Mary Gray,‎‏
‏Daniel Menchik, Jim Witte, David Hachen, Hiroshio Ono, ‎
Session organizers: Tim Hale, Sheila Cotton, Shanyang Zhao.‎
Reception organizer: Marni Alyson Brown.‎

See you all next year in Chicago

Gustavo Mesch
Past-Chair
Communication and Information Technologies Section
ASA

Hi all,

Please circulate (and apologies in advance for cross-posts):

Indiana University
Department of Communication and Culture
Digital and Social Media

The Department of Communication and Culture at Indiana University invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Digital and Social Media to begin Fall 2011.

We seek a humanities-trained Ph.D. whose primary area of research expertise and training is in digital media studies focused specifically on the social dimensions and potentials of digital media. This applicant will be expected to interact productively with colleagues in one or more of the department’s three areas: Rhetoric and Public Culture; Film and Media Studies; and Performance and Ethnographic Studies. The applicant must have a well-developed research program and teaching experience in digital and social media. She or he will be responsible for developing an introductory lecture course and advanced undergraduate courses, as well as for actively shaping and teaching graduate offerings in this field of study.

We particularly encourage applicants whose research involves specialization in areas such as:

Social networking

New technologies of political advocacy

Ethnographies of new media

Convergence and participatory cultures

Digital video

Games and gaming

Candidates are expected to have a strong research agenda and a commitment to excellence in teaching. Preference will be given to those who have their Ph.D. in hand by the date of appointment. Applicants should send a letter of application, curriculum vitae, writing sample, and three letters of recommendation to: Professor Barbara Klinger, Chair, Digital/Social Media Search, Department of Communication and Culture, 800 E. 3rd Street, Indiana University, Bloomington IN 47405. Review of applications will begin December 1, 2010 and continue until the position is filled.

Indiana University is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. The university actively encourages applications and nominations of women, minorities, applicants with disabilities, and members of other underrepresented groups.

Mary L. Gray, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Communication and Culture
Affiliate Faculty, Gender Studies
Adjunct Faculty, American Studies
Adjunct Faculty, Anthropology
Indiana University
800 E. 3rd Street
Bloomington, IN 47405

Email: mLg@indiana.edu
URL: www.indiana.edu/~qcentral
Phone: 812-855-4379
Fax:  812-855-6014

BLOG for "Out in the Country, Youth, Media, and Queer Visibility in Rural America" (NYU Press 2009)
@ http://www.QUEERCOUNTRY.org

Call for Participation

2011 Summer Research Institute for the Science of Socio-Technical Systems
5-9 June, 2011
South Seas Island Resort, Captiva Island, FL, USA
www.sociotech.net

Application:    Screening begins 28 February, 2011
Eligibility:    Advanced doctoral students, post-doctoral scholars and
pre-tenure faculty at US-based institutions
Notification:    Late March, 2011
Cost:        Reasonable expenses will be covered for all accepted
participants

Background
A science of socio-technical systems is emerging from research in the fields
of CSCW, social computing, social informatics, the sociology of computing,
HCI, information systems and other related intellectual communities. The
Consortium for the Science of Socio-Technical Systems (CSST, see
www.sociotech.net) is an organization devoted to advancing research on
socio-technical systems. Building on the success of the three previous
Summer Research Institutes, the CSST will, with generous support by the
National Science Foundation, again be hosting a summer research institute
for advanced doctoral students, post-doctoral scholars, and pre-tenure
faculty. A primary goal of the institute is to build a new cohort of faculty
and graduate students who are interested in research on the design and
interplay of the social and technical that spans levels of individuals,
groups, organizations, and larger communities. Examples of this kind of work
include research on:

new forms of organizing (e.g., virtual organizations, massive online
activities)
social computing (e.g., online communities, online social networks);
distributed work (e.g., collaboratories, virtual teams);
emerging technologies (e.g., recommender systems, prediction markets);
novel forms of production (e.g., open source software, Wikipedia);
new forms of expression and entertainment (e.g., blogs, wikis, massively
multiplayer online role-playing games);
information and communication technologies for developing regions (e.g.,
cell phone-based applications to assist economic development, infrastructure
development for local economic action).

Institute mentors
The institute has assembled a faculty of distinguished scholars in the
domain of socio-technical systems to serve as mentors. This includes the
following leading scholars, in addition to others from both industry and
government:

Wayne Lutters, UMBC, Director
Andrea Tapia, Pennsylvania State University, Assistant Director
Mark Ackerman, University of Michigan
J.P. Allen, University of San Francisco
Cecilia Aragon, University of Washington
Andrea Forte, Drexel University
Caroline Haythornthwaite, University of British Columbia
Chris Hoadley, New York University
Bonnie Kaplan, Yale University
Tony Salvador, Intel
Steve Sawyer, Syracuse University
Phoebe Sengers, Cornell University
Charles Steinfield, Michigan State University

Institute goals
The goals of the institute are to:

Expand on and strengthen connections among the cohort of researchers in this
area, and build on the network of relations formed through the prior Summer
Research Institutes.
Guide the work of the new researchers by interacting with experts in
socio-technical systems science.
Provide encouragement and support for the selection of socio-technical
systems research topics.
Illustrate the interrelationship and diversity of the field of
socio-technical systems research.

How the institute will be conducted
The institute will be conducted as a residential program at the South Seas
Island Resort on Captiva Island, Florida (www.southseas.com) with a
combination of small group sessions devoted to providing feedback on
participant¹s research and larger group sessions consisting of panels and
presentations led by the Institute¹s mentors.  These sessions will cover
research topics such as core principles and viable research methods and also
career development, how to obtain funding, and publication strategies. Time
each afternoon will be reserved for informal recreational activities. All
reasonable, pre-paid costs of participation, including travel, lodging, and
meals are covered by support from NSF.

How to apply
The application process requires three parts:

1. A 350 word response to the question: How will your research contribute to
   advancing our scientific understanding of socio-technical systems? A few
   core citations may be helpful in framing your answer, especially if they are
   not to your own work. (The accompanying reference list does not apply toward
   your word count.)
2. Your current curriculum vitae.
3. Your demographic data including: your name, your current U.S.-based
   institution and affiliation, your preferred email address, and your status
   (PhD candidate, post-doctoral scholar, pre-tenure faculty, or an explanation
   of some other status).

Please email your application materials as attachments using PDF or a common
word processing format to CSST_2011@umbc.edu with ³CSST 2011² in the subject
line.

Please also note that participation in this institute will be restricted to
doctoral candidates who have advanced to candidacy by the time of submission
up through pre-tenure faculty who are at US institutions. This includes
post-doctoral scholars who are not in tenure-track positions if they are
less than five years from having completed their doctorate.

Selection and notification
All applications will be reviewed by the institute director, associate
director, and all mentors. Selection will reflect the following criteria:

Clear articulation of the research contribution to socio-technical systems
(theory, practice or design);
Clear development of socio-technical concepts and principles relative to
your research interests;
A career point where participation in the institution would be of greatest
practical value;
Contribution to a balanced and diverse group of participants.

Additional information
For further information please visit www.sociotech.net, e-mail
CSST_2011@umbc.edu, or speak with prior Institute participants at CSST
workshops or on our Facebook group -- ³Researchers of the Socio-Technical.²