Rationale for the conference

Due to innovations realized over the past 10 to 15 years, the computer has dramatically changed the things that scholars do, and widened the scope of the things that researchers potentially can do. Heightened processing power, new categories of software, and, indeed, novel conceptions of computing are offering scholars opportunities to analyze, express and instruct in ways unimaginable even in the early 1990s.

Consider the following:

  • In short order, we think it entirely probable that scholars will make 2D and 3D objects - the stuff of animation, the stuff of virtual reality - common instruments for representation. They will be deployed as easily - and as readily - as text and number are today.
  • Consider also the possibility that scholars will widely resort to computing simulations to analyze the past, construct the present, and anticipate the future. Scholars will not only deduce explanations. In future, they will "grow" them in simulations. This approach is already being used to reconsider questions as diverse as the spread of pandemics, neighbourhood segregation, and the emergence of urban systems.

Computing is offering important new possibilities for scholars. Some human science researchers know this. We believe more should. For this reason, the Canadian Committee for History and Computing and the Society for Digital Humanities are pleased to announce their joint sponsorship of the symposium The Computer: The Once and Future Medium for the Social Sciences and the Humanities.

Our hope is that this symposium will lead to two outcomes for participants, outcomes that can be summarized as recognition, and reflection.

The symposium is first designed to introduce attendees to the possibilities associated with new technologies and approaches. It will feature non-technical papers devoted to a diverse array of topics, including:

  • The use of virtual reality to construct model sites in ancient Rome
  • The use of simulations to assist policymakers in planning for pandemics
  • The use of software to assess the impact that emotion plays in individual and group decision making.

The second purpose of the symposium is to provide attendees with opportunities to discuss what these and other technologies mean. Some Congress delegates will leave, doubtless, with the conclusion that the computer will have no bearing on their future research. Others, we hope and trust, will see new possibilities for analyzing data and expressing content. Our only request is that you not remain indifferent. The point of this symposium - like any other - is to talk. When you talk, you engage. When you engage, you relate the point at issue to what matters to you. Important trends are emerging in the domain of computing. Our hope is that you will use the symposium's coffee breaks, question periods, and the evening reception, to relate these trends to your research, and in so doing to reach a deeper understanding of the potential contribution that the computer will make to the future of the social sciences and the humanities.