The arts and the sciences each contribute to the improvement of the human condition, yet it is clear that these modes of inquiry feature different values, aims, methods, registers and more. Furthermore, they are often posed in opposition to one another with practitioners highlighting the largely incommensurate extremes, rather than productive synergies, or practices that endeavor to serve integrated arts/science ends. In contrast, this workshop is intended to provide fertile ground for productive dialogue amongst cultural producers operating in human-centered computing, the arts, and the social sciences. In particular, this workshop will lay the foundation for articulating the types of inquiry, collaboration, funding-opportunities, and innovation that (1) lie at the intersection of concerns of the National Science Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts and (2) represent opportunities for producing knowledge and art unanticipated by either institution alone. It is not necessary to start this process from scratch. As an initiative of the Computer & Information Science & Engineering Directorate (CISE) Information and Intelligent Systems division (IIS) and Human Centered Computing cluster (HCC), the NSF CreativeIT Program funded "projects that explored interdisciplinary and synergistic cross-disciplinary research in creativity and computer science and information technology." The program funded research efforts integrating creative practices outside of the "traditional" usability- and productivity-oriented HCC cannon, including art/science and art/engineering collaborations. We can learn from the successes and challenges of supporting high-risk, high-reward research from the CreativeIT program. The CreativeIT program provides as its legacy a platform we can use to inform future funding endeavors that support and celebrate creativity-based technology research.
The goals and objectives of this workshop are to establish a ground for a thoughtful and vibrant dialogue amongst human-centered computing researchers and technology innovators, artists, creative practitioners, and social scientists. This dialogue can provide insights and indications for brainstorming, understanding, and developing innovations in IT research (building on previous workshops and endeavors in the field over the past decade and longer. Furthermore, this workshop is proposed as a first step to continued involvement between the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and other support organizations to understanding the infrastructure needs of the field in the United States. The goals of this workshop include the following: 1) Fostering current and new inter-agency, inter-institutional relationships for dialogue, collaboration and new inter/cross agency co-funding opportunities. 2) Identifying points of intersection between in information technology oriented work in digital media arts and human-centered computing. 3)Producing a field impact report that will inform next stage activities at follow-up workshop activities and meetings with the goal of organizing infrastructure support channels that can help this community sustain and thrive. The workshop participants will represent thought leaders and influencers from the following constituency categories: Researchers in games studies, human centered computing, cultural and critical technology studies, technology innovations; University Program Directors in the arts, digital media, design, and computer science.; Creative Practitioners bridging aesthetics, computation, engineering, and cultural practices; Non Government Organizations (NGO) Directors with programs that support technology-based creativity research and arts influenced leadership methodologies; Foundation Leaders from organizations that support creativity-based technology research and applied applications; and Thought leaders and Influencers who have been engaged in the dialogue about transdisciplinary research practices and innovation.
D. Fox Harrell and Sneha Veeragoudar Harrell Workshop Programming Committee National Science Foundation: Pamela L. Jennings, Ph.D., Program Director Computer & Information Systems & Engineering Division of Information & Intelligent Systems D. Fox Harrell, Ph.D., Principal Investigator Associate Professor Comparative Media Studies Program & Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sneha Veeragoudar Harrell, Ph.D., Co- Principal Investigator TERC Education Research Collaborative Fred Belmont, Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow National Endowment for the Arts: Joan Shigekawa, Senior Deputy Chairman Bill O’Brien, Senior Advisor for Program Innovation Caralyn Spector, Arts Policy Advisor Michael Faubion, Special Assistant On September 15th-16th 2010, over fifty-five thought leaders and stakeholders (artists, engineers, computer scientists, and practitioners who straddle disciplinary boundaries) were convened for a two-day interactive discussion about the challenges and opportunities for advances in the creative innovation economy and education institutions. The main goal was to identify synergies and foster collaborations across and between constituencies and develop a set of actionable areas of mutual interest: inquiry, collaboration, funding opportunities, lifelong learning, and innovation that are recognized by both the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Workshop Objectives were: Identify intersecting points between the Fine, Applied, and Performing Arts and Cognitive Science, Human-Centered Computing, and Computer Science and Engineering. Develop a gap analysis about opportunities and challenges in the field. Foster a dialogue between the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Workshop Format combined structured dialogue, annotated discourse, mind maps, reflective aspirations, and multiple breakout sessions focused on identifying structural and cultural issues in the diverse Arts + Sciences + Technology community. The breakout sessions were: Successful interdisciplinary approaches in Arts + Sciences + Technology. The topics covered were methods that challenge assumptions and lead to new ideas, techniques to develop shared terminology, negotiating multiple values and goals, and how to locate and identify collaborations. Bridging chasms within and across disciplines with topics on interdisciplinary characteristics of art/science/technology projects. The topics covered were criteria for assessing value—artistic aims, evaluation methods criteria, and success strategies for bridging multiple cultures Best institutional practices for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) learning. The topics covered were pedagogical approaches for STEAM, academic programs that best foster hybrid practices, career aspirations and non-utilitarian intellectual/artistic aims, skill development and mentorship regarding career paths. Significant trends in IT and creative practices. The topics covered were communication and networking technologies, research of practice, specific trends, creativity theories, methods, and practices. Opportunities to develop institutional networks across disciplines. The topics covered were role of networks in interdisciplinary methods, communities of interest, international collaborations, and strategies for transforming cultures A product of the workshop is The Workshop Storymap (see attached), a graphic depiction of the key workshop discussion points. In the Storymap, the landscape on the left depicts two valleys that represent the worlds of Art and Science. Some of the people are content in their silos while others are moving toward the interdisciplinary space in-between. Surrounding both worlds are cultures of knowing concepts and methods that begin to merge as discipline boundaries are crossed. The ramp represents the topic areas of the workshop gap analysis exercise. Above the ramp float several drivers and trends that align the workshop topic with broader national concerns about innovation, STEM education, ingenuity and creativity in maintaining a competitive edge. Each gap analysis topic is summarized in the challenges and opportunities tabs below the ramp. Champions of AST research build the pillars and assure the structural integrity of the ramp that ushers the field from the lower landscape of silos to the higher landscape of transformative breakthroughs. The bedrock of the future landscape is inlayed with the Big Questions that were shared by workshop participants on the first day of the event. The land of transformative breakthroughs is decorated with banners that announce the NSF and NEA review criteria—Intellectual Merit; Broader Impact; and Artistic Excellence. The global silhouettes indicate that the impact of AST research strengthens national and international communities. In this envisioned future, people who are working in interdisciplinary settings among new and revised cultures of knowing that lead to transformative breakthroughs.
