Join us on Thursday, Jan 22nd, from 14-16/18 hrs (German time) for the fourth RUSTLab lecture of this winter term. Anne Pasek will present her work on “An energy history and future of computing”.
This talk will survey two trajectories for computing in the Global North. The first, grounded in an energy history of major players in the tech sector, explores how energy efficiency has been both a driving economic force of our digital present and an insufficient means to mitigate its rapidly growing environmental impacts. The second, drawn from artists and hackers experimenting in degrowth computing, ‘small tech,’ and solar-powered networks, explores how energy constraints are producing an alternative and dissonant path. Thinking these trajectories together, the talk will outline a politics and practice of digital energetics.
14-16h Lecture
16-18h: Workshop
Workshop: Getting into Fights with Data Centers
Anne Pasek is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Media, Culture, and the Environment at Trent University. She studies the political ecology of the tech industry, the cultural politics of climate change, and low-tech experiments in sustainable networks. She is also the co-editor of the Journal of Environmental Media, and would love to talk with you about any potential articles or commentaries you may want to submit.
Location: on campus (MB 4/165) and Zoom
Zoom Link
PW: RUSTlab
You will find additional resources and information on this term’s guiding theme Power Play here on our website.