TL;DR: Grant Call for Case Studies – Women and Minorities in Creative Computing! Apply Now!
Header image “Wardrobe Change” by NuSan, 4kb Executable Graphic – CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0
“Well yes, but if you make it with a computer, it’s not a true artistic creation, is it?”
Whom amongst you, dear readers, immediately pictures that one teacher, boss, or insufferable bar chat you’ve experienced when hearing this sentence?
This dismissiveness, thankfully slowly petering out, becomes a double-whammy if the creative coder is not whom you probably, accidentally, just pictured in your head: an able-bodied, hetero-normative, perhaps somewhat shy white cis-man somewhere between 25 and 50. And hey, fair enough – the vast majority of us are exactly that, after all!
However, people who are affected by cultural marginalisation often have to put in double the effort: first to even get the idea that they can participate, then navigating those environments as “cultural alien”, and lastly to assert their bodies of work over and over. All the while having to deal with the fact that of course they also face those same difficulties again in their daily lives, leaving them less time for their hobbies.
A really good write-up about this including references can be found on the Action’s Website.
Let’s give these people the credit they are due!
In collaboration with the EU-funded COST-program GRADE (Grassroot Movements of Digital Europe) and Wikimedia Switzerland, we are looking for case studies about marginalised pioneers in creative computing (think demoscene, synths, (indie) game development, media/tech art, hacker culture and hacktivists, pixel or textmode artists, etc) especially from the 1960s to early 2000s.
The respective pioneers have to have ties to Europe and its closer neighbour states.
By “culturally marginalised”, we especially refer to people who – given how society perceives them – had a harder time to have their work recognised and their voices heard, in tech and society at large.
This includes (but is not limited to) creators, organisers and problem solvers who are cis-female, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, had their access limited due to financial or educational factors, age, displacement (refugees, Romani/travelling peoples), country of origin (e.g. embargoed or war-struck states, oversea colonial territories), disability or more.
What are we looking for?
- Mission Grant Application: Brief Abstract (ca. 200 words), describing the marginalised pioneer you would like to research, and how you would go about it (e.g. interviews, collating documentation and references, collecting “artifacts” like notes, certificates, pictures etc) and an estimate of the time and budget you’ll need.
You will find an abstract example at the bottom of this page! - Approved Work: Essay (ca. 1.000 words, plus clear citations), if possible including pictures, illustrations and/or artifacts until August 2025.
“Grant”? You mean like real money?1!
Yes. The GRADE COST Action is funded by the European Union and holds a budget for so-called Short-Term Scientific Missions.
They would consist of a daily allowance for every day you spend researching (you can find the current list by countries here), as well as a travel budget for trips of more than 101 km.
However, we of course strongly encourage you to share the voice of your local or national pioneers. In this case, and without travelling, you would apply for a so-called “Virtual Mobility” grant, and effectively team up with GRADE-colleagues abroad to chat about your research with.
What will you use my work for?
The aim is to produce an Open Educational Resource (so published under a Creative Commons license) that can then be used in classrooms across Europe, sharing the stories and biographies of creative computing pioneers.
GRADE embraces Open Access, FAIR Data and Creative Commons principles.
Until when do I need to apply?
The new deadline is April 17th 2025 for the application, so right before Revision!
The essay would be due by August 31st 2025.
How will this actually work then?
- (Optional) Get in contact with Shana Marinitsch to discuss your idea, formulate the abstract and get help submitting the application
- Fill the application form at https://costgrade.eu/news/open-call-for-case-studies/
- Register at e-COST (yes, yes, there needs to be a paper trail for money stuff. Shana’s happy to help, and it’s not that bad!)
- Feedback: End of April 2025 latest
- And then: start writing, the due date is August 31st!
But I’m not a Scientist / Swiss / Demoscener!
- If you are still reading this, you are exactly whom we are looking for
- The Call is open for anyone in Europe (and neighbouring countries) who is intimately familiar with Creative Computing. No PhD required.
ABSTRACT – EXAMPLE
In 1976, Narnian journalist Zeus Knight revealed in an interview with I.D., the enigmatic creator behind some of the first text adventure games in Narnia, that his sister had in fact been the designer of the final obstacle in the game Watermelon (Knight, 1976). The identity of the sister remained unknown for a long time, but recent research has revealed that Anna May, an architect with a background in painting, had collaborated with I.D. on many creative projects, including video games.
This case study is designed to research the historical relevance of Anna May for video games in Narnia and Fictional game history. The research employs the X-factor approach (explain approach) to outline/develop/construct (explain what). The aim of the study is to also examine methodological issues that arise when studying women’s involvement in video game history and production and explore XX YY, and ZZ, interrogating the dominant understanding of creativity, generated in the context of a history where women creators have, for various reasons, been largely overlooked.