Conferences & Ostranenie: Shortchanging Topos and Ourselves
summary
This essay argues that conferences should prioritize creating environments that foster the initial intuitive leap that produces research hypotheses. It examines how physical place (topos) and estrangement (остраннение) enable that creative moment, contrasts design trade-offs between virtual and in-person meetings, and warns that losing these affordances undermines our capacity to generate novel ideas, urging restoration of those elements in conference design.
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chapters (17)
- 0:00Conference introduction
- 1:50Arrival at Allerton Park
- 4:42Games and icebreakers
- 7:14Writer’s Workshop
- 9:00Allerton’s art and gardens
- 10:26Virtual chaos and glitches
- 12:35Paper workshopping
- 14:04Shared meals soften personas
- 15:59Q&A: virtual vs terrestrial
- 17:48Defamiliarization and creativity
- 21:46Escaping CS discussions
- 24:18In-person vs virtual trade-offs
- 27:50Carbon footprint benefits
- 30:05Online teaching authenticity
- 32:57Commitment in meetings
- 35:44Future of conferences
- 37:10Closing thoughts
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