Humans of Computing

Technology is not created in a vacuum. It is designed, built, operated, maintained, and used by people. Understanding technological systems therefore requires us to examine not only their technical components, but also the people, practices, and social structures that sustain them. This seminar explores system and network operations through a sociotechnical lens, with particular attention to gender.

The seminar is organized around the question: How did we get here, and where could we go?

We will begin with a brief look at the recent history of computing and the Internet to contextualize contemporary systems and practices. We will consider how gender has shaped computing and technical work, whose contributions have been made visible, and whose labor has historically been overlooked.

The main focus of the seminar will be contemporary sociotechnical research on system and network operations. We will examine how digital infrastructures are operated, maintained, secured, and repaired in practice, and the human and organizational challenges involved in keeping them running. Alongside this, we will critically consider who performs this work, how technical cultures and practices develop, and how gender shapes participation and experiences within contemporary computing infrastructure and operations.

Finally, we will use these historical and contemporary perspectives as a starting point for looking forward: Where could we go from here? We will collectively reflect on and imagine more equitable ways of building, operating, and sustaining digital infrastructures.

Learning objectives

By the end of the seminar, students should be able to:

• Explain how gender has shaped the history of computing and technical work.
• Recognize historically overlooked people, contributions, and forms of technical labor.
• Describe system and network operations as sociotechnical practices.
• Discuss key themes and findings from contemporary sociotechnical research on system and network operations.
• Critically examine the role of gender in contemporary computing infrastructure, operational work, and technical communities.
• Reflect on and imagine more equitable approaches to building, operating, and sustaining digital infrastructures.