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<div>December 16, 2003</div>
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<div>Dear Colleagues,<br>
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<div>Some of you have written essays for<i> Evocative Objects: Things
We Think With</i>. We have essays about gears and essays about ballet
slippers. We have essays about string and essays about Chinese
scholars' rocks. We have essays about rolling pins and essays about
the physics of Saran Wrap. I am grateful to you for your submissions,
and to those of you who are still working, I am looking forward to
receiving your essays as soon as possible.<br>
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<div>I write because many of you who have been associated with our
Evocative Objects Seminar series have expressed an interest in
contributing an essay to this collection. The holidays and the
semester break may provide the time and the opportunity to involve new
people in this endeavor.<br>
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<div>If you have not been part of this project but would like to
participate, I invite you to submit a contribution by February 15. I
would like the final volume to represent the widest range of voices,
disciplines, and interests as possible.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>We live in a time when technology is at the center of our lives.
This volume will offer reflections on how artifacts carry emotions as
well as ideas, on the deep connections between technology and human
development. We are asking for a short (5-20 page) original essay
about a specific object that has been particularly meaningful in your
life. It can, but does not have to be, a technological object. It can
be an object from your childhood, a favorite toy or a first ink pen,
or one from later in life. The style is yours to decide, but we
envisage one that is personal, serious but accessible. The goal is to
bring our work to a broad interdisciplinary audience.</div>
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<div>Our theme is things and thinking, as well as the integration of
thought and feeling. Thus, we ask you to choose an object that has
provoked you to reflect about mind, body, science, mathematics,
history, language, feelings, about such categories as the natural and
the artificial, or about how things "work" in some way that
seemed important to you - perhaps in childhood, perhaps later. You may
choose an object that intrigued or moved you, or an object you feared.
It can be an object that brought a philosophical problem "down to
earth," an object that inspired you to choose your intellectual
and/or personal life questions.</div>
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<div>Please send all contributions to Olivia Dasté, Project Director
for the evocative objects volume: <odaste@mit.edu>.</div>
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<div>In closing, I want to announce that we will be continuing our
evocative objects work in the spring semester in a format that will
enable us to have a more extended conversation than was possible over
lunch. There will be a day-long Evocative Objects workshop in E51-095
on Friday, March 5, 2004. Please save the date and consult our web
page for program details: http://web.mit.edu/~sturkle/techself/.</div>
<div> <br>
Best wishes for the holiday season,<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Sherry Turkle</div>
<div>Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of
Science and Technology</div>
<div>Program in Science, Technology, and Society</div>
<div>Director, MIT Initiative on Technology and Self</div>
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