Modeling Spaces - Modifying Societies

International Conference

October, 7 - 9, 2009 in Darmstadt, Germany

Registration open now!

This conference aims to increase our understanding of the power and limitations of models, their construction and effects in the sciences and in fields of practice. It provides a forum for the discussion of qualitative and quantitative models composed of verbal propositions, numerical abstractions, and visualizations.
While it is beyond doubt that models create instrumental knowledge, the distinctive spatial dimension of models is open to discussion. Of particular interest are issues that cut across established scientific disciplines and analyze the boundaries between science, technology, society, and politics. The conference explicitly aims at bringing scientists and practitioners from outside the academy together.

Keynote speeches will be held by:
Paul N. Edwards (University of Michigan): "Versions of the Atmosphere:
Climate Models, Data Models, Global Space and Time"
Oskar von Stryk (TU Darmstadt): "Models and Simulation in Engineering:
Dynamics of Motion and Robot Intelligence"
Amy Hillier (University of Pennsylvania): "Mapping Social Patterns:
The Making and Unmaking of Inequality"
Roland W. Scholz (ETH Zürich): "Transdisciplinarity, System Sciences,
and Prospective Modeling in Regional Transformation"

A full program is also available as PDF-file:

Program