The 4S-EASST Congress is coming!

Today in POBICS, we have perfomed a rehearsal about the 4S-EASST Congress (remember: next

August 31th - September 3rd). The main part of the congress will be held in the CCIB of Barcelona (Port of Maresme, you have the original webpage here). 

In this work, our role was act as if we have performing a real communication, in order to test the sound and if there was some problems between the voices of one table and the voice of the other one (in this big room fits four tables, that is around 100 persons in four tables listening and talking at the same time).

We have seize this opportunity in order to test our next communication to the ESHHS-CHEIRON Congress (last June 30th), we will post the report soon, but it was a very interesting congress and especially, the rest of communications in or round-table (about health, bios and medicine). You cannot lose it!

By the way, we want to announce that our webpage has a new design! We hope you like it and for that, we invite you to watch it: www.pobics.com. You can read our blog there directly, and also know more about future events and come if you want.  

Photo Credit: Alan Light

Closing spring & Summer events in POBICS

We are about to end June, and POBICS have some news and upcoming events, so we think is

interesting to show and post them. Here our state of affairs:

• This morning we have held the "panel" anual meeting: our PhD students Mariana, Pedro and Enrique have been assessed by two chairs professors. They have fold our current research topics and professors have exposed some suggestions and improvements. The main concept has been the "focus" on the particular question or objective for each one: digital epidemics, drones and the role of lay-people in biosurveillance. 

• Tomorrow we have an "essay" in the ICCB  within the tests that 4S/EASST Congress coordinators are perfomed. We will seize this chance in order to prepare our next Congress, the ESHHS-CHEIRON Joint Meeting, next Thurday. 

• In this vein, ESHHS-CHEIRON Joint Meeting is being held from 06/27 (today) to 07/01, so if you are interesting in any kind of History of Science topics, you could go to the Psychology Faculty at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

• Next mont of July we will close some still-open works like slides to our 4 contributions to the 4S/EASST Congress, our drafts in Biosurveilling Citizenships, Drones & Epidemics and Images as State of Emergency.

• POBICS has a new domain! From now, our webpage is pobics.com and not more pobics.wix.com/pobics. In this form, we think our work will be easier to find and our SEO will improve.

Photo Credit: Rob Leeming

Our papers for the 4S/EASST Congress. Modes of Existence

With this post we start a serie of publications where we want to show the short abstract about our several contributions to the 4S/EASST Congress (the biggest STS congress around the world), so you could read the topic about our submissions (all of them are in review process so finally,  they could be not accepted). By the way, you can see our track status here.

Today, we show the last one, titled: "Scenarios as modes of existence in knowledge about biological threats"

Scenarios to think biological threats are modes of existence. They are truth-making procedure. So, they operate building states of exception; they produce images of exception and; life is considered the subject and the object of its monitoring. Ebola pandemics will be our empirical work.


Photo Credit: Jeremy Brooks

Our papers for the 4S/EASST Congress. Panic

With this post we start a serie of publications where we want to show the short abstract about our several contributions to the 4S/EASST Congress (the biggest STS congress around the world), so you could read the topic about our submissions (all of them are in review process so finally,  they could be not accepted). By the way, you can see our track status here.

Today, we show the second one, titled: "Between Panic and Panic – Fear as a Dangerous Balance in Epidemic Governance".

This paper wants to argue that a regime of pandemic preparedness can only be installed in the form of fear as a pivotal point between two forms of panic that brings the present and the future under a mix of different forms of control by the individual and society. Observations from various focus groups will shed light on the construction and management of fear under a horizon of global pandemic threats.

Photo Credit: David Jubert

Our papers for the 4S/EASST Congress. Images

With this post we start a serie of publications where we want to show the short abstract about our several contributions to the 4S/EASST Congress (the biggest STS congress around the world), so you could read the topic about our submissions (all of them are in review process so finally,  they could be not accepted). By the way, you can see our track status here.

Today, we show the first one, titled: "Images and State of Emergency in Biological Treats".

Short Abstract: Images have accompanied the social from its origin.We want to reclaim their original status throughout the concept of State of Emergency. We will show some images from recent epidemics (zika, ebola...) understood as scenarios in order to unfold what is an state of emergency and their implications.

Next post you could read about the second proposal, about fear and panic!

Photo Credit: Frankieleon

Track #58 to the 4S/EASST Congress Closed!

Yesterday, call for papers to the 4S/Congress was closed. As we posted some weeks ago, POBICS isBiorisk Intelligence otherwise: Scenarios, Visual Knowledge and new Mechanisms of Surveillance". We have received several papers (all of them so interesting!), and now is moment to revise and to correct them, and then we will send the acceptance/refuse mail.

As the rules of congress says, accepted papers we will show in the track (only abstract), and then we will begin to post here some ideas about our proposals, events and whatever thing related with the congress till their celebration on august and september. (Click here to go to the track webpage of the congress, our track is the number #58).
convinor in one of the track and we was calling for papers in the one called: "

If you have send any paper to our track, keep patience and we hope see you in a few months at the congress!
Photo Credit: Lenore Edman

4S/EASST Deadline for Call for Papers is coming!

As we are announcing from December, the 4S/EASST International STS Congress is Calling for Papers in each one of the accepted tracks. POBICS is convinor in one of them. Remember the title of it is: "Biorisk Intelligence otherwise: Scenarios, Visual Knowledge and new Mechanisms of Surveillance". Until 21st February you can upload papers to the diferent tracks, so if you are interested in bios, threats and surveillance, you can call for our track here with this steps:

• Go to tracks,
• Select the track you would like to submit a paper to and
• Press ‘propose paper’ at the bottom of your chosen track.

As you will se, submission has diferent parts (title, authors, short abstract and big abstract). Here we offer two examples about the short abstract and, and so, you can also see what we will send to the track and what is about our track:

PAPER ONE:

-Paper title: Speed operators in the new epidemics.

-Short Abstract: From the 21^st Century’s arrival, epidemics or virus, and, in general, the bios, has suffered several and important shifts. One of this changes is related with the speed that events happen. We will offer some ideas about the notion of “speed operators” in order to shape this reality.

PAPER TWO:

-Paper title: Epidemics and Images within the new state of exception intelligence 

-Short Abstract: Images have accompanied the social from its origin. In a first moment, images had their own ontological status, but some decades after, text and discourse gaining ground to images and theses last ones was subordinated as a mere illustration or representation of what text said. We want to recover the original sense about images, starting from the latest theories about Visual Culture or Visual Anthropology. 

Photo Credit: Bill Barber