This talk by Jean-Francois Blanchette tomorrow (Thurs.) night may be of interest to those of you in the vicinity of western Massachusetts. Check www.hampshire.edu for a map and directions. Enjoy -Lewis --- begin forwarded message --- ISIS wrote: Seminar: All About Alice (and Bob, Eve, and Oscar, too): The Research Culture of Cryptography Location: West Lecture Hall, Franklin Patterson Hall, Hampshire College, =>=>=> Thursday, November 5, 7:30pm Modern cryptology researchers have been enthusiastically portrayed in the media as cyberspace's Freedom Fighters, and the fruit of their work, as tangible evidence that computers not only control, but can also liberate. In this seminar, we'll see how this simplistic picture of cryptological research shapes both the public perceptions of cryptology, and cryptologist's perceptions of themselves and their work. Jean-Francois Blanchette will discuss how the culture of secrecy and military intelligence has deeply informed the models cryptologists use to analyze and design security artifacts. He will also discuss how, from a initial concern with communication secrecy, cryptological research has dramatically expanded its scope to encompass digital signatures and certificates, watermarking, e-cash, copy-protection, and other domains. These are all artifacts of much broader cultural and societal import that can be fit under the analytical category of "privacy." Cryptologists, as well as the rest of us, have to imagine and invent richer and more complex representations of what cryptological research is about and what its object is, and to explore other social and ethical paradigms than those offered by privacy and confidentiality. Jean-Francois Blanchette is a graduate student in the Department of Science, Technology and Society at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Trained as a cryptologist, he is now researching and writing about the practices, cultures, and ethics of cryptology. --- end forwarded message ---