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Protocols for the Long Now

Article Denise Hearn, Timber Stinson-Schroff

The Protocol Institute launches its first official collaboration with the Long Now Foundation through three participatory cross-disciplinary labs exploring how protocols enable civilizational durability, asking which protocols allow civilization to grow while managing tensions and how information technologies integrate after disruption. Applications are due June 5, with the initiative framed as an open-ended investigation rather than an attempt at historical prediction or a prescriptive checklist.

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The 2023 Retrospectus is a collection of essays from the Summer of Protocols initiative examining how protocols function across social, economic, and technological domains, featuring contributions on topics ranging from killswitch mechanisms and protocolized economics to memory-making and emergency response systems. The volume presents a multidisciplinary exploration of protocols as generative frameworks for organizing collective behavior, coordination, and cultural production in both digital and physical contexts.

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2026 Protocol Symposium: New Nature

The 2026 Protocol Symposium, the third edition of the flagship event for protocol studies, will be held online September 21-25 with the theme 'New Nature,' exploring the technological layer shaped by AI and protocols. Abstract submissions for talks and workshops are open until June 14, 2026, with registration to follow once the schedule is finalized.

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The Memory Research Group, a special interest group incubated by Summer of Protocols, launches a monthly series examining memory across disciplines, starting with Frances Yates' classical account of the art of memory. Rather than debating whether machines should automate memorization, the group investigates how contemporary tools reshape our understanding of memory itself, moving beyond surface-level recall toward deeper modes of knowing.

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