EPIC is a nonprofit organization, annual conference, and global network of professionals activating context and culture at the heart of computational and business systems.
EPIC2026 | October 26–28
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As industries and governments race to model, predict, and act within increasingly complex environments, context is the central challenge. The tools we build, the decisions we make, and the futures we imagine depend on how we define and operationalize context right now.
EPIC Learning Week | May 4–8
Join EPIC to Access Video – Coming Soon!
Become an EPIC Member to access Learning Week video, EPIC2026 registration discounts, the EPIC2026 livestream and recordings, and more premium video in the EPIC Library.
Annual Conference
EPIC2026 Context
Chicago, October 26–28
Uniting interpretation and computation to model, predict, and create value in complex systems.
Featured Collections: Essential expertise from our library
Automation
Automation shifts work, decision making and pattern finding between people and mechanized systems. Through research, strategy, and design, ethnographers engage the profound implications for society and everyday life.
Curator: Melissa Cefkin
Strategy
This collection highlights the value of ethnography for strategy and decision making, including frameworks and methods for embedding ethnographic practice deeper into an organization’s strategic practices.
Curators: Esben Ronan & Ian Dull
Sociality
No human behavior exists in isolation. Ethnographers illuminate the complex social systems that connect people, products and services, organizations, and research endeavors themselves.
Curator: John W. Sherry
Job Board
Full-time and contract opportunities posted by organizations looking for applicants in the EPIC community.
Maintaining my EPIC membership for years has provided me with invaluable professional development content, enhancing my research skills and feeding my curiosity about emerging cultural phenomena.
Sylvia Long-Tolbert
Founder, Know More Marketing
EPIC is one of the most welcoming and inspiring professional communities out there. Curious folks asking big, hard questions and using the power of ethnography to make sense of a fast-changing world while building a supportive network.
Maria Lucia Vidart-Delgado
Senior Safety Researcher, Reddit
EPIC Member Benefits
Join the essential community of practitioners using an ethnographic lens for sensemaking and transformation.
Learning Week
Join our annual week of virtual learning – FREE and exclusive to EPIC Members.
Conference Livestream
Gain FREE and exclusive access to our annual conference livestream. (Or receive a discount on in-person registration!)
Discounted Registrations
Receive discounts on trainings and in-person registration for our annual conference.
Premium Video
Gain FREE and exclusive access to Premium Video in the EPIC Library, including past Learning Week sessions, select trainings, and video from the two most recent conferences.
Featured Resources
Paper
Grounded Models: The Future of Sensemaking in a World of Generative AI
Tom Hoy et al.
Paper
Decolonizing LLMs: An Ethnographic Framework for AI in African Contexts
Lindsey Dewitt Prat et al.
Case Study
Democratization & Research
Nadine Levin
Keynote/Talk
AI Tools in Humanistic & Social Research
Peter Leonard, Silvana di Gregorio, & Tom Hoy
Tutorial
Strategic Foresight Methods for Innovation
Sam Ladner
Keynote
Racist by Design: Why We Need a New Economic System for the 21st Century
Carolyn Rouse
