ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

June 3-5, 2021

Paris 3 - Sorbonne nouvelle

Deadline: September 30, 2020

This is the first conference ever organized on the theme of Artificial Intelligence in fiction (literature, series, films, comics, video games): the focus will be on representations of AI and their meanings, as well as the creative uses of AI to produce and understand fiction.

A road trip entirely written by an artificial intelligence embedded in a car, Ross Goodwin's /1 the road/ has joined at the start of the 2019 literary season a whole series of texts whose common point was to stage and act out a dream of automation and artificialization of literary language, whose genealogy goes back at least to the first automatic writings of Oulipo: artificial intelligence is no longer just a fiction but a tool for producing fiction. Hito Steyerl revisits the narrative power of documentary film using deep learning algorithms to better question its ability to shape reality; /Second Earth /by Gregory Chatonsky takes us into a new world whose automatically generated images already tell the story, while by associating two images to a logical connector he shows the power of an algorithm to create a small story (/If... then/, 2009).

Embodied in figures, familiar, AI now offers incarnations that cannot be resolved on the apocalyptic horizon of robots waiting for the hour of singularity to triumph over the human species. AI is no longer just the object of a fantasy but is gradually becoming an everyday tool through facial recognition or personal assistants, while the first tools of predictive writing and cultural recommendation are emerging and it is announced that a story produced by an artificial intelligence would have been a finalist for a literary prize in Japan. We already knew the very rich mythology of AI in cinema, from 2001's /Odyssey of Space to Spielberg's /A.I. Artificial Intelligence/, via /Terminator /or /Her/: each time, the political, ethical and social stakes of AI open up avenues for deep critical reflection and question the most essential

philosophical categories by which we think about mankind and our place

in the world. But AI is now taking on a concrete presence.

/Databiographie /by Charly Delwart proposes to retrace a destiny based on digital data and their visualisations; /Le_zéro_et_le_un.txt /by Josselin Bordat tries to stage an artificial intelligence in the process of awakening to the world, /Kétamine /by Zoé Sagan sets a scene of a "predictive" journalist centred on data: never have we been so close to artificial agents that are integrated into our lives.

Moving from fantasy to computer tools, the fictional representations of AI are thus added to the fictional representations of the emerging uses of narrative AI by opening up a field of opportunity and fear for culture: on the one hand, creation by AI or assisted by AI can offer a major experimental field of interest to both conceptual writers and storytelling practitioners.

On the other hand, the way in which culture is "dated" and the way in which these dates are analyzed can profoundly affect the fiction industry and its attention control, further multiplying our perplexity about the emergence of artificial narrative intelligence.

Contributors are invited to consider one or other of these topics:

• examples of fictions produced by AI: tools, projects, applications, games;
• the computer methods used: GAN, machine learning, deep learning;
• AI's fiction: robots, cyborgs, computers;
• the themes of post-humanism, singularity, utopias and dystopias of AI;
• the cultural history of representations of AI and its inventors (Alan Turing for example);
• criticism produced by AI: audience analysis, scenario analysis, cultural recommendation algorithms;
• the analysis of fiction by AI methods in the field of Digital Humanities;
• the legal problems induced by creation: law, data sharing, tax system;
• the narrative aesthetics of AI, the link with conceptual art and performance literature;
• the transformation of theoretical categories by AI and the modification of the vocabulary of criticism and aesthetic philosophy, from the notion of narration to that of literature;
• the representation of psychological, ethical and political problems induced by AI, from Asimov's three laws of robotics to /Westworld/;
• the philosophical dimension of fictional reflection on AI: the problem of freedom, consciousness, agentivity, autonomy;
• - AI as a way of questioning the question of minorities, the topic of vulnerability, the frontiers of the human, the frontier of gender, the frontier of species.

The conference will take place at the Maison de la recherche of the University of Paris 3 - Sorbonne nouvelle, Maison de la recherche, 3 rue des Irlandais, 75005 Paris, from 3 to 5 June 2021.

Proposals in English or French (1 page + 1 short bio-bibliography) should be sent to ia.fiction.2021@gmail.com before 30 September 2020

Conference organized by Alexandre Gefen ((CNRS/Paris 3) with Marida di Crosta (Marge, Université de Lyon III), Ksenia Ermoshina (CNRS, Centre Internet et Société), Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel (University of Geneva), Léa-Saint-Raymond (ENS).

Abstract submission deadline: April 15, 2020

Full chapters due: October 15, 2020

Editors: Ehab Galal, Mostafa Shehata and Claus Valling Pedersen

The pace of immigration from the Middle East has accelerated over the past decade, and for many reasons. The most notable of these is the political instability triggered by the failure of the 2011 Arab uprisings. The region has also seen significant political transformations in addition to these pivotal uprisings, such as the 2009 Iranian Green revolution, the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, and the continuing Kurdish and Palestinian struggles for independence.

2019 presents the rebirth of Arab uprisings in some other countries (Sudan, Algeria, Lebanon and Iraq), and the acceleration of political and economic oppression in others. There are many Iranian towns which are experiencing new waves of demonstrations, and, in Turkey, new laws have been passed to stabilise the regime after the coup d'état attempt. The possibility of yet another rise in immigration to Western countries and elsewhere has therefore increased, adding to the importance of diasporic communities. Based on this premise, we invite researchers to examine the role and influence of Middle Eastern diasporic communities on the political developments in their countries of heritage and of residence.

These diasporic communities, in light of post-uprising authoritarianism, have acted as opposition groups which seek to support a democratic transition in their countries of heritage. The role of digital media has consequently been with their countries of heritage and of residence. The political role of digital media in the Middle Eastern diaspora, however, has become increasingly ambivalent. Contesting the authoritarian rule of Middle East countries, on the one hand, and the rise of fake news, misinformation, and digital authoritarianism on the other, has had an impact on the oppositional role of digital media.

The impending new decade presents the need for an empirical-based theorisation of how political communication works in diaspora, and its influence on transnational mobilisation has become more urgent. The importance of this work increases in light of four significant considerations:

(i) The change of digital media’s political role within the last few years, compared to its intense role in the early 2010s.

(ii) The rise of new voices calling for democracy in the Middle East in the so-called second wave of the Arab uprisings.

(iii) The lack of holistic works that theorise political communication in diaspora, and its transnational influence. The diaspora has mainly been investigated from an inter-cultural communication perspective, focusing on globalisation, hybridity, integration, belonging, and so on. An embodied political communication perspective has, however, been disregarded. This perspective would be unique if followed, to handle the diaspora’s transnational political participation, contentious politics, political campaigns, voting behaviour, and so on.

(iv) The transformations of global immigration policies that have led to a conflict between pro-and-anti-immigration positions.

We invite authors to suggest chapters for two kinds of contributions:

• Theoretical chapters addressing one or more of the following concepts: Mediatisation, Diaspora, Multimodality, Contentious Action Formation, and how each of these concepts relates to political communication among (Middle East) diasporas.
• Empirically-based chapters that examine one or more Middle East diasporas, and how these diasporas use traditional and (or) digital media to politically mobilise and transnationally connect.

Research questions

This book asks fundamental and critical questions about media (both traditional and new) and politics in the diaspora, such as:

• What is diasporic political communication?
• How political communication comes closer with intercultural communication and organisational communication in the diaspora?
• What is the role of media technology in diaspora’s contentious politics?
• How do media politically disconnect or re-connect users to their countries of heritage?
• How do media shape a diasporic political identity?
• How do misinformation and digital authoritarianism affect the political role of diaspora?
• How might digital media change the collective identity of diasporic communities?
• How do media facilitate connection with their countries of heritage and of residence?
• How do diasporic media activities empower or disempower democratic actors residing in the Middle East?
• How do media facilitate the diaspora’s participation in the politics of the country of residence?
• How do diasporic communities contribute to their countries of heritage during a crisis?
• Why are diasporic communities interested in matters of their countries of heritage, regardless of whether they have or have not lived in or visited those countries (second and subsequent generations)?

Topics

Contributions include but are not limited to the following topics:

• Conceptualising diasporic political communication.
• Political communication in relation to inter-cultural and organisational communication in diaspora.
• Media and diasporic empowerment.
• Media and diasporic contentious actions.
• Media and diasporic political identity.
• Media and integration into the country of residence, and sense of belonging to their country of heritage.
• Transnational digital authoritarianism.

Format

This edited book will be a combination of invited contributions and chapters from this open call.

The book will be published, subject to peer reviews with no author fees.

TIMETABLE

• 15 April 2020: Deadline for abstracts (approx. 500 words).
• 1 May 2020: Editors’ response to abstracts.
• 15 October 2020: Deadline for full chapters (8,000 words).
• 15 December 2020: Authors receive reviews.
• 15 January 2021: Deadline for revised chapters.
• Summer 2021: Publication of edited book.

MORE INFORMATION & CONTACT DETAILS

Please send your abstract of approx. 500 words to this email: mediasp@hum.ku.dk by 15 April 2020.

Book editors

1. Dr. Ehab Galal

Ehab is an Associate Professor at the department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, Copenhagen University. He has approached research questions from a cross-disciplinary perspective inspired by media as well as ethnographic, cultural, and religious studies. He has been leading a research team working on a project (Mediatised Diaspora) since 2018. This research investigates transnational media and contentious politics among the Arab diaspora in Europe. For more information about Ehab, please follow this link: https://ccrs.ku.dk/staff/?pure=en/persons/164164

2. Dr. Mostafa Shehata

Mostafa is an Associate Researcher with the University of Copenhagen, and an Assistant Professor at Menoufia University. He holds both a Master’s and Ph.D. degree in mass communication. His research addresses a broad spectrum of issues in political communication and diaspora, such as contentious politics, collective action and mediatisation. His current research within the project of Mediatised Diaspora focuses on the transnational media and contentious politics among Tunisians in Europe. For more information about Mostafa, please follow this link: https://ccrs.ku.dk/staff/?pure=en/persons/644713

3. Dr. Claus Valling Pedersen

Claus is an Associate Professor in Persian Studies at the department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, Copenhagen University. He specialises in Persian language and literature. Claus is currently conducting research on literature written by the Iranian diaspora in Europe and the U.S. The literature is written in both Persian and the language of the country of residence. For more information about Claus, please follow this link: https://ccrs.ku.dk/staff/?pure=en/persons/165592

Deadline for Abstracts: March 31, 2020

Edited by Carmit Wiesslitz, PhD

The #MeToo movement has been mentioned in academic discourse as an effective online campaign that became widely spread and was covered extensively in the news media worldwide. When referring to this campaign, Internet researchers highlight the powerful role of social media platforms in activism in the digital age and many scholars talk about this campaign in this context. However, there is a very limited discourse about the fact that women are the leading figures behind this successful campaign or about their distinctive use of and related experience in the online public sphere. In fact, academic discourse has rarely put forward the topic of women activists and their use of social media. Why is it so important to place this issue at the focus of research? First of all, because the field of politics and extra-parliamentary politics is known as an extremely male-oriented/dominated sphere in which women are forced to struggle to successfully promote themselves and their agendas. Secondly, women’s organizations have unique features, specifically related to the way they run their organizations and operations, which often are more democratic and egalitarian. Thirdly, saliency and reliable representation in public discourse is a challenge, not only for women’s groups but also for all minority groups. The Internet may constitute an alternative, possibly more egalitarian, communications platform.

This leads us to the following questions; Does the Internet provides women activists with a new platform to voice their agenda? Is the Internet perceived and used as a tool of empowerment? The contribution of research on these questions is related not only to the Internet and new digital platforms, but also to its focus on women, an important minority group, and its acknowledgement of women’s activism in the virtual world.

This collection will hopefully open a window into the role and status of women’s groups that aspire to join forces to organize collective action using the Internet, and furthermore to gain an understanding of the discourse that women create on social media and other digital platforms. Hence, this book will present various case studies of women from around the world who use the Internet to facilitate social change on topics, including, but not limited to, the following:

• Women’s groups and social change organizations and their on-going online operations.
• Case studies of ad hoc campaigns and spontaneous viral collective action, such as the #MeToo campaign.
• Distinct dimensions of Internet activism, from organizing offline/online protests and mobilizing for collective action, to producing and distributing memes, videos, and podcasts.
• The Internet as a safe space: women’s discourse and online conversations of activists or non-activists (features, uses, and perceptions of value)

The book is intended to be multidisciplinary volume that embraces a broad range of disciplinary perspectives, including, but not limited to, media studies, civil society and democracy, social movements, alternative media, feminisms, Marxism/neo-Marxism, globalization, structural/post-structural, and others. Furthermore, this book may offer empirical multidisciplinary perspectives and a wide array of methodologies for researching digital activism using various online platforms and apps such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, What's Up App, and others.

Interested authors should send an abstract of 500 words, 3-5 references, and an up-to-date bio to Carmit Wiesslitz (carmitwi@hac.ac.il) no later than March 31, 2020, with “Women and activism in the digital age” in the subject line.

Acceptance notices will be sent by May 31, 2020

Full papers of 6,000 to 8,000 words (including all references) will be due November 30, 2020.

I intend to submit a proposal to Palgrave Macmillan (which already expressed its initial interest in this project and is awaiting the submission of a full proposal) after I have a confirmed table of contents and list of contributing authors.

About the editor: Carmit Wiesslitz, PhD, is the author of Internet Democracy and Social Change: The Case of Israel (2019), published by Lexington Books. Her research areas include civil society, democracy and the Internet, media and social change, alternative media, women's organizations and new media. She is a lecturer in the Department of Politics and Communications at Hadassah Academic College, Israel.

Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science

Salary from £35,432 to £42,860 pa inclusive with potential to progress to £46,117 pa inclusive of London allowance

This is a fixed term appointment for one year, starting from 1 September 2020, with a possibility of extension for one further year.

Applications are invited from outstanding candidates in the field of Media and Communications. The successful candidates will join an established and successful department which graduates 300+ MSc students a year and which was ranked first in the UK’s 2014 Research Excellence Framework.

The Department is seeking to appoint two LSE Fellows who are able to make important contributions to its teaching and research. The posts present an excellent starting point for an academic to gain teaching experience while developing their research career.

Candidates will have a completed PhD in Media and Communications or a closely related field (PhD in hand without revisions pending by date of application). Candidates must demonstrate evidence of high quality teaching at the post-graduate level, an interest in contributing to teaching about global media audiences and/or methods of research in Media and Communications, with experience of survey/ data analysis methods, as well as experience of teaching media and communication theories from a critical and international perspective. Candidates will have a developing research record in the field of Media and Communications with evidence of a commitment to critically assessing theories and empirical research. Candidates must demonstrate excellent communication and presentation skills and have a commitment to equality and diversity.

We offer an occupational pension scheme, generous annual leave and excellent training and development opportunities.

For further information about the post, please see the how to apply document, job description and the person specification, available here: https://jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/4015/0/265331/15539/lse-fellow-in-media-and-communications

If you have any technical queries with applying on the online system, please use the “contact us” links at the bottom of the LSE Jobs page. Should you have any queries about the role, please email Dr Bingchun Meng: b.meng@lse.ac.uk

The closing date for receipt of applications is Tuesday 7 April 2020 (23.59 UK time). Regrettably, we are unable to accept any late applications.

An LSE Fellowship is intended to be an entry route to an academic career and is deemed by the School to be a career development position. As such, applicants who have already been employed as a LSE Fellow for three years in total are not eligible to apply. If you have any queries about this please contact the HR Division.

Media & Communication special issue

Deadline: June 1-15, 2020

Edited by: Tonny Krijnen, Niall Brennan and Frederik Dhaenens

Since the early 1970s, studies of popular culture have been rooted in Marxist approaches to popular texts. Mostly focusing on subcultures, cultural resistance and popular media like television, music and magazines, early popular culture studies revealed the political salience of popular culture texts in the organization of (mostly Western) societies. Half a century later, popular culture has changed tremendously. Sociocultural, political-economic and technological developments have transformed the production, distribution and reception of popular culture. The discipline now urges media and cultural scholars to look at the current state of the art of popular industries, texts, producers and consumers on a global scale. While popular culture studies’ roots in Marxist theory are still present – as the political is invariably a focal point of popular culture studies – other themes and approaches have emerged, including queer visibility and representation, ‘race’ and ethnicity, humor and satire, nationhood and nationalism, fandom and fan cultures, reality and mis/information, informal and self-produced culture, sports and mega-events, and transnational media, among many others. This special issue aims to examine and explore contemporary trends and topics under investigation by scholars of popular culture, with a particular focus on the contemporary intersections that the study of popular culture evokes, such as cultural studies, (digital) media studies, gender and queer studies, diaspora studies, crip studies, and performance, drag, roleplay and game studies. The issue therefore encourages contributions entailing multiple perspectives on the richness and diversity of the current state of popular culture as a continuously emerging and evolving field of study.

Timeline:

• Deadline for abstracts: 1-15 June 2020
• Deadline for articles: 15-30 October 2020
• Publication: April 2021

For more information see: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/pages/view/nextissues#PopularCulture

Instructions for Authors:

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal’s instructions for authors and send their abstracts (about 250 words, with a tentative title and reference to the thematic issue) by email to the Editorial Office (mac@cogitatiopress.com). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Open Access:

As the journal is open access, they do require a so-called article processing charge (APC) for each manuscript accepted for publication, which is €900 (plus VAT, if applicable (https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/pages/view/forauthors). As such, please make sure whether your university either has an institutional membership with the journal (https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/pages/view/institutionalmembers) or provides funding for open access publication. Authors who demonstrate financial need and cannot afford the article processing charge can apply for a waiver during the article submission procedure (waiver requests during or after peer-review will not be considered). Requests will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and may be granted in cases of genuine need. Due to the numerous costs associated to open access publishing, Cogitatio can only accept processing a limited number of waived submissions per issue.

November 13-15, 2020

Cyprus University of Technology

Deadline: April 1, 2020

4th International Conference on Semiotics and Visual Communication

The notion of myth as defined by Roland Barthes in the late 1950’s provided a theoretical framework under which daily habits, as well as consumer practices can be examined as socially constructed signs, idealized through verbal narratives. While ‘myth is a type of speech’, it can also be a type of image, typeface, film, photograph, sports, product, online network, cyber space, politics, TV show, sound, fashion, and many more, since all these can serve as a groundwork to mythical discourses. Under this framework, the current conference builds on the enduring significance of this concept, and aims to explore contemporary myths, in the context of global networks, visual and mass communication.

• Abstract deadline: 1st April 2020
• Notification of acceptance: 11th May 2020
• Authors registration by: 30th June 2020
• Participants’ registration by: 30th October 2020

Registration fees: €120

Students and members of the Cyprus Association of Graphic Designers and Illustrators: Free

Further information: www.cyprus-semiotics.org

Deadline: April 21, 2020

The rates of incarceration worldwide continue to rise, prompting important questions about the legal and social circumstances moving so many people behind bars, and also about what happens to people during a period of imprisonment. Education in prison and of prisoners has a long history, marked by key moments in transformation as education in priso  has shifted from some emphasis on religion, sin and redemption to economic rationalism.

This call for papers emerges from academics whose work in delivering education programs to incarcerated people has been long-standing and has included landmark developments, including the wholly radical introduction of digital technology into prisons for educational purposes. While much educational activity has taken place, more remains to be achieved in documenting and interpreting in scholarly writing what happens when incarceration and education intersect. It would be hoped that contributions would be lively and original interpretations of the intentions behind, history of, and philosophies underpinning carceral education.

This proposed edited collection is therefore based around the history and philosophy of prison education. Owing to the dearth of literature in this area, contributions focused on Australasia are especially welcome, but so too are contributions from a wider sphere. Proposals can address different types of education, from the delivery of actual academic content in prison to programs that address rehabilitation and programs for areas such as sex offences. Contributions from academics and from practitioners directly engaged in prison education are equally welcome.

Abstracts of 250-300 words are welcome by April 21st (email to Marcus.harmes@usq.edu.au ) explaining the aim, focus and methods of the proposed chapter.

We would then be aiming for chapters of 6000 words.

We are in preliminary talks with a UK-based publisher.

August 24-26, 2020

Helsinki, Finland

Deadline: March 20, 2020

Recent years have intensified a complex conjuncture of global challenges. Daily news explains in clear terms that we are gambling on environmental sustainability, with increasingly small odds on our side. Rapidly advancing datafication and algorithmically organized interactions affect the logics of interaction and opinion formation. Experiences of intersecting inequalities sharpen differences, polarize political debates and create clashing camps both locally and globally. These and other current trends force us to rethink questions of power, governance and authority: in what ways do governments, corporations, political parties, social movements and citizens affect the future, and what is the role of science and expertise in the current world? These and related questions will be taken up and discussed in the 8th Power Conference, which will take place at the University of Helsinki, August 24-26, 2020. The three intensive days will include keynote talks by:

• Gianpaolo Baiocchi (New York University)
• Mark Haugaard (National University of Ireland)
• Laura Centemeri (CNRS, Centre National de la Recherce, FRA)
• Mike Zapp (University of Luxembourg)
• Suvi Salmenniemi (University of Turku)
• Shakuntala Banaji (London School of Economics and Political Science)

Several streams of paper sessions will provide participants a chance to present their work and engage in intensive discussions with colleagues. We invite scholars from all fields of inquiry to propose presentations of themes such as (but not restricted to):

• political movements and new of forms of engagement
• international organizations and global consultancy
• comparative studies on policy processes
• inequalities, social classes (inside and across nations)
• politics of affect
• datafied resources and infrastructures of power
• the role of science, knowledge and expertise
• new media and communication environments and platforms
• new conceptualizations of power and elites

Deadline for abstracts (max 300 words) is March 20, 2020. (Notification of acceptance March 31st).

Submit your abstract here: https://www.lyyti.in/power2020cfp.

Registration fees: Standard €200; graduate students €100.

Power Conference 2020 is organized by University of Helsinki, University of Tampere and the Society for the Study of Power Relations. For more information, contact the organizing committee

• Risto Kunelius, University of Helsinki (risto.kunelius@helsinki.fi)
• Eeva Luhtakallio, University of Helsinki (eeva.luhtakallio@helsinki.fi)
• Pertti Alasuutari, Tampere University (pertti.alasuutari@tuni.fi)
• Risto Heiskala, Tampere University (risto.heiskala@tuni.fi)
• Anu Kantola, University of Helsinki (anu.kantola@helsinki.fi)
• Tuomas Ylä-Anttila, University of Helsinki (tuomas.yla-anttila@helsinki.fi)
• Tuomas Forsberg, University of Helsinki (tuomas.forsberg@helsinki.fi)

September 29-30, 2020

University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar

Deadline: April 30, 2020

More information:

http://www.lasics.uminho.pt/estudosdecomunicacao/?page_id=923

http://www.cecs.uminho.pt/en/chamada-de-trabalhos-conferencia-final-do-programa-doutoral-em-estudos-de-comunicacao/

Call for Papers

Democracies are under threat in many parts of the world. The emergence of authoritarian and illiberal political forces, and the rise of intolerance in political discourse can be linked to a variety of factors. These include mistrust in political institutions, which in turn has been exacerbated by rampant economic inequality and injustice. Also, populist and xenophobic forms of communication in digital spaces are fueling fear and hatred. Declining diversity and pluralism in mainstream journalism and debate also contribute to the fragile condition of both older and younger democracies. Further, decreasing interest in political news renders citizens less effective in dealing with the forces that shape their lives.

In contrast, various new modes of engagement with the res publica have emerged in an ever more complex information and communication environment. Several countries have seen a significant growth of alternative forms of journalism, which are often embedded with activism for social change. Political dissent has been sustained by exchanges in/through digital media and in some cases led to significant disruptions in the prevailing political order. Civil society organizations, groups and social movements are developing alternative modes of organization, self-governance and collective action that can stimulate wider change and political agency, as well as generate new challenges and tensions. At the same time, political engagement on the far right has also spread and intensified, and a new arsenal of anti-democratic practices have emerged on the web, at times threatening to subvert key democratic institutions such as journalism, public debate, and even elections.

While acknowledging the threats to democracy, this conference aims to go beyond them and discuss communication practices that can reinvigorate democratic politics. Against a background of systemic problems that are producing various forms of unsustainability, as well as of widespread discourses promoting progressive transformative change in current societies, important questions arise for communication scholars and other social scientists: How are digital media being used towards structural – and democratic – change? What signs can we find of significant engagement with the politics of transformation? How can our disciplines contribute to these debates and developments?

Assuming that fundamental change is imperative in current societies, radical democratic politics imply opening up the future to what is not yet given. To understand the possibilities and constraints for this symbolic shift, there is a vital need for in-depth research on cases and examples of communication that is political and radical.

The conference welcomes submissions about communication for democratic transformative change addressing (inter alia) the following themes:

• Democratizing uses of digital technologies
• Political engagement in the current communication environment
• Social movements’ communication for transformative change
• Communication practices in organizing for transformative activism
• Alternative forms of journalism and contributions for social change
• Democratic media activism
• Risks associated with the rise of ´citizenism’.

Confirmed keynote speakers:

• Natalie Fenton, Goldsmiths College, University of London
• Alice Mattoni, University of Bologna

Abstracts (400-500 words) can be submitted via the following email address: communicationfortransformation@gmail.com

Selected papers will be published in an edited book.

Important dates

• Submission deadline: 30 April 2020
• Communication of acceptance: 12 May 2020

Registration deadlines and fees: 31 May 2020 – 40 euros; 1 September 2020 – 60 euros

The conference is organized by the PhD programme in Communication Studies: Technology, Culture and Society in collaboration with the Communication and Society Research Centre, University of Minho.

Conference organisers:

• Anabela Carvalho, University of Minho
• Peter Dahlgren, Lund University

The conference will aim to minimize its environmental impact as much as possible. To that purpose, and to widen access more generally, virtual participation will be possible – with or without a presentation.

University of Bremen

The Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) at the University of Bremen is offering a 3-year PhD position (f/m/d) – under the condition of job release – which will be based in the Computational Communication and Democracy (CCD) Lab and will be co-sponsored by the Information Management and Media Technology (IMMT) Lab (Department of Mathematics and Computer Science). The PhD student will work with the lab directors, Prof. Yannis Theocharis and Prof. Andreas Breiter on the broader thematic area Computational Social Science.

Description of the position

Duration: 3 years

Starting date: as soon as possible

Remuneration is based on grade E13 TV-L (100%, full-time position) of the German federal employee scale

Tasks:

• Writing a PhD Thesis focusing on one of the research areas of the labs
• Research in the field of political communication, based on computational methods such as text-as-data, network and image analysis
• Research on new methodological approaches with focus on machine-learning and natural language processing
• Teaching assistance in computational methods for social scientists (study programs at Faculty 9) and machine learning models in informatics and educational technologies (Faculty 3)
• Description of teaching duties: The position involves 4 hours of teaching per week.

Essential qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Media and Communication, Political Science and/or Sociology with a strong focus on computational methods, or in Computer Science and Digital Media with a strong focus on social phenomena
• Skills in quantitative methods
• Skills in computational methods (a focus on text-as-data methods – especially automated text analysis and machine-learning – is a plus)Proven experience with R, Python, Ruby, Java, or equivalent object-oriented programming language
• Interest in political communication
• Experience with social media data analysis is desirable
• Strong command of English (C1), in German at least B2
• Candidates who already hold a PhD degree will not be considered.

The University of Bremen has received a number of awards for its diversity policies and offers a family-friendly working environment as well as an international atmosphere. The University of Bremen intends to increase the proportion of women in science and therefore urges women to apply. Handicapped applicants with the same professional and personal suitability are given priority. Applications from people with a migration background are encouraged.

For any questions please contact Yannis Theocharis at: yannis.theocharisuni-bremen.de

Application

The application should include the following documents:

• A 2-page letter of motivation. Page 1 should describe your research interests and explain why you believe your profile fits with the main objectives and mission of the ZeMKI Labs. Page 2 should briefly sketch the topic of the PhD project you’d like to pursue.
• CV
• A copy of your academic certificates and transcripts
• A writing sample (research paper, publication, or Master’s thesis)
• Names of two referees

Please send your application including the reference number A4/20 until 31 March 2020 to:

Universität Bremen

Zentrum für Medien-, Kommunikations- und Informationsforschung (ZeMKI)

Frau Denise Tansel

Postfach 33 04 40

28334 Bremen

Or as PDF via Email (single file) at: dtanseluni-bremen.de

The employment is fixed-term and serves the scientific qualification, governed by the Act of Academic Fixed-Term Contract, §2 (1) (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz). Therefore, candidates may only be considered for appointment if they still have the respective qualification periods available in accordance with § 2 (1) WissZeitVG.

About the Computational Communication and Democracy Lab

The Lab’s substantive research agenda is driven by the idea that the proliferation of digital media opens up new avenues for social and political interaction that have radical effects on democratic processes: participation, organisation, representation. As such, digital communication offers opportunities, but also poses enormous challenges that fundamentally affect the quality of our democracies. Relying on developments in the field of computational social science as a point of departure, the Lab’s is also interested in methods through which new types of digital information can be processed and repurposed for studying a variety of social and political phenomena enabled by digital technologies. The lab has two main goals. First, to lead research on different but interdependent substantive topics for understanding, the social and political impact of digital communication and address methodological and epistemological issues related to conceptualisation, operationalisation, measurement and inference. Second, to offer BA, Masters, and PhD students a path for specialisation in computational and data science methods, with applications to communication and media research.

About the Information Management and Media Technologies Lab

The Lab combines theoretical research on the change of organizations (particularly in the education sector and in connection with mediatisation) with application-oriented research and the development of media technologies. The lab integrates the perspectives of informatics and social sciences. The underlying assumption is that the change of organisations with and through media technologies can only be studied by an empirically substantiated understanding of the particular application context. Accordingly, a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods is used in the research projects with a focus on computational social science.

About the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI)

As an inter-faculty research institute, the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) bundles research activities at the University of Bremen in the area of media and communicative change regarding a broad range of cultural, social, organisational and technological context fields. The research institute is committed to interdisciplinary cooperation, integrating researchers from the areas of media and communication studies, cultural studies, information management and media pedagogics. In addition to their research activities, ZeMKI members are active in the various media related study programmes at the University of Bremen. The ZeMKI oversees the profile-building research group "Communicative figurations of mediatized worlds" of the University of Bremen. The research group has been supported as a "Creative Unit" by the institutional strategy "Ambitious and Agile" of the University of Bremen funded within the frame of the Excellence Initiative by the German Federal and State Governments.

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