ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

How is societal communication evolving with the profound transformation of the digital media environment through communicative artificial intelligence? What consequences, risks, and opportunities arise from the widespread use of this new technology across various social domains? The "Communicative AI" (ComAI) research unit, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), will begin exploring these questions from the perspectives of media and communication studies, sociology, science and technology studies, computer science, and law, starting in early 2025.

The participating research institutions have announced a total of 18 research assistant positions (job scope: DFG 100%, FWF 75%) with the aim of pursuing a doctorate over a four-year period. The specific job advertisements related to this project can be found on the research unit's website (www.comai.space). Additional information on the working environment and the benefits of completing a doctorate within the research unit is also available on the website.

The application deadline is September 27, 2024.

Overview of the research projects in the research unit

P1 | Pioneer Communities: Imagining ComAI and its possible futures (2 vacancies DFG)
P2 | Interfaces: Implementing user-centered ComAI (2 vacancies DFG)
P3 | Law: The Juridification of ComAI (2 vacancies DFG)
P4 | Governance: Private ordering of ComAI through corporate communication and policies (2 vacancies DFG)
P5 | Journalism: Automating the news and journalistic autonomy (2 vacancies DFG)
P6 | Political discourse: ComAI and deliberative quality (1 vacancy DFG)
P7 | Personal sphere: Companionship and ComAI (2 vacancies FWF)

P8 | Health: Caring through ComAI (2 vacancies FWF)

P9 | Education: ComAI for learning and teaching (2 vacancies DFG)

KF | ComAI Research Space (1 vacancy DFG)

Contact: 

University of Bremen

ZeMKI, Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research

https://zemki.uni-bremen.de/en/

Leibniz-Institute for Media Research | Hans Bredow Institute

https://leibniz-hbi.de/en/

Institute for Information Management Bremen

https://www.ifib.de/en/home

University of Bremen

TZI, Center for Computing Technologies

https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/tzi   

University of Graz

BANDAS-Center 

https://business-analytics.uni-graz.at/en/center/

University of Vienna

Department of Sociology

https://www.soz.univie.ac.at 

 

Website of the Research Unit 5656 “Communicative AI”: www.comai.space

Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) 

The Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) funds innovative projects that deal with the social opportunities and challenges of the digital transformation. We support individual researchers and groups.

You want to spend a sabbatical in a vibrant interdisciplinary research community? Become a fellow at CAIS!

A fellowship at the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) releases you from your regular work obligations and opens up new perspectives.  

As a fellow, you can spend either six or three months in Bochum, Germany. During this period, we will finance your sabbatical leave from work through compensation (e.g. for a teaching substitute). Alternatively, we will pay grants of up to 2.000 € per month. You can invite guests for collaboration and will receive financial support for research expenses. Individual offices and meeting rooms with modern facilities offer optimal working conditions. In addition, we will provide comfortable apartments free of charge.

For the winter semester 2025/2026, we will award up to three fellowships on the topic of “Sustainability in the Age of Digital Transformation” in addition to the usual open call. The special call for applications can be found here: https://www.cais-research.de/wp-content/uploads/Special-Call_Sustainability-in-the-Age-of-Digital-Transformation.pdf

Find out more at https://www.cais-research.de/en/cais-college/fellowships/

You want to boost your collaboration? Bring your group together at CAIS!

Working groups bring together experts from different locations to work on joint projects in an inspiring environment.

We provide modern meeting facilities and catering for working groups of up to ten members. In addition, we will cover travel and accommodation expenses. You can spend up to three weeks in Bochum or get together for up to three shorter meetings.  

Find out more at https://www.cais-research.de/en/cais-college/working-groups/

Application

The next deadline for applications is 31 October 2024. The earliest possible starting date for new fellowships is October 2025. The earliest possible starting date for new working groups is May 2025. Please use the application forms provided on our website.

The funding program is open to excellent scholars and practitioners, to all career stages, disciplines and areas of investigation, as well as to pure research and to projects that are more applied in orientation.

Further questions? Please contact esther.laufer@cais-research.de.

December 12-13, 2024

Belgrade (Serbia) and online

Deadline: October 1, 2024

Website: https://emerge.ifdt.bg.ac.rs 

EMERGE is an annual event that brings together scholars, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to discuss the ethical, social, environmental, and cultural implications of emerging technologies. EMERGE 2024 is organized by the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade, and the Institute for Artificial Intelligence Research and Development of Serbia. The conference will be held on December 12 and 13 in Belgrade, Serbia, and online. This year's conference will address eight subtopics within the overarching theme of Ethics and AI Alignment, with one of them focusing on Media, Freedom of Expression, and Democracy.

There are no participation fees for this conference. 

Important Dates: 

Submission Deadline:  October 1

Notification of Acceptance: October 21

Conference Dates:  December 12–13 

For full details, submission instructions, and updates, please visit our website: https://emerge.ifdt.bg.ac.rs.

Journal of Science Communication (Scopus Q2) - Special Issue

Deadline: November 30, 2024

Editors: Fábio Ribeiro (University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro – Portugal); Sónia Silva (Catholic University of Portugal); Thaiane Moreira de Oliveira (Fluminense Federal University – Brazil)

Contacts: fabior@utad.pt; sonsilva@ucp.pt; thaianeoliveira@id.uff.br

KEY DATES AND TIMELINE:

Deadline for abstract submission: 30 November 2024

Selection of abstracts: 31 January 2025

Full article submission: 31 May 2025

Publication date: December 2025

Language: English

No Article Processing Charges (APC) are required

This special issue is dedicated to exploring ‘informal science communication’, broadly defined as playful and meaningful science learning, communication or engagement that typically occurs in daily life within informal contexts.

Historically, the public communication of science was controlled mainly by individuals located within universities and similar research institutions [Schäfer & Fähnrich, 2020], with the result that science was perceived as exclusive, elitist and inaccessible. Today, we increasingly value broad societal access to knowledge about new scientific advances. Recent developments have paved the way to a renewed vision that understands science communication as a broader phenomenon. Several global and regional health crises have highlighted the importance of constructive dialogue between science and society, as well as the challenges associated with public apathy or ignorance towards science and related challenges such as anti-science sentiments, distrust, and misinformation about science. society [Ruão & Silva, 2021].

In this special issue, we want to delve into the potential and efficacy of public engagement of science in these unexpected places and (possibly) involving unexpected role players and novel approaches. Possible contributions to this special issue may include research articles, essays, or practice insights related to the following thematic areas:

• Advances and directions of science communication in informal contexts
  
• Technological environments and “new” informal contexts to communicate science
  
• Creative science communication strategies
  
• Public perceptions of and responses to encountering science in public spaces
  
• Experiences and motivations of researchers’ participation in novel science communication contexts
  
• Procedure to participate
  
• Please send an abstract of about 500 words to the guest editors of this special issue (listed above) by 30 November 2024. Your abstract should include:
  
• the angle on or definition of informal science communication, and the central aim of the proposed manuscript
  
• the context of and perspective that will be discussed
  
• the expected findings, recommendations, or conclusions.
  

Please indicate whether the proposed contribution is intended as a research article (typically 6,000 to 8,000 words), a practice insight (3,000 to 5,000 words), or an essay (3,500 to 4,500 words).

You are welcome to consult with the editors of this special issue about your article ideas and potential angles or approaches.

Invited manuscripts will be submitted directly via the JCOM submission system for peer review. As such, an invitation to submit a full manuscript does not guarantee publication as part of this special issue.

Full information here: https://jcom.sissa.it/news/18/

Tilburg University

We are pleased to announce the hiring of a PhD student for the project, "Digital Inequality and Social Inclusion in the Netherlands." This project explores how digital technologies can support and hinder the inclusion of marginalized communities within Dutch society. We welcome candidates from a range of academic backgrounds. The position is based in the Department of Communication and Cognition in the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences (TSHD) at Tilburg University. 

I would greatly appreciate it if you could share this opportunity with the network, if that is still possible.

More information and to apply: https://tiu.nu/22401

Application Deadline: September 14, 2024

October 28-31, 2024

Lusófona University, CICANT)

Deadline: September 13, 2024

The Media Literacy and Civic Cultures Lab – MeLCi Lab (Lusófona University, CICANT) is organising its IV Autumn School on 28-31 October 2024 in the form of a bootcamp to boost research hands-on skills. The school is designed to provide PhD students and postdocs with practical knowledge of classical and cutting-edge research methods. To this end, the school embraces an interdisciplinary approach by welcoming debate from different theories and methodological integration (qualitative and quantitative). The School will bring together a group of international scholars for workshops and keynotes. 

The upcoming MeLCi Lab Autumn School 2024 specifically aims to introduce PhD students and early research fellows in communication science, social science and related fields to the transformative influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on their field. The focus is on the intersection of AI, media literacy, and civic cultures. Notable scientists such as Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the Web and a leading advocate for data rights, and Yoshua Bengio, a pioneer of Deep Learning, emphasise the criticality of understanding AI in our ever-more digital society.

For example, as social media platforms increasingly use AI and machine learning algorithms to curate content, it is fundamental to understand how these algorithms work and influence online interactions. Authors such as Safiya Noble (2018), author of "Algorithms of Oppression", and Eli Pariser (2011), who coined the term "filter bubble", have shed light on this issue. They highlight the importance of comprehending the biases and assumptions built into these algorithms and how they can inadvertently perpetuate harmful stereotypes or misinformation. Thus, Algorithmic literacy is crucial for future researchers in our field to understand how AI can empower and challenge democratic communication.

Understanding AI is no longer an option; it is necessary, particularly for communication science students. Inspired by works from scholars such as Nick Bostrom and Stuart Russell, this school will provide students with a non-technical understanding of AI, its implications, and its applications in communication science. We aim to demystify AI and illuminate its role in the future of communication.

The school will be held in English.

Call for proposals deadline

Deadline: 13 September 2024

See details about how to submit a proposal at the bottom of this page.

Format

Online

Themes

1.1. Introduction to AI: a non-technical overview

1.2. Role of AI in media: from media production to consumption

1.3. AI and information disorder: understanding AI's role in the spread and detection of the so-called “fake news”

1.4. Algorithms: understanding how to study the roles and effects of algorithmic literacy

1.5. AI in civic cultures: how AI is transforming civic participation

1.6. Ethical considerations: discussing the ethical implications of using AI in media and communication

Sub-themes

2.1. Innovative Methodologies

2.2. Linking big and small data methods

2.3. Qualitative and participatory research

2.4. Social Platforms for Research

2.5. Communication research: scientific writing and dissemination

2.6. Arts-based dissemination

Dates

28 to 31 October 2024 – IV MeLCi Lab Autumn School

Schedule

Check here for details.

How to apply

Interested graduate students and postdocs must send their application  (in English) by 13 September 2024, including,

1. Updated Curriculum Vitae (máx. 3 pages);

2. Candidate’s research statement that includes a description of their doctoral dissertation, research questions and methods (máx. 2 pages);

3. Motivation letter specifying what you bring and expect from the School (indicating explicitly what themes and sub-themes are of your particular interest) máx. 1-2 pages;

Send your application as a ZIP file to melci.lab@ulusofona.pt with the subject “Application for the IV MelCi Lab Autumn School”

Call for Proposals Deadline: 13 September 2024

Notification of Acceptance: 30 September 2024

Target-group

PhD Students

Early Career Researchers (with PhD obtained in the last three years)

Maximum number of participants

20 students

Fee *

• Lusófona University, CICANT PhD Students 70 euros
  
• PhD students from other Institutions 100 euros
  
• Other 150 euros

*The best participant will not pay the fee; one Equity Scholarship to support the fee will also be awarded.

Keynote Speakers

TBD

Organisers

• Ana F. Oliveira
  
• Carla Sousa
  
• Cátia Casimiro
  
• Célia Quico
  
• Lúcia Mesquita
  
• Manuel Marques-Pita
  
• Maria José Brites
  
• Mariana Müller
  
• Rita Grácio
  
• Teresa Sofia Castro
  

February 7-8, 2025

University of Minho (Braga, Portugal)

Deadline: September 30, 2024

The bYou project, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), would like to invite interested researchers to submit abstracts for presentation at the Congress to be held on 7 and 8 February 2025 at the University of Minho (Braga, Portugal). Submissions are accepted in Portuguese, English and Spanish, but please note that the working language of the Congress is Portuguese. The Call for Presentations is open until 30 September. Abstracts should not exceed 500 words and are submitted on the Congress website (in Portuguese):

https://www.byou.ics.uminho.pt/congresso-byou/

Pedro Jerónimo (Ed.)

https://labcomca.ubi.pt/local-journalism-global-challenges-news-deserts-infodemic-and-the-vastness-in-between/

While there was a time when visibility was generated only by the media and the work of journalists, today citizens are increasingly equipped with technological devices that allow them to quickly share what they witness, think, or produce. However, this type of content is not subject to prior scrutiny before it becomes visible and sometimes even viral, especially on social media. This question brings us to the problem of disinformation, on the one hand, and on the other to the tremendous challenge faced by newsrooms all over the world, which must gain and retain the trust of the public through quality journalism. This challenge is immensely greater in the case of local media, which are typically less prepared. Especially financially and technologically.

And when we add the problem of “news deserts” to this “equation,” the scenario may appear grey. Something that has been studied in the USA, Brazil and, more recently, in Europe, with Portugal at the forefront of this research. If the media are disappearing, if there are no journalists to ensure regular news coverage about and for a given city or community, what visibility can be guaranteed for that territory and people? Can information generated by citizens alone be sufficient, without any type of mediation, scrutiny or obligation to align with any ethical and deontological principles (an alignment which is expected from journalists)? And to respond to this, are resources needed in all territories? Assuming that that in some cases the answer might be that, due to the size of the population and economic dynamics, it is not possible to guarantee the sustainability of one or more media outlets, what can be done? To what extent can technology (for example Artificial Intelligence) support media outlets that are neighbouring “news deserts” in providing the desired regular news coverage of these invisible territories, communities or subjects?

November 18-19, 2024

Covilhã (Portugal)

Deadline: September 15, 2024

“Platformization”, audiences, disinformation and media literacy in local communities are some of the issues to be discussed at MediaTrust.Lab International Conference.

READ MORE: https://mediatrust.ubi.pt/events/conf2024/

7-10 January 2025

Lisbon (Portugal)

Deadline: September 15, 2024

The 5th Lisbon Winter School for the Study of Communication takes a comparative and global approach to the study of media and fear. Jointly organized by the Faculty of Human Sciences (Universidade Católica Portuguesa) and the Center for Media@Risk (Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania), the Lisbon Winter School offers an opportunity for doctoral students and early career post-doctoral researchers to strategize around the study of media and fear together with senior scholars in the field. It is held in coordination with the Annenberg Schools of the University of Southern California & University of Pennsylvania, the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s School of Journalism and Communication, the University of Helsinki’s Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities, and The Europaeum.

Call for Applications

Fear is a powerful emotion that is thought to obscure, undermine or derationalize decision-making. It can either trigger or paralyze action, inducing irrational behavior, generating moral panics or fostering responses to keep people safe. It abounds in the media coverage of wars, terror, social protests, natural disasters, technological accidents and the radical events associated with climate crisis, migration, poverty, racialized violence, misogyny, settler colonialism and other global inequities. Fear gives high visibility to inflammatory discourses that furnish a central stage across the information environment, creating a loss of control and predictability alongside an intensification of uncertainty, threat, risk and insecurity across different publics. While reports on fear-inducing conditions and events have the potential to induce action and create solidarity for those being effected, the media also instigate hate against marginalized social groups who have become the target of what Ruth Wodak (2015) has called “the normalization of shameless politics.” Today a central ingredient of many videos and posts that go viral on social media, fear can be promoted by a wide range of actors, including those who instigate action against the rule of law. 

The Lisbon Winter School aims to cut across the many discourses driven by fear, considering its weaponization by political, religious and social actors who aim to increase their own power, including leaders of democratic and authoritarian regimes, drug cartels, religious institutions, terrorist groups and protest groups. Topics include power grounded on fear, threat, and compliance; fear as a rhetorical tool to spread hate against the ‘other’; fear as a propaganda technique used throughout history; fear as a feature of contemporary polarized societies that present particular groups as sources of threat. Fear also has positive effects. It can be channeled toward helping people keep safe or avoid danger. Wearing a mask to prevent a viral infection, abandoning a village or a city before it is hit by a typhoon, or seeking refuge during air strikes are examples. 

Regardless of how positively or negatively scholars feel about the invocation of fear in mediated communication, its presence is a clear component of media environments everywhere. But what kind of presence does it have? How is it part of wider strategies designed to discriminate against specific groups of people? How is it used by democratic or authoritarian regimes, terrorist or criminal groups to create compliance and counter resistance? How is fear central to nationalistic discourses in different nations? What parallels can be established between contemporary media environments and earlier regimes in which fear occupied a central stage? And how can people resist feeling threated by messages that attempt to stir it up? These are just some of the questions the Lisbon Winter School aims to discuss. We welcome proposals by doctoral students and early career post-doctoral researchers from all over the world to discuss the intertwined relation between media and fear in different geographies and temporalities. The list below illustrates some topics for possible consideration. Other topics dealing with media and fear are also welcomed: 

·       Media and the dissemination of fear

·       Fear, populism and the media

·       Terrorism and the media

·       Moral panics

·       Reporting war and tragedy

·       Fear and the democratic process

·       Communication techniques to create fear

·       Fear and identity formation

·       Algorithms, AI and the promotion of fear

·       Promoting fear against gender, racial and religious minorities

·       Fear as tool of compliance 

·       Fake news and disinformation

·       Fear, anxiety and irrationality

·       Fear and (self-)censorship

·       Fear in the public arena in specific national or regional contexts

·       Climate anxiety

·       Visual media and fear

·       …

PAPER PROPOSALS

Proposals should be sent to lisbonwinterschool@gmail.com no later than 15 September 2024 and include a paper title, extended abstract in English (700 words), name, e-mail address, institutional affiliation and a brief bio (max. 100 words) mentioning ongoing research. Applicants will be informed of the result of their submissions by early-October.

FULL PAPER SUBMISSION 

Presenters will be required to send in full papers (max. 20 pages, 1.5 spacing) by 15 December 2024. 

CONFIRMED KEYNOTES: 

David Altheide, Arizona State University

Carlo Bordoni, University Mercatorum

Isabel Capeloa Gil, Catholic University of Portugal

Frank Furedi, University of Kent

Nelson Ribeiro, Catholic University of Portugal

Johanna Sumiala, University of Helsinki

Barbie Zelizer, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

More to be Announced

For more information visit lisbonwinterschool.com 

ORGANIZERS

Nelson Ribeiro

Barbie Zelizer

CONVENORS

Sarah Banet-Weiser 

Risto Kunelius

Francis Lee