November 2010 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

JITP2011: The Future of Computational Social Science
by David Berry 29 Nov '10

29 Nov '10

JITP2011: The Future of Computational Social Science CALL FOR PAPERS May 16 & 17, 2011 at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA The 3rd annual, two-day Journal of Information Technology & Politics (JITP) thematic conference will be in Seattle, Washington, coordinated by the Department of Political Science and the Center for American Politics and Public Policy (CAPPP) at the University of Washington. APPROACH Computational social science is an emergent field and source of new theoretical and methodological innovation for social science more broadly. Multidisciplinary teams of social and computer scientists are increasingly common in the lab and at workshops where cross- fertilization occurs in the areas of theory, data, methods, and tools. Peer-reviewed interdisciplinary work is becoming more common as the computational tools and techniques of computer science are being used by social scientists. Previously, large-scale computational processing was the purview of expensive, university-centric computing labs. Now, with the democratization of technology, universities and for-profit firms increasingly provide large amounts of inexpensive computing power to researchers and citizens alike. It is the potential of these new computational technologies and related Web-based platforms for research, politics, and governance that led to the creation of the Journal of Information Technology & Politics. Previous special issues on "Text Annotation for Political Science" 5(1), "Politics: Web 2.0" 6(3/4), "YouTube and the 2008 Election Cycle in the United States" 7(2/3), and "The Politics of Open Source" (in production) have focused the attention of researchers on the expansive new landscape of digital democracy as well as the architecture and tools that underpin it. In their 2009 Science article, David Lazer and colleagues highlighted some of the future challenges for scholars working in this area. "Computational social science could become the exclusive domain of private companies and government agencies. Alternatively, there might emerge a privileged set of academic researchers presiding over private data from which they produce papers that cannot be critiqued or replicated. Neither scenario will serve the long-term public interest of accumulating, verifying, and disseminating knowledge." Luckily, the phenomenon of computational social science is distributed so widely and found in such variety that these scenarios are unlikely. The trends towards openness and data and tool sharing are notable breakthroughs in a sphere where proprietary approaches dominate. Data, method, and tool transparency are increasingly watchwords for governments and researchers. With this background in mind, we invite a wide range of paper submissions on the future of computational social science. Submissions may include, but are not limited to: • Applications of information theory to social science research • Methodologies and tools for studying users and information on social media services • Projects featuring novel uses of computer assisted qualitative data analysis software • Large-scale empirical analysis and modeling • Web technologies and data mining • Interdisciplinary methodologies in collaborative research • Pedagogical issues in computational social science • Computer simulations in political science education and training • Concepts from social sciences enhanced by computation, such as social network analysis • Innovation in socio-technical network and infrastructure analysis PAPER SUBMISSIONS Authors are invited to prepare and submit to JITP a research paper, policy viewpoint, workbench note, or teaching innovation manuscript by January 1, 2011. Proposals for full panel presentations will also be accepted. Please contact the conference manager to discuss panels. Papers accepted for publication will be invited to revise and resubmit their articles for publication in a special issue, or double issue, of JITP. Authors should "establish membership" at the JITP website, http://www.jitp.net, to submit a paper. Follow the instructions for regular article submissions, being sure to indicate that the paper is for JITP2011 in the comments section. Papers will be put through an expedited, blind peer review process by the Program Committee, and authors will be notified about a decision by March 1, 2011. A small number of papers will be accepted for presentation at the conference. Other paper authors will be invited to present a poster during an evening reception. BEST PAPER AND POSTER CASH PRIZES The author (or authors) of the best research paper will receive a cash prize. The creator (or creators) of the best poster/research presentation will also receive a cash prize. PROGRAM COMMITTEE Gil ad Ariely, Lauder School of Government Diplomacy and Strategy, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya Paul M. Baker, Georgia Institute of Technology David M. Berry, Swansea University, UK. Chris Bronk, Rice University Jana Diesner, Carnegie Mellon University Muzammil M. Hussain, University of Washington Daniel Katz, Fellow, University of Michigan, Center for the Study of Complex Systems Jacob Groshek, Iowa State University Andrea Kavanaugh, Virginia Tech Georgios Lappas, Technological Educational Institution of Western Macedonia, Greece Azi Lev-On, Ariel University Center Ignacio J. Martinez-Moyano, Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago Bruce Neubauer, Albany State University Andre Oboler, Monash University, Australia Justin Reedy, University of Washington Joseph W. Roberts, Roger Williams University Scott Robertson, University of Hawaii Derek Ruths, McGill University Chirag Shah, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Stuart Shulman, University of Massachusetts Amherst, co-chair Anas Tawileh, Cardiff University, UK John Wilkerson, University of Washington, co-chair

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Canada Research Chair in Digital Humanities at McGill
by Jonathan Sterne, Dr. 28 Nov '10

28 Nov '10

Apologies for cross-posting. This is a great opportunity for the right person. More about the CRC program here for those who are unfamiliar: http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/ Tier 2 is the junior chair. Best, --Jonathan ---------- Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Digital Humanities The Faculty of Arts at McGill University invites applications for a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Digital Humanities. The successful candidate will have the academic credentials necessary for a tenure-track appointment as an advanced Assistant or Associate Professor in an appropriate disciplinary department. Funded by the Government of Canada, Tier 2 Canada Research Chairs allow Canadian universities to attract and retain exceptional emerging researchers. Chairholders are also eligible for infrastructure support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to help acquire state-of-the-art equipment essential to their work. For further information on the CRC program, please see http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/. We seek a scholar with a proven record of securing external funding to support digital humanities initiatives and the ability to build institutional capability in this area at McGill. The successful candidate will have a broad understanding of the history, significance, and application of digital technologies in one or more substantive areas of the humanities, including a demonstrated interest in the development of new digital tools and innovative methodologies. Along with critically exploring how digital technology can augment the practice of humanities scholarship, the CRC in Digital Humanities will advance the role humanities scholarship plays in developing our understanding of digital media in one or more of the domains of culture: art, literature, film, theatre, sound, architecture, and/or other media or forms of expression. Applications should include a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, writing samples, evidence of teaching effectiveness, and three letters of reference. The position start date is August 1, 2011. Review of applications will begin on February 11, 2011, and will continue until the position is filled. PLEASE FORWARD SUPPORTING MATERIALS TO: Professor Juliet Johnson Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts McGill University 853 Sherbrooke Street West Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2T6 All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. McGill University is committed to equity in employment and diversity. It welcomes applications from indigenous peoples, visible minorities, ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, women, persons of minority sexual orientations and gender identities and others who may contribute to further diversification. -- Jonathan Sterne, Associate Professor Department of Art History and Communication Studies, McGill University (Sabbatical contact information for September 2010-May 2011) Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences Stanford University 75 Alta Road Stanford, CA 94305 USA +1 650-321-2052 http://sterneworks.org http://casbs.org http://mcgill.ca/ahcs http://media.mcgill.ca

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Special Issue: Social Media in Higher Education
by Stefan Hrastinski 28 Nov '10

28 Nov '10

CALL FOR PAPERS Special Issue: Social Media in Higher Education in The Internet and Higher Education The social media hype has created a lot of speculation among educators on how these media can be used to support learning. In this special issue, we would like to explore how social media can be taken advantage of in higher education to support informal and formal learning. It is well agreed upon that most learning takes place outside school in our everyday lives. On campuses, there are common spaces such as hallways, lounges, libraries, and cafés, which support informal learning better than classrooms or lecture-halls. Social media have potential to support learning in both informal and formal settings, as well as creating an entirely new setting in which learning may take place. We can learn a lot from how students are already using such media to support learning in each of these areas. Although most would agree that emerging social media support learning in new ways, we still know little about how students currently use social media to support learning. Prensky put forth the dichotomy of “digital natives” and “digital immigrants” when arguing that technology has dramatically changed the way students of higher education live and learn. Similar arguments have labeled today’s students the net generation, millenials, homo zappiens, generation M and generation Y – labels intended to differentiate their relationship to and use of technology from that of previous generations of learners. However, a growing body of literature questions whether there is really a sharp and fundamental break between today’s young people and previous generations in terms of their adeptness with technology and how they learn. Although we see today’s youth using many social media tools, some tools are more frequently used by older people. Similarly, some are readily adopted by students for personal use, whereas other social media tools have been relegated to as-required or as-assigned use and have been met with resistance. Thus, there are many perceptions of the role social media plays in education, some of which are myths and other are realities. We believe it is time to go beyond the simple dichotomies of the digital natives debate in order to understand how emerging social media can support students’ informal and formal learning. We need to move forward from saying that “students learn in new ways” towards conducting rigorous research that can help us understand the role of social media in higher education. In this issue, we seek articles that present the outcome of rigorous studies of social media use in higher education as well as articles that help provide strong theoretical guidance for the directions future research might take. Authors are requested to submit manuscripts to The Internet and Higher Education via the Elsevier Editorial System (EES) no later than March 15, 2011. You need to select “Social Media in Higher Ed” when you reach the “Article Type” step in the submission process. Contact the Special Issue Editors if additional information is required: Dr. Stefan Hrastinski Assistant Professor KTH Royal Institute of Technology stefanhr(a)kth.se Dr. Vanessa Dennen Associate Professor Florida State University vdennen(a)fsu.edu IMPORTANT DATES Deadline for paper submission: March 15, 2011 Notification of acceptance: May 15, 2011 Camera-ready version of accepted papers: July 15, 2011 Publication date: End of 2011 Stefan Hrastinski Assistant Professor KTH Royal Institute of Technology & Uppsala University Lindstedtsv. 3 SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden Office: +46 8 790 65 68 Mobile: +46 739 75 17 47 stefanhr(a)kth.se http://hrastinski.posterous.com

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Reminder: CFP - Console-ing Passions - International Conference on Television, Video, Audio, New Media and Feminism
by Jodie George 28 Nov '10

28 Nov '10

Dear colleagues, A reminder that abstract and panel submissions for Console-ing Passions are due by November 30th, please see below for more information. Console-ing Passions: International Conference on Television, Video, Audio, New Media and Feminism 21-23 July 2011, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Console-ing Passions 2011 is co-hosted by the Flinders University, the University of Adelaide, and the University of South Australia. CALL FOR PAPERS Console-ing Passions, the leading international scholarly network for feminist research in screen cultures, will hold its 2011 conference in Adelaide, South Australia, 21-23 July. Organisers are now seeking proposals for individual papers and pre-constituted panels. Proposals are due November 30, 2010 and may be submitted to http://www.flinders.edu.au/console-ing-passions. Paper proposals must include the paper title, the author's contact details and a 300-word abstract. Panel proposals must include the panel title, names and contact details of all participants and chair and a summary statement of no more than 1500 words to include the abstract for each paper and a panel concept statement. Panels may have a maximum of three papers each. Please find a list of possible streams for the conference below; these are suggestions, not limits. We strongly encourage contributions from across the Asia Pacific with an emphasis on regional issues, activities and trends. Possible streams: * National Screen Cultures and Feminism(s) * Women in Media Production * Children's Media and Gender * Women, User Generated Content and New Media Economies * Digital Games * Archival Research * Women, Sport, Broadcasting * Media Education * Indigenous Women and Media * Media, Mobility and Scale We also welcome a Curator for Screenings and Videotech. For more information about the conference and keynote speakers, please visit: http://www.flinders.edu.au/console-ing-passions. Kind regards, Jodie 　 Dr Jodie George | Lecturer (Communications) School of Communication, International Studies and Languages Division of EASS | University of South Australia St Bernard's Road | Magill SA 5072 phone: +61 8 8302 4286 | fax: +61 8 8302 4745| jodie.george(a)unisa.edu.au<mailto:jodie.george@unisa.edu.au>

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Special issue on "Aesthetics and the Dimension of the Senses" of "Online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet" released!
by Simone Heidbrink 28 Nov '10

28 Nov '10

Dear list-members, We are happy to announce the release of the special issue of "Online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet" on "Aesthetics and the Dimension of the Senses"! (Please see: http://www.online.uni-hd.de/.) When we look on the various representations of religious groups and individuals on personal homepages, in weblogs, in virtual worlds or the like and when we follow their communications on religious topics online, the visual and auditive aspects of the medium seem to play a major role. Using pictures, videos, icons, as well as music and other sounds, the internet users can design a multisensual virtual environment which might implicate its own notion of ‘aesthetics’. As the aesthetic and sensual dimensions of religions and rituals on the internet have long been a neglected area of research, we called upon theoretical and methodical reflection as well as on empiric studies referring to these topics. - And many renowned scholars answered with interesting and inspiring articles with which we hope to contribute and give some impulse to the still ongoing discussion on the different theoretical, methodical and methodological approaches to “aesthetics and the dimension of the senses” in the context of religion and religious practice online. Table of Content: Simone Heidbrink / Nadja Miczek: Introduction to the Special Issue: Religions on the Internet – Aesthetics and the Dimensions of the Senses Louise Connelly: Virtual Buddhism: An Analysis of Aesthetics in Relation to Religious Practice within Second Life Gregory Grieve: Virtually Embodying the Field: Silent Online Meditation, Immersion, and the Cardean Ethnographic Method Tim Hutchings: The Politics of Familiarity: Visual, Liturgical and Organisational Conformity in the Online Church Anna Piela: Challenging Stereotypes: Muslim Women's Photographic Self- Representations on the Internet Paul Teusner: Imaging Religious Identity: Intertextual Play among Postmodern Christian Bloggers Theo Zijderfeld: The Transformation of the Prayer Wall Christopher Helland: (Virtually) been there, (Virtually) done that: Examining the Online Religious Practices of the Hindu Tradition: Introduction. Phyllis K. Herman: Seeing the Divine through Windows: Online Puja and Virtual Religious Experience Nicole Karapanagiotis: Vaishnava Cyber-Pūjā: Problems of Purity and Novel Ritual Solutions Heinz Scheifinger: Hindu Embodiment and the Internet Best regards, Simone Heidbrink Nadja Miczek (editors) -- Simone Heidbrink, M.A. SFB 619 Ritualdynamik - Teilprojekt C2 Institut für Religionswissenschaft Universität Heidelberg Akademiestr. 4-8 D - 69117 Heidelberg Tel.: ++49-(0)6221-54-74 82 Fax.: ++49-(0)6221-547624 E-Mail: simone.heidbrink(a)zegk.uni-heidelberg.de http://www.rituals-online.uni-hd.de/ http://www.sl-research.de

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seeking textbook recommendations
by Abbe Forman 27 Nov '10

27 Nov '10

Hi All, I am looking for a graduate level "textbook" for a course about emerging technologies/social media/social networking. The book should contain case studies. Any recommendations? thanks Abbe E. Forman, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Temple University Phone: 215-204-4207

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Call for papers: Social Media In News Discourse, deadline extended to December 20, 2010
by Harrison, Teresa M 27 Nov '10

27 Nov '10

Electronic Journal of Communication / La Revue Electronique de Communication Special Issue: Social Media in News Discourse As professional media producers pay more attention to social media, from personal blog entries and tweets to Facebook updates and YouTube videos, journalists are faced with numerous decisions. Among these are how to integrate personal and often-relationship-focused media with the public and fact-centred discourse of the news. This special issue of the Electronic Journal of Communication invites contributions exploring the conventions that are emerging around the use of social media by news organisations, and the implications of those conventions for public communication. Contributions will have as their central concern whether or not the encounter with social media is changing aspects of news journalism. Possible questions arising from this concern include: How do the forms of personal expression to be found in social media translate into news discourse? What authority or status as knowers is given in the news to voices from various social media? How are specific kinds of social media typically made use of within news discourse? How are journalism's ethical frameworks applied to these media? to what extent is social media content decontextualised from its online social context when used by journalism? Are social media texts produced within news organisations also used in news texts? Papers should be 5000-7500 words in length and submitted electronically to the guest editor, Donald Matheson, at donald.matheson(a)canterbury.ac.nz<mailto:donald.matheson@canterbury.ac.nz>. Deadline for completed manuscripts is 20 December 2010. The issue is scheduled for publication in the second half of 2011. Authors are welcome to contact the guest editor to discuss proposed papers or related matters.

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Luhmann and the Media
by Jesper Tække 26 Nov '10

26 Nov '10

Dear All, I'm very proud of now being able to link to the brand new special edition of the journal Mediekultur called 'Luhmann and the media' which Michael Paulsen and I have edited and written introduction to. This is the result of last year's Scandinavian Luhmann seminar and a lot of work, but in contrast to the books we usually publish the texts are available without charge. http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/mediekultur/issue/current Begin with the introduction... Best Regards Jesper Jesper Tække Assistant Professor, PhD Information and Media Studies Aarhus University http://www.jespertaekke.dk imvjet(a)hum.au.dk

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internet stats (state of the internet) infographic movie
by jeremy hunsinger 24 Nov '10

24 Nov '10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6MfnuvH4Rs don't ask me to verify any of these stats, as i don't know, but they seem intuitive correct, plus i find the music irritating, but i can turn it off.... heh. Jeremy Hunsinger Center for Digital Discourse and Culture Virginia Tech http://www.tmttlt.com Whoever ceases to be a student has never been a student. -George Iles

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Funded PhD Opportunities at UW-Milwaukee in LIS
by Daniel Rude 23 Nov '10

23 Nov '10

Funded PhD Opportunities at UW-Milwaukee in LIS The School of Information Studies (SOIS) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a 2010 recipient of an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program grant, invites applicants for the fall 2011 PhD cycle. The SOIS grant program, entitled “Overcoming Barriers to Information Access (B2A): Educating the Next Generation of Library and Information Science Leaders,” addresses the need for new PhDs in SOIS’ three key areas of doctoral study: information organization, information policy and information retrieval. The goal of the program is to enhance library and information science education and to help develop library leaders. SOIS is currently seeking applications for six funded full-time doctoral positions under this grant program for fall 2011. The deadline to apply for this opportunity is January 15, 2011. Participants in the B2A program will receive three or four years of funding to cover tuition, a generous annual stipend/scholarship, research and teaching opportunities, resources to support their research and travel, and mentoring from SOIS faculty members during their studies. For more information about the B2A program, please see the program website: http://www4.uwm.edu/sois/programs/phd/b2a.cfm. For more information on SOIS and UWM, please see our new website: http://www.sois.uwm.edu. -- Daniel Rude Communications Assistant School of Information Studies University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 414.229.3206

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