October 2024 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

CFP - Revue Réseaux - Internet(s) alternatif(s)
by Guillaume Latzko-Toth 07 Oct '24

07 Oct '24

Bonjour/Hi, This is a call for proposals for the French-language journal "Réseaux" [https://www.revue-reseaux.fr/en/about-the-journal/] The concept of 'alternative Internet' refers, in the broadest sense, to socio-technical innovations driven by players who challenge the dominant industrial and commercial models that structure the contemporary ecosystem of digital media and infrastructures. A common way of looking at the alternative Internet is based on its devices, including what are known as 'alternative social media', such as Mastodon, Matrix, Diaspora, PeerTube and, more generally, the Fediverse network of non-commercial, decentralised platforms, unified by the ActivityPub protocol. This can also include the social networking sites used by conservative or extreme right-wing movements (Gab, Parler, Truth Social), whose moderation policies are intended to be much more permissive and libertarian than those of the dominant social networking sites. Other, more infrastructural, approaches to the alternative Internet(s) have focused on the technical architecture of the network or its marketing. The main goal of this special issue is to document these digital initiatives and to examine their role and positioning in relation to the mechanisms and platforms of the dominant Internet. Following is the detailed call for proposals in French. Proposals should preferably be submitted in French. Proposals in English will be considered but there is a limited capacity for translation. In case an article is selected, it will be translated to French, and the English version will be published here: https://shs.cairn.info/journal-reseaux?lang=en Best wishes, Guillaume Latzko-Toth & Stéphane Couture, guest editors Internet(s) alternatif(s) Le concept d’Internet alternatif fait référence, au sens le plus large, à des innovations sociotechniques portées par des acteurs qui contestent les modèles industriels et commerciaux dominants qui structurent l’écosystème contemporain des médias et infrastructures numériques. Une façon courante d’aborder l’Internet alternatif s’appuie sur ses dispositifs et parmi eux ce qu’il est convenu d’appeler les « médias sociaux alternatifs », tels que Mastodon, Matrix, Diaspora, PeerTube, et plus généralement le réseau de plateformes non commerciales et décentralisées Fediverse, unifié par le protocole ActivityPub. Cela peut inclure aussi les réseaux socionumériques fréquentés par des membres de mouvances conservatrices voire relevant de l’extrême droite (Gab, Parler, Truth Social) dont les politiques de modération se veulent beaucoup plus permissives et libertaires que celles des réseaux socionumériques dominants. D’autres approches de l’Internet alternatif, plus infrastructurelles, se sont centrées sur l’architecture technique du réseau, ou encore sur sa mise en marché. Notre dossier aura pour objectifs principaux de documenter ces initiatives numériques et d’interroger leur rôle et leur positionnement par rapport aux dispositifs et plateformes de l’Internet dominant. Vous trouverez ci-joint le texte complet de l'appel qui est également accessible sur le site de la revue : https://www.revue-reseaux.fr/wp-content/uploads/sites/34/2019/10/Appel-Rese… Les intentions de contribution (2 pages présentant objet, question de recherche, inscription dans la littérature, méthodologie et résultats) doivent être adressées au secrétariat de rédaction (aurelie.bur(a)enpc.fr) au plus tard le 1er novembre 2024. Les auteurs et autrices dont la proposition est retenue seront ensuite invités à soumettre la première version du texte (60 000 signes, notes et espaces compris) pour le 1er mars 2025. La publication du dossier est prévue fin 2025. Plus d’informations sur les consignes aux auteurs sur le site de la revue : https://www.revue-reseaux.fr/consignes-aux-auteurs/ N’hésitez pas à faire circuler cet appel dans les canaux qui vous semblent pertinents et à contacter les coordonnateurs pour tout renseignement concernant ce projet de numéro thématique. Contacts : stephane.couture(a)umontreal.ca et guillaume.latzko-toth(a)com.ulaval.ca

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Research-Fellow_Positions-UKRI-Project-Edinburgh
by Mohammad Amir Anwar 07 Oct '24

07 Oct '24

Dear All, I am hiring TWO Research Fellows on my UKRI-funded project on Planetary AI, which explores the value chains of artificial intelligence systems, particularly looking at data work in the Global South. Duration: 42 months Location: Edinburgh Details about the project and the requirements for the positions are given in the links below. Deadline is : 28/10/2024, 23:59 GMT. 1. https://lnkd.in/eMWVj_2d 2. https://lnkd.in/eesXY7iD For any informal queries about these positions, get in touch with me. Also, please share this with people in your network. Best Wishes Amir Dr. Mohammad Amir Anwar, SFHEA Senior Lecturer (Assoc Prof.), University of Edinburgh Office Hours: By Appointment Twitter: @ibalilebali Affiliations: * Senior Research Fellow (Honorary) British Institute of East Africa, Nairobi. * Senior Research Associate: School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Johannesburg. Latest Publications * The Digital Continent<https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-digital-continent-9780198840800…>. Open Access Book, OUP. Read Book Review here.<https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/5264> * Work futures: globalisation, planetary markets, and uneven developments in the gig economy.<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14747731.2023.2236876?journalCo…> Globalizations. * Value Chains of AI: Data Training Firms, Platforms and Workers (Book Chapter) The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th’ ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336.

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Call for Chapters: The De Gruyter Handbook of Digital Cultures
by Grant Bollmer 07 Oct '24

07 Oct '24

Call for Chapters: The De Gruyter Handbook of Digital Cultures Edited by: Grant Bollmer (University of Maryland, College Park), Katherine Guinness (University of Maryland, College Park), and Yigit Soncul (London College of Communication, University of the Arts London) The De Gruyter Handbook of Digital Cultures seeks to provide a comprehensive reference for the varied methodologies, historical frames, and theoretical perspectives essential for the study of Digital Culture today. As Digital Culture moves from a general term for the changes wrought by digital media to an interdisciplinary intellectual subfield guiding many curricula at countless universities around the globe, drawing from intellectual history, sociology, anthropology, art history, visual studies, communication, information science, and many other fields, there is today a distinct need for a guide to specify and outline the boundaries of this emerging area of study. The handbook is divided into seven sections providing a range of perspectives on a specific theme. The first section is Foundations, offering a spectrum of concepts with which to approach Digital Culture as a field. This section is followed by Methods, which charts modes of study, and Histories, which explores key debates, historical moments, and theoretical currents that shaped this interdisciplinary field. The volume then turns to Identities associated with Digital Culture and traces the Aesthetics endemic to it by tapping into prevalent forms central to both the sensory experiences and artistic practices associated with Digital Culture. Platforms provide a bridge between the sensorial and material registers relevant to the volume by examining a series of issues and technologies related to platforms as well as case studies of particular examples. The final section, Materialities and Infrastructures, attends to the physical composition and the environmental conditions that make Digital Culture possible. We are currently inviting submissions to round out confirmed contributions to this volume. Contributions should follow American spelling and punctuation and Chicago Author-Date citation style. Contributions should ideally be between 3,000 and 4,000 words including references and should be written for a broad university audience. We invite submissions that would address one of the general categories outlined above: methods, histories, identities, aesthetics, or materialities/infrastructures of digital culture. Topics that we are particularly interested in would include, but are not limited to, the following: Cognition and Digital Media Automation Political Economy of Digital Media Software Studies Cybernetics and Information Theory Digital Intimacies Form and “Content” Social Media Moderation Submissions should be sent to the editors by November 30th at bollmer(a)umd.edu, gakather(a)gmail.com and y.soncul(a)lcc.arts.ac.uk If you have questions or would like to know if a particular topic is suitable for the handbook, please reach out to the editors. -- Grant Bollmer (he/him/his) Associate Research Professor Department of Communication University of Maryland 2130 Skinner Building College Park, MD 20742-7635 bollmer(a)umd.edu grantbollmer.com

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Looking for suggestions (choice of possible publishers)
by Marra, Monica 07 Oct '24

07 Oct '24

Dear all in the list, I’m wondering if someone can provide suggestions for *open access* publishing venues dealing with the origins of cmc tools. I have already checked some possible online publishing platforms, what I miss is a more comprehensive view of the possibilities concerning books/chapters or journals. Please send your suggestions at this email address; I will make a resume if someone else is interested (and if suggestions will be posted...). Regards, Monica -- Monica Marra, technologist https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Monica_Marra/ INAF Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna via Gobetti 93/3 40129 Bologna - Italy Teleworker; office location:: plesso del Battiferro, 3W1, t. 051 6357366 Working days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

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Roger Ebert Lecture/Screening Oct 17-18 on Kartemquin's Labor Legacy!
by Patricia Aufderheide 07 Oct '24

07 Oct '24

My Midwestern friends--and all my friends who can share this announcement widely as well!--I'm so honored and delighted to let you know about the Roger Ebert Lecture & Screening on October 17-18<https://experience.media.illinois.edu/ebertlecture2024> at University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana campus. On the 17th we're showing back-to-back an early and a recent example of Kartemquin's great films about working people working. And on the 18th I'll be talking--with plenty of help from KTQ clips--about that essential link between democratic engagement and compelling storytelling, through Kartemquin's almost six decades. And the best part? Kartemquin's co-founder GORDON QUINN will also be there! Please join us if you can, and tell your students! And if you have access to a listserv, please share this announcement there, too, along with this info about how to get a cheaper version of the book: Kartemquin Films: Documentaries on the Frontlines of Democracy --30% off! <https://indiepubs.com/cart> Buy it here<https://www.ucpress.edu/books/kartemquin-films/paper>, and use source code UCPSAVE30 from U of California Press at checkout ($19 total!) It takes a village, you know, and this village is who the book was written for. Patricia Aufderheide, University Professor, School of Communication (she/they) * New book! Kartemquin Films: Documentaries on the Frontlines of Democracy --30% off! <https://indiepubs.com/cart> Buy it here<https://www.ucpress.edu/books/kartemquin-films/paper>, and use source code UCPSAVE30 from U of California Press at checkout ($19 total!) Living and working on unceded lands of Nacotchtank and Piscataway peoples Senior Research Fellow, Center for Media & Social Impact American University, 4400 Massachusetts Av., NW, Washington, DC 20016-8017, McKinley Hall 323 paufder(a)american.edu<mailto:paufder@american.edu> 202-885-2069 office/ 240-643-4805 mobile Zoom: https://american.zoom.us/j/96788556467?pwd=eFNpa2JMWlZQRm5pT1Z0b3RVUlRXQT09

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Call for Book Chapters: Creative Digital Cultures in Africa
by Chikezie E. Uzuegbunam 07 Oct '24

07 Oct '24

*Call for Book Chapters* *Creative Digital Cultures in Africa* To be edited by: Prof Priscilla Boshoff (Rhodes University) Dr Bimbo Fafowora (Rhodes University) Dr Chikezie E. Uzuegbunam (Rhodes University) Possible publisher: Routledge, Palgrave Macmillan, or Rowman and Littlefield (we are in conversation with them). *Synopsis* African content creators have been quick to realise the affordances of the digital sphere. In the face of crippling digital divides, social inequalities, and political and economic instability, people across Africa have actively embraced the potential of social media, in particular, as a means to express themselves creatively to a range of ends. Yet, while social media platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram command a global stage, not to mention the lion’s share of research, very little is known about how these platforms and the networked cultures they support are harnessed by African digital content creators within local contexts. In some ways, this lack of research reflects the paucity of scholarly understanding of African popular “vernacular” creative culture and its relationship to the digital sphere. This may be due to scholarly concerns about pursuing critical topics that support a development agenda. For example, a key area of digital research in the African context examines the scope and implications of the digital “divide” or explores the relationship between the digital sphere and gender relations or democratic participation (Mano and Willems 2016). This proposal suggests that, while these topics are important and necessary, a “virtuous” approach to digital content tends to obscure the scope and nature of creative digital practice in Africa on the social media coalface. This is not to say that critical foci are not important—they certainly are. But we suggest that by foregrounding creative digital practices, we might come closer to understanding by what means African content producers put social media to use for local ends. Situated at the “frontier” of African social experience, creatives of the marginalised majority world “contest taken-for-granted and often institutionalised bounded ideas engrained by social norms and binaries of thought and practices of identity and belonging” (Nyamnjoh and Brudvig 2017, 2 <https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?modgYa>). Through their creative work, social media activities, and the kinds of content they produce, African creatives expand ‘what is out there’ for us to encounter and consider. Popular culture, specifically its digital manifestations, is recognised as a primary means to articulate political resistance, social belonging, and cultural identity. The conditions of coloniality that pervade the social and political African landscape render this role particularly important. Far from simply copying the dominant genres of the social media world, African creatives adapt social media affordances to connect with and reinvigorate African ways of knowing and social belonging, such as community, family, and spirituality. The most “modern” of technologies thereby becomes a vehicle for the translation (or recuperation) of African forms of sociality that were supplanted by Western colonial social and political formations (for example, the “public sphere” or “civil society”). Yet, tied to globalised digital networks, African creatives are necessarily co-opted into dominant platforms and their associated genres. This tension between local meaning and global participation can be seen as a generative force that demands more sustained scholarly attention. *We call on digital media scholars to submit proposals that deal with the following questions and themes:* ● What are the contexts in which and for which African creatives produce social media content? ● What is the scope of African digital creative practice? What kinds of content are deemed interesting or necessary? ● How do African creative choices show us what is “at stake” in local contexts? ● In what ways does the creative digital work of African content producers foster or otherwise promote African ways of knowing and being? ● How do new modes of creative practice construct new forms of social and cultural identity? ● In what ways does African creative content stretch or reimagine contemporary digital genres, and with what cultural, social, and political consequences? ● In what ways do African creatives work within and around the formal constraints of global social media platforms? ● How do African creatives work with, against, or around digital infrastructural, geographical/spatial, and social inequalities and marginalisation—and to what effect? ● What strategies are used by African creatives to foster communities of practice or affiliation in/for local and online contexts? ● What measures do African creatives adopt to overcome algorithmic invisibility/marginalisation? ● How do African creatives respond to or otherwise manage attempts to censor, silence, or shame them and their creative work? ● How do African content producers protect their creative content? ● How do African content producers leverage their creative work for their own or others’ benefit? ● Young people, social media influencers, and creative work in African contexts ● Digital labour, exploitation, and creative work in Africa ● Platformisation, creative work, and its potentials and challenges in Africa ● Platform monetisation and creative work in African contexts ● Nollywood and emerging interfaces with content creators and skitmakers. *Submission*: Please email your abstracts to the editors at: creativedigitalcultures(a)ru.ac.za *Timeline:* Abstracts deadline: 31 October 2024 Communication of outcome: 30 November 2024 Full paper due: 31 March 2025 Note: No payment from the authors will be required. Dr. Chikezie E Uzuegbunam (he/him) Deputy Head of School (Ag.) & MA Programme Coordinator School of Journalism and Media Studies Rated Researcher, NRF-South Africa Asst Editor, *African Journalism Studies* <https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/recq21/about-this-journal#editorial-bo…> *Latest book:* *Children & Young People's Digital Lifeworlds <https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-51303-9>*. *https://www.ru.ac.za/jms/ <https://www.ru.ac.za/jms/>*How to pronounce my name:[image: A button for name playback in email signature] <https://www.name-coach.com/chikezie-uzuegbunam>

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Safer Sextech event in Manchester just before the AoIR annual conference
by Lukasz Szulc 07 Oct '24

07 Oct '24

Dear colleagues, We would like to invite you to the event on ‘Safer Sextech: Intimacy, Pleasure and Wellbeing’ that will take place at the University of Manchester on the 25th of October 2024, between 3:30-5:30pm (Kilburn Building, Theatre 1.3, Oxford Road, Manchester). This event will be held only in person and we kindly ask you to register if you plan to attend: https://www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_3PkXs2pODnaqbmS Safer Sextech: Intimacy, Pleasure and Wellbeing Everyday sextech: safety and accessibility at home and work by Professor Kath Albury Popular commentary and research into sextech often focuses on novel technologies or innovative uses. But the politics of sextech safety, pleasure and accessibility are also the politics of the everyday. In this presentation I reflect on interviews with Australian and Swedish sex-and-gender-diverse sextech users, designers and retailers aged 19-70 [n=38]. Participants shared stories about the ways that AI chatbots, NSFW social media feeds and online sextoy shopping fit in and around their experiences of ageing, gender exploration, transition, shared housing and sexwork. Dialoguing with cultural studies scholars – including Lefebvre (1991) and Morris (1998) - I reflect on the ways that sextech contributes to everyday experiences of sexuality and gender. Bio: Kath Albury is Professor of Media and Communication, Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow and Associate Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. She co-leads the Swedish/Australian collaboration 'Digital sexual health: Designing for safety, pleasure and wellbeing in LGBTQ+ communities' with Professor Jenny Sundén (Södertörn University) and Dr Zahra Stardust (QUT). Exploring the Intersection of Privacy and Safety for Sex Workers Online by Yigit Aydinalp As sex workers increasingly rely on digital platforms to advertise their services and manage their work, the relationship between privacy and safety becomes a critical yet underexplored issue. In this presentation, I outline the early stages of my PhD research, examining the ways privacy protections offered through digital platform design and policies, or the lack thereof, affect the safety of sex workers, particularly those facing multiple marginalisations. Drawing on my decade-long involvement in the European sex workers' rights movement, existing literature, and the preliminary planning of my PhD research, I explore the barriers sex workers face in accessing these essential tools and how online platforms can provide safer working environments. Bio: Yigit Aydinalp is a PhD student at the University of Sheffield and a human rights activist specialising in sex workers' rights, with a focus on their digital rights and freedoms. He currently serves as a Programme Officer for the European Sex Workers' Rights Alliance (ESWA), a civil society network representing over 100 member organisations across more than 30 countries in Europe and Central Asia. Chair: Dr Łukasz Szulc We hope to see many of you there! Łukasz Dr Łukasz Szulc<https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/%C5%82ukasz-szulc> (he/him) Senior Lecturer in Digital Media and Culture School of Arts, Languages and Cultures University of Manchester UNITED KINGDOM RECENT PUBLICATIONS (2024) Special Issue: Transnational Queer Cultures and Digital Media. https://academic.oup.com/ccc/issue/17/3 (2023) Culture is transnational. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13678779221131349 (2022) Uncanny Europe and Protective Europeanness: When European Identity Becomes a Queerly Viable Option. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00380385211024117 (2020) Digital Gender Disidentifications: Beyond the Subversion Versus Hegemony Dichotomy and Toward Everyday Gender Practices. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/15396

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So.Hist-Info : a new seminar (French and English)
by Camille Paloque-Bergès 07 Oct '24

07 Oct '24

Dear Colleagues, This message is to inform you of the first session in the 2024-2025 academic year of the Socio-History of Informatics seminar <https://sohistinfo.github.io/>, a research seminar organized at the HT2S research center of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris <https://technique-societe.cnam.fr/histoire-des-technosciences-en-societe-ht…>. The goal of this seminar is to explore new narratives in the long-term history of computing, with a focus on how computing intertwines with social, economic, political, and cultural issues. Every two months, we will invite a researcher in history and/or anthropology and sociology (with a historical or diachronic perspective) of computing to present their work. Website link : https://sohistinfo.github.io/english/ The first session will take place online and at CNAM in Paris on Monday, October 14, 2024, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM with Ksenia Ermoshina (Centre Internet et Société, CNRS) - *A "Sovereign Intelligence"? Infrastructures, Representations, and Geopolitics of Russian AI: A Comparative Approach*. Registration form: https://framaforms.org/inscription-seminaire-de-socio-histoire-de-linformat… *Summary of the presentation:* *As part of the ANR CulturIA project, this investigation focuses on the contemporary history of artificial intelligence and its socio-cultural aspects, particularly within the Russian-speaking world and its international relations. Marked by the war against Ukraine and economic sanctions, the field has undergone a restructuring both in terms of infrastructure and in terms of discourse and representations. The collective research, conducted in collaboration with Boris Melnichenko, follows Russians who create or use AI in exile as well as engineers working for large companies in Russia. In line with the spirit of Science and Technology Studies (STS), it remains attentive to code and infrastructure and describes the significant restructurings of technological projects in the context of a major geopolitical crisis. By comparing Russian machine learning and AI projects with similar initiatives from the United States and China, this research asks: can we speak of a “Russian AI”? Are there distinctive characteristics that define the ways of developing and discussing AI specific to Russia, despite the inevitable borrowing, influences, and transnational exchanges that shape this field?* *Future sessions:* - December 16, 2024, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM - Barbara Hof - University of Lausanne - February 10, 2025, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM - Cédric Neumann - CNAM, HT2S - April 1, 2025 - Marie-José Durand-Richard - CNRS-Paris 7 Denis Diderot, SPHERE - April 14, 2025, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM - Jaroslav Švelch - Charles University (Prague) - June 16, 2025, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM - Michael Homberg - University of Cologne The summary of each presentation will be communicated later. Each session will be held in a hybrid format at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, 2 rue Conté, 75003 Paris, in room 30-1-18 (Building 30, 1st basement level, Room 18). To facilitate the organization of the sessions, please register via this form: https://framaforms.org/inscription-seminaire-de-socio-histoire-de-linformat… A connection link (Big Blue Button) will be sent after registration to allow remote participation in each session. This research seminar will focus on the history of computing not for its own sake within the well-defined framework of the omnipotent computer and its pervasive environments, but through the study of situations where computing plays a pivotal role in the articulation of science-technology-society relations. In this way, the seminar aims to shed light on a socio-history of computing over the long term and in spaces expanded geographically as well as socially, culturally, politically, and economically. You can find a more detailed presentation of our approach (with the program of planned sessions) on the seminar website: https://sohistinfo.github.io/ Looking forward to seeing you there. Best regards, Mathilde Fichen (PhD student, HT2S), Adrien Tournier (PhD student, HT2S), and Camille Paloque-Bergès (Researcher, HT2S) for the seminar organization. -- Institutional email address : camille.paloque_berges(a)cnam.fr *Laboratory for the History of Techno-Sciences (HT2S), Conservatoire national des arts et métiers, 2 rue Conté, 75003 Paris, France

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CfP: Mediapolis special issue on “Playable Cities" - 3K words reflections on a theme
by Alex Gekker 07 Oct '24

07 Oct '24

Dear colleagues, A call for your consideration, available also here: https://t.ly/MC3OY In parallel to this year’s ASCA Cities Seminar <https://www.cities.humanities.uva.nl/news/2024-2025-playable-cities/>, Carolyn Birdsall, Linda Kopitz and Alex Gekker are co-editing a *special issue on “Playable Cities”* for Mediapolis – A Journal of Cities and Culture <https://www.mediapolisjournal.com> to be published in September 2025. The city is a playground. But is it really? This dossier takes this recurring metaphor as a starting point to explore what ‘playability’ means in the context of the urban environment. From the use of simulation games in city planning (cf. Lammes 2008) to urban installations that invite playfulness, from alternative cityscapes in video games to activist interventions for more public spaces: Play can be understood both as a way to imagine the city – and a way to disrupt it. It is often positioned as an alternative to a more constraining and utilitarian form of “smart” urbanism, one that emphasizes contingency and freedom (De Lange 2015; Gordon and Walter 2016). If playing is a form of “understanding what surrounds us” (Sicart 2014, 1), thinking about the intersections between play and the city also points to larger questions of access, belonging and ownership of spaces. In this context, we are also interested in how urban play – both physically and virtually – can be a way to “resist the givenness of the place” (Boano and Talocci 2014, 112). Exploring how playable cities are represented, designed and built points us to the complex connections between imagination and practice in making cities more ‘livable’. Some of the questions we are interested in: # What makes a city ‘playable’? # How is play rendered (in)visible in the city? # What forms of play and playing are possible/desired/designed in the city? # How is ‘playability’ operationalized in public policy and urban planning? # In what ways are urban infrastructures made ‘playable’? # How are urban environments represented in virtual games? # How can activist interventions in public space draw on or be framed through play? # How can we approach play both as a concept and method? The call engages with media studies, games studies, geography and urbanism, alongside researchers and practitioners from other relevant disciplines. Building on recent work in those fields, for instance, a recent special issue on “Cities as Playgrounds/Playgrounds as Cities” (Davies, Hjorth and Lammes 2024), it explores the benefits and limits of playability as an urban metaphor. What is lost or gained when cities are compared to – or even built upon – games, toys, playgrounds, performance spaces and the like? We invite contributions from diverse fields, including, but not limited to, urban studies, film/television studies, game and gaming studies, sociology, geography, gender studies, political studies, philosophy, new media theory, disconnection studies, history, and so on. We are especially interested in contributions exploring ‘Playable Cities’ from a global and interdisciplinary perspective including artistic research and architectural practice. Please submit an abstract of your proposed article (300 words) and a short bio (100 words) to Linda Kopitz (l.kopitz(a)uva.nl) by 15 October 2024. Authors will be informed of the selection within two weeks after the deadline. Full articles (3000 words) will be due in May 2025 and will subsequently go through an anonymous peer review process. The dossier is scheduled for the September 2025 issue. Mediapolis: A Journal of Cities and Culture is an interdisciplinary online journal of media and urban culture. We publish research across multiple academic fields — including, but not limited to, media studies, urban studies, geography, film, architecture, art history, visual culture, digital humanities, sound, and music. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– References: Boano, Camilo, and Giorgio Talocci. 2014. “The Politics of Play in Urban Design: Agamben’s Profanation as a Recalibrating Approach to Urban Design Research.” Bitácora Urbano Territorial 1 (24): 105–18. Davies, Hugh, Larissa Hjorth, and Sybille Lammes. 2024. ‘Introduction to the Special Issue: Cities as Playgrounds/Playgrounds as Cities: Rethinking Urban Play, Civic Engagement, and Socio-Spatiality’. Space and Culture 27 (2): 132–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/12063312231159228. De Lange, Michie. 2015. ‘The Playful City: Using Play and Games to Foster Citizen Participation’. In Social Technologies and Collective Intelligence, edited by Aelita Skaržauskienė, 426–34. Vilnius: Mykolas Romeris University. Gordon, Eric, and Stephen Walter. 2016. ‘Meaningful Inefficiencies: Resisting the Logic of Technological Efficiency in the Design of Civic System’. In Civic Media: Technology, Design, Practice, edited by Eric Gordon and Paul Mihailidis, 243–66. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. Lammes, Sybille. 2009. ‘Spatial Regimes of the Digital Playground: Cultural Functions of Spatial Practices in Computer Games’, 11, no. 3: 260-72. https://networkcultures.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/PlayfulMappingInTheD… Sicart, Miguel. 2017. Play Matters. First MIT Press new paperback edition. Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England: The MIT Press. === Alex Gekker, PhD. Assistant Professor in Digital Research Methods, Media Studies, University of Amsterdam. Profile and publications <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6042-2086> // a.gekker(a)uva.nl // tw: @AlexGekker <http://twitter.com/alexgekker> // mastodon @gekker@aoir.social <https://aoir.social/@gekker> Recent works include a deep dive into moving Israel “into the cloud” <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2343816>, a breakdown of QAnon as participatory play <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20563051231157300>, an analysis of “gamified” stock trading <https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/jgvw_00062_1>, and a post-mortem of Google Maps’ Covid-19 Layer <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20501579221143325>

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Fully Funded PhD Position in Inclusive Design with Artificial Intelligence – University of Amsterdam
by Sian Brooke 07 Oct '24

07 Oct '24

PhD Position in Inclusive Design with Artificial Intelligence – Fully Funded at the University of Amsterdam, Digital interactions Lab ------- Closing date: 30 November 2024 Location: University of Amsterdam Salary: €2,872 - €3,670 Advert: : https://vacatures.uva.nl/UvA/job/PhD-Position-in-Inclusive-Design-with-Arti… ------- I am recruiting for a highly motivated PhD student to conduct Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research on Inclusive Design with Artificial Intelligence. This fully funded, 4-year PhD position will join me at the Digital Interactions Lab at the Informatics Institute. Whilst the specifc focus of the project is to be discussed, the research will explore how AI can be used responsibly in web-based user interface design, focusing on equality, inclusivity, and accessibility. Key aspects of the research include: - Analyzing AI’s role in the UI design process and its influence on user inclusion and accessibility. - Exploring new methods to ensure equity in AI-driven design. - Producing practical outputs to guide UI/UX designers on creating accessible and inclusive digital environments. Essential Requirements: - A Master's degree in a relevant field (e.g., Computer Science, HCI, Sociology). - Strong web development skills (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, modern frameworks like React). - Interest in interdisciplinary research and the ethical implications of AI in design. Desirable skills: UX/UI research experience, knowledge of accessibility literature, data analysis in Python or R, and qualitative research experience. What we offer: A monthly salary (€2,872 - €3,670), a dynamic research environment, and a comprehensive benefits package, including 232 holiday hours and professional development opportunities. To Apply: * A detailed CV including the months (not just years) when referring to your education and work experience; * A letter of motivation; * A list of publications (if applicable); * The names and email addresses of two references who can provide letters of recommendation For more details and how to apply, visit: https://vacatures.uva.nl/UvA/job/PhD-Position-in-Inclusive-Design-with-Arti… If you have any questions about the requirements or criteria, please feel free to contact me (Dr Siân Brooke - s.j.m.brooke(a)uva.nl) We are also open to considering applications from candidates who have demonstrated technical skills through professional work experience rather than an academic degree program. Best wishes, Siân Dr Siân JM Brooke Assistant Professor (MacGillavry Fellowship) Digital Interactions Lab | Informatics Institute L6.22 | Lab42 | 1098 XH Amsterdam | The Netherlands www.uva.nl<http://www.uva.nl/> www.sianbrooke.com<http://www.sianbrooke.com/>

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