February 2025 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Three PhD Positions in AI, Digital Culture and Deep Learning
by Tobias Blanke 17 Mar '26

17 Mar '26

Dear all. The new European Research Council-funded Advanced Grant ‘Deep Culture - Living with Difference in the Age of Deep Learning’ invites applications for three fully-funded PhD positions in Amsterdam. Collaborating with two PostDocs, the aim is to realise an ambitious interdisciplinary research agenda on deep learning and culture. Deep learning technologies like ChatGPT have generated a lot of excitement about our new relations with AI but have also provoked much public anxiety. The project coins ‘deep culture’ to describe the global cultural transformations brought about by deep learning, and how culture is key to deep learning. The project will first explore the relations between deep learning and historical-cultural concepts and practices. Secondly, it will work with deep-learning methods to address their limitations for critical analysis. Finally, it aims to foster public understanding of deep learning’s global relations to culture. We are looking for three talented, ambitious PhD candidates who can combine independent research with team collaboration. You will have the opportunity to explore exciting questions of contemporary digital culture and deep learning and contribute to shaping debates about our relations with AI technologies. For further details and a link to apply, please visit: https://vacatures.uva.nl/UvA/job/Three-PhD-Positions-in-AI%2C-Digital-Cultu… All best, Tobias

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Call for applications: Emerging Scholars Program at the Milton Wolf Seminar in Vienna, Austria. April 8-10.
by Smith, Briar R. 13 Jan '26

13 Jan '26

Apologies for cross posting: Applications are now open for the emerging scholars program<https://www.asc.upenn.edu/research/centers/milton-wolf-seminar-on-media-and…> at our annual Milton Wolf Seminar in Vienna, April 8-10, 2025. This year's theme is Ouroboros: The Infinite Loop of Media, Democracy, and Diplomacy, and you can take a look at the 2025 agenda and panel descriptions here<https://www.asc.upenn.edu/research/centers/milton-wolf-seminar-on-media-and…>. As panel composition is still being finalized, please have a look at last year's full program<https://www.asc.upenn.edu/research/centers/milton-wolf-seminar-media-and-di…> for the impressive mix of contributors to the seminar. Each year, 10-12 early career researchers join a mix of senior scholars, journalists, think tank folks, government representatives, and activists for a two-day seminar, and have a chance to present their research while contributing to the seminar through the ample time we reserve for discussion. We also have a fun social program in the evening. Airfare and transportation and lodging and meals are covered. Please visit the website for eligibility information and how to apply<https://www.asc.upenn.edu/research/centers/milton-wolf-seminar-on-media-and…>. Deadline is 2/14. Briar Smith Associate Director Media, Inequality & Change Center (MIC) 215-520-0773 (m) 215-573-9218 (o) www.miccenter.org<http://www.miccenter.org>

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DIGITOX seminar Jan 22: Disconnection through media, apps and tech (and Feb 25: Disconnection and the brain)
by Trine Syvertsen 05 Jan '26

05 Jan '26

Welcome to the international seminar series on connection and disconnection. We continue our seminars in 2025. Details here https://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/research/projects/digital-disconnection/e… NB: Seminars run on Norway time (CET) and are scheduled in different time slots. Contact me for a Zoom link or join the DIGITOX mailing list (below) where the links are published. Upcoming seminars: Jan 22, 2025, 1400-1500 on disconnection through media, apps and tech with Veysel Bozan and Yukun You Feb. 25, 2025 1000 -1100 on disconnection and the brain with Alex Beattie and autors of Detoxing the brain<https://norden.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1896952&dswid=-…> (Ingrid Forsler, Carina Guyard, and Linus Andersson) MORE SEMINARS WILL BE SCHEDULED FOR THE SPRING Best regards, Trine ------ We run two mailing lists, join DIGITOX list for these seminars. DIGITOX MAILING LIST: digitox-info: info from Digitox about our seminar series. To join, write an email to sympa(a)media.uio.no and write subscribe digitox-info in the subject field. To unsubscribe: Write an email to sympa(a)media.uio.no and write unsubscribe digitox-info in the subject field (or let me know that you want to be taken off the list). DISCONNECTION-LIST (general list) disconnection-research: to post information about research, publications, events etc. All members can post. To join: write to sympa(a)media.uio.no and write subscribe disconnection-research in the subject field. DO YOU HAVE A NEW PUBLICATION? OR A CFP? NOTIFY PEOPLE USING THE DISCONNECTION LIST; ALL MEMBERS CAN POST ON THIS LIST ------------------------------------------------------- Trine Syvertsen, professor, IMK, UiO Project: Intrusive media, ambivalent users and digital detox (NFR) Author of Digital detox: The politics of disconnecting (Emerald 2020) New book: The Digital Backlash and the Paradoxes of Disconnection (open access, Nordicom, 2024)

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now available for pre-order / Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook
by Lori Emerson 21 Nov '25

21 Nov '25

Dear all, At long last, my beloved book, Other Networks:A Radical Technology Sourcebook, is officially available from Anthology Editions for pre-order here<https://shop.mexicansummer.com/merch/495898-lori-emerson-other-networks-a-r…>! Sadly, despite publishing many beautifully designed art books, the publisher won’t be around for much longer which means there are only 1000 copies available of Other Networks. If you think you’d like a copy, consider pre-ordering as soon as you can manage it. With deep gratitude to my editor Mark Iosifescu<https://iosifescu.biz/>, book cover designer Robert Beatty<https://robertbeattyart.com/>, and interior book designer Ella Gold<https://ellagold.com/>, Other Networks catalogs 80+ networks that preceded or existed outside of the internet. It is also an educational project that comes out of my belief that we are all capable both of understanding networks from the past and of building alternative networks for the future; a love letter to experimental art and technology; and a liberatory guide for escaping the corporate present. The design brilliantly both recalls the long history of telecommunications networks (exemplified by late 19th century/early 20th century telegraph and telephone manuals) and rewrites that same history to now have a more global perspective and to include more women; Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; and artist experiments with/on these pre-internet networks. Below is the table of contents. I have also posted on my blog excerpts from or expanded versions of entries on microbroadcasting<https://loriemerson.net/2024/09/21/the-history-of-microbroadcasting-and-how…>, barbed wire fence phones<https://loriemerson.net/2024/08/31/a-brief-history-of-barbed-wire-fence-tel…>, and imaginary networks<https://loriemerson.net/2025/01/04/brief-notes-toward-activating-the-potent…>. Sincerely, Lori (Emerson) **** Chronological List of Networks<https://loriemerson.net/2024/03/15/chronological-list-of-networks-in-other-…> Chronological List of Network Experiments<https://loriemerson.net/2024/03/15/chronological-list-of-network-experiment…> Acknowledgements Foreword Introduction Wireless Networks: Sound Networks [1] Drums [2] Whistling Air Networks [3] Fire or Smoke Signals [4] Pneumatic Tubes [5] Skywriting Water Networks [6] Hydraulic Semaphore Optical Networks [7] Flag Signaling [8] Optical Telegraph [9] Infrared Communication [10] Signal Lamp [11] Heliograph [12] Photophone [13] Ultraviolet Communication [14] Laser Communication [15] Visible Light Communication Radio Networks [16] Amateur Radio [16.1] Radiotelegraphy [16.2] Radioteletype [16.3] Amateur Television [16.4] Hellschreiber [16.5] Earth-Moon-Earth Communication [16.6] Amateur Radio Satellite [16.7] Amateur Packet Radio [17] Radio Broadcast [18] Pirate Radio [19] Radiofax [20] Two-Way Radio [21] Pager [22] Meteor Burst Communication [23] Slow Scan Television [24] Project West Ford [25] Pirate Television [26] Packet Radio Network [27] Microbroadcast [28] Software Defined Radio [29] Wi-Fi [30] Bluetooth Microwave Networks [31] Microwave Radio-Relay [32] Communications Satellite Wired Networks: Electrical Wire Networks [33] Electrical telegraph [33.1] Electrical Printing Telegraph [33.2] Image Telegraph [33.3] Fire Alarm Telegraph [33.4] Pantelegraph [33.5] Telephonic Telegraph [34] Telephone [35] Wired Radio [36] Telautograph [37] Telefacsimile [38] Videophone [39] Telex Barbed Wire Networks [40] Barbed Wire Telegraph [41] Fence Phones Hybrid Networks: [42] Library [43] Book [44] Postal System [44.1] Pigeon Post [44.2] Projectile Post [44.3] Balloon Mail [44.4] Pony Express [44.5] Airgraph and V-Mail [44.6] Email Letter [45] Sneakernet [46] Radio Broadcast Network [47] Broadcast Television [48] Cable Television [48.1] NABU [49] Cellular Network [50] Time-Sharing Network [51] Teletext [52] Videotex Imaginary Networks: [53] Necromancy [54] Pasilalinic-Sympathetic Compass [55] Telephonoscope [56] Telepathy [57] Ley Lines [58] Mundaneum [59] World Brain [60] Memex [61] Faster-Than-Light Communication Networks [62] Project Xanadu [63] Metaverse [64] The Clacks [65] Pandoran Neural Network [66] Cosmic Internet -- “I use technology in order to hate it properly.” — Nam June Paik Lori Emerson | KF0LCB | she/her/they/them Associate Professor | Associate Chair Graduate Studies | Director, Media Archaeology Lab Media Studies Department | University Colorado Boulder Traditional territories of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute Nations Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook<https://shop.mexicansummer.com/merch/495898-lori-emerson-other-networks-a-r…> Mastodon<https://post.lurk.org/@loriemerson> | Bluesky<https://bsky.app/profile/loriemerson.net> | loriemerson.net<http://loriemerson.net/> | mediaarchaeologylab.com<http://mediaarchaeologylab.com/>

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Polymedia
by Traci Belanger 11 Jul '25

11 Jul '25

Hi everyone, does anyone have suggestions for articles on "polymedia" or specifically how polymedia interacts with media ecology? Thanks so much! Traci Belanger --- May all winds at your back inspire you, and may you have harmony and peace today.

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For my US colleagues: an 8 minute survey, where your input might make a difference
by Patricia Aufderheide 08 May '25

08 May '25

I know, exactly what you don't need to do at this crazy point in the semester. At AU, Profs. Aram Sinnreich, Joseph Graf and I have been working with Electronic Frontier Foundation and New Media Rights to design a survey about DMCA exemption language and its accessibility. Would you be interested in taking, sharing with your students and networks, including putting on social media the survey link <http://bit.ly/2nEfY8j>? Here it is again: *http://bit.ly/2nEfY8j <http://bit.ly/2nEfY8j>* Your generosity much appreciated! 👏 -- Patricia Aufderheide, University Professor, School of Communication Founder, Center for Media & -- Patricia Aufderheide, University Professor, School of Communication Founder, Center for Media & Social Impact American University 4400 Massachusetts Av., NW American University, Washington, DC 20016-8017 McKinley Hall 323 @paufder @cmsimpact cmsimpact.org paufder(a)american.edu 202-885-2069 office <202-643-5356> 240-643-4805 mobile <202-643-5356> "The world we have received also belongs to those who follow us." --Pope Francis

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Non-software uses of GitHub
by Jim Herbsleb 16 Apr '25

16 Apr '25

I’m looking for GitHub repositories that are used for things other than software, especially where users are actively collaborating rather than just putting together static collections. So far, we have found a few books being written, some musical transcriptions being error-checked, and some policy documents maintained online. Does anyone know of any examples of these or other categories? Any pointers much appreciated. Happy to share what we find with anyone interested. Jim ---- Jim Herbsleb Carnegie Mellon University http://herbsleb.org/ Google Scholar profile: https://goo.gl/sv3p7l

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Submission deadline for AoIR2025 is Saturday, 1 March 2025
by AoIR Association Coordinator 28 Feb '25

28 Feb '25

*This is a reminder that the deadline to make submissions for #AoIR2025 is 1 March 2025 BRT – a little over 24 hours away!* If you are unsure what time this is where you are, please check here <https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=AoIR2025+Submissi…>. We’re very excited to be making two major innovations this year. This first is that *we are opening space for other languages than English!* For the first time ever, we will accept a limited number of proposals to be presented in Portuguese or Spanish (and that will have simultaneous translation to English). *These proposals must be submitted in English for the review process. * This is restricted to papers, panels, roundtables and fishbowls. As part of the submission process, you will be asked if you would like to present in Portuguese or Spanish. *If your proposal is a panel, roundtable or fishbowl with multiple languages, you must choose only one language for the entire group. The choice you make at this stage will be binding.* As there will be fewer spots for these presentations--because of the need to provide simultaneous translation--you may be accepted but asked to present in English. The second innovation is the introduction of a *tiered system for conference registration fees.* The final fees will be announced in due course, but we are striving to leave last year’s fees unchanged, while offering seriously discounted rates for participants based in the Global South. Without committing to a concrete number right now, the options we are considering are around US$50 for early-bird members, which would bring AoIR in line with similar conferences in Brazil. We mention this now to encourage submissions from people who might be discouraged from even trying to come to the conference based on previous years’ fees. For this year’s conference we are excited to be continuing with our hybrid options, while learning from the experience of Sheffield. To this end, we shall be accepting proposals for papers to be presented remotely and we will be live streaming a number of the sessions, allowing for remote participation in the conference. We shall be limiting the number of remote presentations to one or two per paper panel, and only for some of the panels per session. Finally, two of our core events will continue to run in both face-to-face and online versions: the Doctoral Colloquium <https://aoir.org/aoir2025/aoir2025subtypes/> and the Early Career Researcher (ECR) event. Submissions <https://aoir.org/aoir2025/aoir2025subtypes/> for both modes of the Doctoral Colloquium are open; as with our other preconferences, calls for participation in both modes of the ECR event will be distributed shortly after conference acceptance notifications. We also plan to provide online access for all AoIR members to our larger events (keynote, plenaries, and Annual General Meeting). - - - *Submission to AoIR 2025: Ruptures* The 2025 conference welcomes contributions that address the broad theme of Ruptures <https://aoir.org/aoir2025/aoir2025cfp/>. To re-familiarize yourself with the call for proposals and types of submissions solicited, please see here: https://aoir.org/aoir2025/aoir2025subtypes/ When submitting, please take the time to read the submission categories and topics carefully; this helps us match your submission to a suitable reviewer. To learn more about how submissions are reviewed, please see here: https://aoir.org/sub_review_info_aoir/ *In the interest of diversity and collegiality, each conference participant is limited to presenting a maximum of two papers (either as standalone papers or as parts of a panel or one of each; fishbowls, experimental sessions and roundtables are not counted against your maximum of two presentations). You can be a co-author on additional papers, but you must not be the scheduled presenter of these papers.* Please email any questions about the submissions process to AoIRConfChair [@] aoir.org. Click here to go to the submission site: https://www.conftool.org/aoir2025 We look forward to your proposals and to a vibrant and stimulating conference in Niterói! #AoIR2025 Organizing Committee ---- Important Deadline Reminders: 1 March 2025: Submissions due for papers, panels, roundtables, fishbowls, experimental sessions, and pre-conference workshops 4 March 2025: Updates to reviewer status, reviewer topics, and reviewer methods due 1 May 2025: Submission deadline for Doctoral Colloquium 1 August 2025: Early Registration Deadline for ALL presenters 15 - 18 October 2025: #AoIR2025 in Niterói, Brazil 25 November 2025: Final version of the extended abstract must be uploaded

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Join for a talk by Elizabeth Losh at Utrecht Uni, March 17, 2025. Registration required
by amarkham＠gmail.com 28 Feb '25

28 Feb '25

Hello AoIR Friends! ***event announcement w/ the usual apologies for crossposting *** On March 17, I’ll launch the first of a series of meet-up events at Utrecht University as part of my new initiative, the Futures + Literacies Lab. We’re delighted to invite the amazing Elizabeth Losh, who will give a talk entitled AI Literacy and Public Memory: Generating Future Pasts, followed by discussion among participants. Please join if you’re in the area, and if there’s enough interest, we can livestream the talk. When: Monday, March 17, 15:00-16:45 Where*: Room 0.04, Muntstraat 2a, Utrecht University, 3512EV Utrecht, the Netherlands) RSVP: Yes, please register for this event here: [1]https://forms.gle/RqbY41SLb7BT37HE7 Event is in person, but if you can’t be here in person and still want to attend? Register, and indicate this in the registration and we’ll try to accommodate! (*location may change depending on number of participants ) Talk title: AI Literacy and Public Memory: Generating Future Pasts Featuring special guest: Professor Elizabeth Losh, William & Mary University, USA Abstract: As new machine learning technologies are created to predict the future, they may also destabilize the past. Generative AI has been known to fabricate quotations from historical records and change depictions of prior events. Even when these instances are rare, they undermine the stability and coherence of public memory. For example, Google’s Gemini produced misleading images when prompted to produce illustrations for “a US Senator from the 1800s” or “a 1943 German soldier." In response to the controversy, the company’s senior vice president admitted that the system would “occasionally generate embarrassing, inaccurate or offensive results.” Generative AI may also perpetuate biased narratives through reliance on information and opinions already in circulation, rather than drawing from new research and marginalized or historically suppressed perspectives, and it may neglect intersectional understandings of identity. However, it is also important to highlight creative uses of these technologies to imagine other possible origin stories that emphasize the agency and resilience of people of the past, the richness of “little data," and innovative approaches to speculative nonfiction. This talk will feature experiments with generative AI by galleries, libraries, archives, and museums to explore the making of future pasts. About the speaker: Elizabeth Losh is the Duane A. and Virginia S. Dittman Professor of American Studies and English with a specialization in New Media Ecologies at William & Mary, USA, where she also directs the Equality Lab. Losh is well known for her research about communities that produce, consume, and circulate digital content. Much of this body of work concerns the rising influence of AI and simulation technologies, the legitimation of political institutions through digital evidence, representations of war, violence, and disease in social media and games, and online discourse about human rights.Previously she directed the Culture, Art, and Technology Program at the University of California, San Diego. She currently co-chairs the Modern Language Association - Conference on College Composition and Communication Joint Task Force on Writing and AI. Losh is the is the author of Selfie Democracy: The New Digital Politics of Disruption and Insurrection (MIT Press, 2022), Hashtag (Bloomsbury, 2019), The War on Learning: Gaining Ground in the Digital University (MIT Press, 2014), and Virtualpolitik: An Electronic History of Government Media-Making in a Time of War, Scandal, Disaster, Miscommunication, and Mistakes (MIT Press, 2009). She also edited the collection MOOCs and Their Afterlives: Experiments in Scale and Access in Higher Education (University of Chicago, 2017) and co-edited Bodies of Information: Intersectional Feminism and Digital Humanities (Minnesota, 2018) with Jaqueline Wernimont. When: Monday, March 17, 15:00-16:45 Where*: Muntstraat 2a, 0.04* RSVP: Yes, please register for this event here: [2]https://forms.gle/RqbY41SLb7BT37HE7 All the best, and of course, if you have questions, feel free to email me directly, Annette Annette N. Markham (she/her) | Chair Professor of Media Literacies and Public Engagement | Utrecht University | [3]Department of Media and Culture Studies | Faculty of Humanities | Muntstraat 2a, 3512 EV Utrecht | Room 2.04 | [4]a.n.markham(a)uu.nl | [5]www.uu.nl/staff/anmarkham | professional website: [6]https://annettemarkham.com References 1. https://forms.gle/RqbY41SLb7BT37HE7 2. https://forms.gle/RqbY41SLb7BT37HE7 3. https://www.uu.nl/en/organisation/department-of-media-and-culture-studies 4. mailto:a.n.markham@uu.nl 5. http://www.uu.nl/staff/anmarkham 6. https://annettemarkham.com/

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WEBCAST FEB 27 – Beyond Whois: Filling the Gaps
by Joly MacFie 27 Feb '25

27 Feb '25

Underway. Some minor changes in the speaker lineup. REAL TIME TEXT https://bit.ly/41vuiRb This is Part 2. Part 1 is at https://isoc.live/18821/ [image: ISOC LIVE] <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=64e57bb7c2fd74694caef95…> On *Thursday, February 27, 2025* at *14:00-15:30 EST* (19:00-20:30 UTC) *CircleID <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=8c3c50d0a397c1997a23997…>* and the *Edgemoor Research Institute <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=6cf9176471cf89c2b18d496…>* host their second stakeholder roundtable with the theme ‘*Beyond Whois: Filling the Gaps <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=ec47a277cde7b2c854ca022…>* '. The collection and disclosure of DNS registration data have evolved chaotically, influenced by GDPR and other privacy laws. The system, while improving privacy, has enabled bad actors and raised costs for registrars and registries. At this 2nd event, experts will explore *Project Jake’s framework <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=f931fe0c3ec876db69b8629…>* for balancing privacy with legitimate data needs, emphasizing policy clarity, efficiency, and adaptability. The event will open with a fundamental question: “*What does ‘good’ look like for domain name registrars?*” This inquiry aims to explore the motivating factors—both for and against—the disclosure of registration data. *SPEAKERS* *Brian Beckham* – Internet Dispute Resolution Section, WIPO *Christine Runnegar* *Elliot Noss* – Tucows Inc., *Gabriel Andrews* – FBI *Dr. James Galvin* – Identity Digital *John McElwaine* – IP Attorney *Jothan Frakes* – PLISK.COM <http://plisk.com/> *Nigel Hickson* – DSIT, UK *Rod Rasmussen* – Cybersecurity expert *Scott Bradner* - Edgemoor Research Institute (ERI) *Steve Crocker* – Edgemoor Research Institute (ERI) *MODERATOR* *Lori S. Schulman* – International Trademark Association (INTA) *LIVESTREAM https://youtu.be/AntAoiTIyHo <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=09b66ee7cf3f99c6938f8cc…>* *PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM https://bit.ly/4icmA3T <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=34a2bb62e0dae1601fbd239…>* *REAL TIME TEXT (*See* ISOC LIVE <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=64e57bb7c2fd74694caef95…>* ) *TWITTER #WHOIS #ProjectJake <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=ce87739fc120bd712211e64…> @CircleID |** MASTODON <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=eb787aee8127975418b3e32…> | BLUESKY <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=573f97ac2c2576c7a4e2929…> | INSTA <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=fcea0bbe4371a9df3e86497…>* *SIMULCASTS* *https://twitter.com/ISOC_Live <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=03291e8efa0fccb580c0d0f…>* *https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=43e4bff8e7ac7afa426715e…>* *https://www.facebook.com/liveisoc/ <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=bc487f67b098e486065f029…>* *ARCHIVE* *https://archive.org/details/beyondwhois2 <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=dfd9d5c9080293d34153e22…> *(when available) *** ISOC.LIVE is a free webcasting support service for the Internet Society Community - ISOC LIVE is currently unfunded - if you would like to become a monthly sponsor - contact support(a)isoc.live *** - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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