May 2026 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

CFS | After Virtual Reality: Extending Immersive Narrative Symposium | Extended Deadline: 31st May
by Sérgio Galvão Roxo 18 May '26

18 May '26

Dear all, I'm sharing that the submission deadline for the "After Virtual Reality: Extending Immersive Narrative Symposium" has been extended until the 31st of May. A three-day symposium for a small cohort of participants, convened by the Extending Digital Narrative (XDN) research project the Center for Digital Narrative (CDN), a Norwegian Centre of Research Excellence at the University of Bergen (UiB), Norway. The After Virtual Reality symposium will take place between October 19-21, in conjunction with an exhibition on display from October 14-22, in collaboration with the Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF). Organizing committee Scott Rettberg, Maria Engberg, Pedro Queirós Pinto, Sérgio Galvão Roxo, Anna Nacher What are immersive narratives becoming? As contemporary forms of digital narrative continue to expand, mutate, and hybridize, immersive storytelling has become a key site of experimentation across artistic, cultural, and technological domains. Immersive narratives now transcend singular media forms, platforms, or devices, unfolding across thresholds such as physical and digital environments, embodied and computational experiences, and authored and generative processes. Immersive storytelling has often been associated with immersive media and Extended Reality (XR), encompassing Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR). However, XR itself remains an unstable and evolving category. Drawing from Milgram and Kishino’s (1994) reality–virtuality continuum, we consider “XR” an open and extensible framework for emerging, speculative, and as-yet-unsettled forms of computationally mediated reality, including spatial computing, AI-driven environments, and hybrid physical–digital spaces. After Virtual Reality: Extending Immersive Narrative brings together researchers, practitioners, and theorists to explore how immersive narratives are being reconfigured today — and what they might become. The symposium is organized by the Center for Digital Narrative (CDN) at the University of Bergen, within the Extending Digital Narrative (XDN) research project, which takes an experimental approach to studying emerging forms of digital narrative and exploring the potentialities of emerging technologies for new genres of storytelling. The symposium will foreground immersive narratives as sites of epistemological, aesthetic, and political experimentation. We invite contributions that examine immersive narratives as spatial, multimodal, and relational practices, with attention to how they produce affect, reflection, identification, participation, and belonging. The symposium welcomes diverse critical perspectives and explicitly encourages contributions grounded in decolonial, queer, feminist, cyborg, and posthuman epistemologies, as well as community-based, activist, and industry-facing practices. Potential themes We invite theoretical and empirical contributions addressing immersive narrative across the following themes, including but not limited to: Immersive Narrative Practices & Aesthetics ◦ Case studies of immersive storytelling across VR, AR, MR, and spatial computing ◦ Spatial storytelling, narrative, environments, and multimodal embodied experience ◦ Theoretical frameworks emerging from creative and practice-based research in immersive narrative AI, Authorship, and Generative Systems ◦ Relationships between AI and XR; AI-driven environments and generative narrative ◦ Thresholds between authored and generative processes ◦ New epistemologies of narrative authorship in computational systems Politics, Epistemology, and Social Practice ◦ Decolonial, queer, feminist, and cyborg frameworks for immersive media ◦ Narratives of belonging, exclusion, memory, and futurity ◦ Community-driven, participatory, and activist immersive practices ◦ Immersion as affective, political, and epistemological condition Contributions may also address thresholds between physical ↔ digital, embodied ↔ mediated, and spectator ↔ participant across any of the above themes.  Collaborative submissions between scholars and creators are particularly encouraged. Submission format: Academic Abstracts Specifications: • Length: 500 — 1000 words (excluding references) • Author bio: 50 words • Keywords: Up to 5 Deadline: 17 May 2026 | Extended deadline: 31 May 2026 Notification: June 2026 Submission link: https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=21016960 Contact person: Sérgio Galvão Roxo [sergio.roxo(a)uib.no] More information: https://www4.uib.no/en/research/research-centres/center-for-digital-narrati… Up to 20 presentations will be selected from submissions, with additional participants invited as discussants and respondents. Selection is based on thematic fit, scholarly contribution, and the need for intellectually diverse perspectives on immersive narrative. Authors of selected presentations will be invited to submit their work to a peer-reviewed publication. October 2026, Bergen, Norway • 19 October – Exhibition Opening & Artist Panel • 20-21 October – Academic Symposium There will be no conference fee. Lunches and a conference dinner will be provided by the hosts. Organizing Institution The Center for Digital Narrative (CDN) is a Norwegian Centre of Research Excellence dedicated to the study of narrative across digital, visual, sonic, and computational media. The symposium is organized within the framework of Extending Digital Narrative (XDN), an interdisciplinary research group focused on immersive, conversational, and generative narratives. For more information: https://www4.uib.no/en/research/research-centres/center-for-digital-narrati… Funding This is supported by the Research Council of Norway through its Centers of Excellence scheme (project number 332643, Center for Digital Narrative) and its SAMKUL project scheme (project number 335129, Extending Digital Narrative)

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Webinar: Colonialism in the digital age - The fight for a livable future
by Bahar Celik Muller 18 May '26

18 May '26

***Apologies for cross-posting*** Join us for a timely discussion on how artificial intelligence and digital systems are reshaping global inequalities and ecological futures. Date & Time: May 12, 2026 03:00 PM in London Online Register free<https://bristol-ac-uk.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_P8Kha5w9TnqIGWFhByuC7Q#/r…> In an era of rapid technological expansion, climate crisis and deepening injustice, how can we understand and resist new forms of digital colonialism? What alternatives might support a more just and livable future? Chair: * Martin Parker, Professor of Organisation Studies at the University of Bristol and member of the Centre for Sociodigital Futures. Speakers: * Dan McQuillan, author of Resisting AI<https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/resisting-ai?utm_source=Bristol+Univer…>, will explore how contemporary AI reflects dynamics of colonialism, from resource extraction to renewed interest in eugenics, and will introduce the idea of “decolonial decomputing” as a way to resist technocolonialism. * Masoumeh Iran Mansouri, co-author of How to be ‘anti-AI’ in the 21st century<https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/gpe/4/2/article-p18…>, will examine how AI can intensify exploitation, exclusion and environmental harm, and will discuss pathways for resisting these developments. * Patrick Brodie, co-author of From the Bog to the Cloud<https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/from-the-bog-to-the-cloud?utm_source=B…>, will discuss how dominant tech companies shape digital and decarbonisation agendas, reinforcing global economic dependencies. All registered attendees will receive a recording of the webinar and a 50% discount on all Bristol University Press books. https://bristol-ac-uk.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_P8Kha5w9TnqIGWFhByuC7Q#/r… Bahar Muller Senior Marketing Executive Browse free and open resources in Decolonization Browse free and open access resources in Decolonization<https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/subject/Decolonization-Collection…> <https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/subject/Decolonization-Collection…> and Sociology<https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/collection/SOC-Collection?submitt…> <https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/collection/SOC-Collection?submitt…> from BUP. If you would like to access all resources in our Sociology Collection<https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/subject/SOC-Collection?utm_source…>, please request access to it via your institution’s library. We offer EBA options and tiered pricing on our collections tailored to smaller organisations and their libraries. For more details, institutions can contact our team at bup-digital(a)bristol.ac.uk. You may also be interested in our Sociology journals<https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/page/journals?utm_source=listserv…>, including the open access Global Social Challenges Journal<https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/gsc/view/journals/gscj/gscj-overv…>. Keep up with all our news and get a 25% discount on ALL Bristol University Press and Policy Press books by signing up to our newsletter<https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/signup-bup-pp?utm_source=signature&utm…>. Follow us on all social channels: Bluesky<https://ow.ly/8Eo050UfPKH> | Bluesky (Journals)<https://ow.ly/gNXc50UfPKG> | Instagram <https://ow.ly/GFZB50UfPKB> | LinkedIn<https://ow.ly/CXSX50UfPKF> | Threads <https://ow.ly/hONt50UfPKE> | Facebook<https://ow.ly/GFZB50UfPKB> Our charity for 2026 is One25. Find out more and donate here.<https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/charity?utm_source=signature&utm_mediu…>

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37th IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE 2026): Last Call for Fast Abstracts and Project Highlights
by Announce 18 May '26

18 May '26

*** Last Call for Fast Abstracts and Project Highlights *** 37th IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE 2026) October 20-23, 2026, 5* St. Raphael Resort and Marina Limassol, Cyprus https://cyprusconferences.org/issre2026/ A Fast Abstract (FA) or Project Highlights (PH) paper is a two-page, lightly reviewed technical article. The FA/PH track at ISSRE 2026 aims to bring together researchers and practitioners working in Software Reliability Engineering (SRE) to: • Introduce early original ideas. • Discuss relevant work-in-progress and ongoing experiences. • Challenge the SRE status quo on key topics. • Present critical analyses of prior work. • Share lessons learned from real-world SRE applications. • Propose new problems from industrial or academic experience. • Describe approaches to problems of significance that may not yet have complete results. In addition to traditional Fast Abstracts, the track welcomes Project Highlights (PH) papers. PH papers are expected to disseminate results, visions, methodologies, tools, and ongoing activities from national and international research projects (e.g., European, or multi- institutional initiatives). Project Highlights may include, but are not limited to: • Overviews of funded research projects and their objectives. • Project methodologies, architectures, and experimental frameworks. • Early or intermediate results, including lessons learned and preliminary insights. • Datasets, benchmarks, tools, platforms, and other project outcomes released or in progress. • Collaboration experiences, challenges, and emerging research directions from national or international projects. Project Highlights that can stimulate discussion and collaboration within the ISSRE community are welcome. Ongoing projects and projects completed not earlier than October 2025 are eligible. Accepted contributions will be published in the Supplemental Proceedings of ISSRE 2026 and made available via IEEE Xplore. Topics of Interest Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: • Reliability, safety, maintainability, security, survivability, resilience, robustness, and other dependability attributes. • Faults (defects, bugs, etc.), errors, failures, and other dependability threats. • Reliability of all systems, applications, networks, and software, including problems, solutions, and discussions. • Metrics, measurement, assessment, monitoring, modeling, estimation, and prediction regarding reliability. • Reliability of AI-powered software systems, including large language models (LLMs), autonomous agents, and AI-enabled applications. • Other contents about software reliability, such as normative/regulatory/ethical spaces, societal aspects, etc. Presentations The presentation might be in the form of a short talk in a Fast Abstracts/Project Highlights session or a poster. Further details about presentations and posters will be shared with authors upon notification. Submission Guidelines Manuscripts must be: • submitted via EasyChair as a single Portable Document Format (PDF) file with all fonts embedded; • written in English and be formatted according to the IEEE Computer Society Format Guidelines. Papers are submitted via Easy Chair https://easychair.org/conferences?conf=issre2026 . Manuscripts must adhere to IEEE Conference Publishing Policies. Particularly, they should NOT have been previously published or be under submission elsewhere. All submissions will be screened for plagiarized material through the IEEE Cross Check portal. Contacts Please contact the Fast Abstract/Project Highlights Co-chairs (issre2026-fast- abstracts(a)easychair.org) for any questions or further clarifications. Important Dates (AoE) • Submission deadline: June 15, 2026 • Notification to authors: August 5, 2026 • Camera ready papers: August 19, 2026 Organisation General Chairs • Leonardo Mariani, University of Milano - Bicocca, Italy • George A. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus Program Coordinator • Roberto Natella, GSSI, Italy Research Program Committee Chairs • Domenico Cotroneo, UNC Charlotte, USA • Jie M. Zhang, King's College London, UK Industry Program Chairs • Jinyang Liu, Bytedance, USA • Sigrid Eldh, Ericsson AB, Sweden Workshop Chairs • Georgia Kapitsaki, University of Cyprus, Cyprus • August Shi, The University of Texas at Austin, USA Doctoral Symposium Chairs • Stefan Winter, LMU Munich, Germany • Lili Wei, McGill University, Canada Fast Abstract Chairs • Luigi Lavazza, University of Insubria, Italy • Yintong Huo, SMU, Singapore JIC2 Chair • Helene Waeselynck, LAAS-CNRS, France Publicity Chairs • Allison K. Sulivan, The University of Texas at Arlington, USA • Jose D'Abruzzo Pereira, University of Coimbra, Portugal Publication Chairs • Sherlock Licorish, Otago Business School, New Zealand • Maria Teresa Rossi, GSSI, Italy Artifact Evaluation Chairs • Naghmeh Ivaki, University of Coimbra, Portugal • Fumio Machida, University of Tsukuba, Japan Diversity and Inclusion Chair • Eleni Constantinou, University of Cyprus, Cyprus Financial Chair • Costas Pattichis, University of Cyprus, Cyprus Web Chairs • Michalis Ioannides, Easy Conferences LTD • Elena Masserini, University of Milano - Bicocca, Italy Registration Chair • Easy Conferences LTD

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New Springer Volume: Histories of Computing in Asia
by Chris Leslie 16 May '26

16 May '26

Dear Colleagues: I’m pleased to share that Histories of Computing in Asia is out from Springer. This proceedings volume includes chapters on: * Pedagogical approaches to the history of computing * Soviet scientific assistance and early computing in China * The historiography of computing in India * Other regional and international perspectives * This volume began with the IFIP WG 9.7 Workshop on the History of Computing, which I organized in Phuket, Thailand, in September 2024. I hope the collection will be useful to colleagues interested in broadening the geography, sources, and methods of computing history. I am grateful to the authors and peer reviewers whose expertise made this volume possible. The Working Group has always benefited from the synergies among historians, archivists, cultural studies scholars, and technical professionals. One thing I especially wanted to do was make the contributors more visible, so I created an online companion page with the paper titles and biographical information: https://chrisleslie.info/contributors/ With this work completed, I have turned over the reins of the working group to Kishor Satpathy. We are aiming for an upcoming workshop in Kolkata, India. More details will follow in due course. Chris Leslie Bibliographic information: Histories of Computing in Asia. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology (IFIP AICT), vol. 739. Cham: Springer, 2026. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-19480-0. Available from Springer: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-19480-0

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International Conference on Software and Systems Reuse, Product Lines, and Configuration (VARIABILITY 2026): Last Call for Project Showcases
by Announce 16 May '26

16 May '26

*** Last Call for Project Showcases *** International Conference on Software and Systems Reuse, Product Lines, and Configuration (VARIABILITY 2026) 29 September - 2 October 2026, 5* St. Raphael Resort and Marina Limassol, Cyprus https://conf.researchr.org/home/variability-2026 The VARIABILITY conference series brings together the communities previously served by ICSR, SPLC, and VaMoS, forming a unified venue for research on variability, configuration, customization, and related disciplines in software and systems engineering. As part of this mission, VARIABILITY 2026 invites submissions to its Project Showcase Track, a forum dedicated to presenting ongoing or recently completed research projects. The track offers a stage for research teams to share their vision, goals, early outcomes, intermediate results, final achievements, and lessons learned from funded projects of all scales, including collaborative research centers, EU projects, and nationally or regionally funded initiatives. The goal is to encourage interaction, foster collaboration opportunities, and help disseminate project insights to the broader community. Objectives and Scope We welcome submissions on research projects that address reuse, product lines, and variable/configurable software systems. A list of research topics that are relevant for this track is available from the call for the papers for the VARIABILITY 2026 Research Track, at: https://conf.researchr.org/track/variability-2026/variability-2026-papers#C… Submissions are expected to describe ongoing or recently completed research projects within this scope. This track is not intended for publishing mature research results. Instead, it focuses on project summaries and overviews, highlighting goals, structure, challenges, insights, and project level impact. Examples of suitable submissions include: • Ongoing projects focusing on goals, challenges, methodology, or early findings • Recently completed projects summarizing outcomes, evidence, and impact • Large scale, collaborative, or multi partner efforts, where visibility and networking are beneficial • Smaller or emerging projects that would benefit from early feedback and exposure PhD thesis projects are not in scope for this track. We warmly encourage PhD candidates to submit their work to the VARIABILITY 2026 Doctoral Symposium. Submission Format • Length: 7 to 10 pages, excluding references • Format: LNCS (Springer), single blind submissions Each submission will receive feedback from three reviewers. All submissions must adhere to the LNCS (Springer) format. Please refer to the official LNCS template at https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu… . Submissions must be in PDF format and submitted via EasyChair: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=variability2026 (Select “Projects Showcase Track”). Presentation and Publication Accepted papers will appear in the VARIABILITY 2026 Companion Proceedings published by Springer in the LNCS series. Accepted submissions will receive a presentation slot. At least one author of each accepted paper must: • Register for the full conference, and • Present the contribution at the event Evaluation Criteria Submissions will be evaluated on: • Relevance to the conference scope • Clarity of project goals, context, and contributions • Potential for impact, collaboration, reuse, or technology transfer • Value for discussion and interaction at the conference The focus is on clarity, relevance, and value to the community rather than scientific novelty. Important Dates (AoE) • Submission of Papers: 1 June 2026 • Notification of Acceptance: 21 June 2026 • Camera-Ready Submission: 15 July 2026 • Author Registration: 15 July 2026 Organisation General Chairs • George A. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus • Gilles Perrouin, FNRS & University of Namur, Belgium Research Track Chairs • Thorsten Berger, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany • Ina Schaefer, KIT, Germany Industry Track Chairs • Shaukat Ali, Simula Research Lab and Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway • Martin Becker, Fraunhofer IESE, Germany Journal First Track Chairs • Mathieu Acher, University Rennes, Inria, CNRS, IRISA, France • Xhevahire Tërnava, LTCI, Télécom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, France Doctoral Symposium Track Chairs • Rick Rabiser, LIT CPS, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria • Iris Reinhartz-Berger, University of Haifa, Israel Demos and Tools Track Chairs • Sandra Greiner, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark • Leopoldo Teixeira, Federal University of Pernambuco Projects Showcase Chairs • Daniel Struber, Chalmers, University of Gothenburg, Radbound University, Sweden • Dalila Tamzalit, Nantes Université, France Hall of Fame Chairs • Martin Becker, Fraunhofer IESE, Germany • Goetz Botterweck, Lero - The Irish Software Research Centre and University of Limerick, Ireland • Natsuko Noda, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan Workshops Chairs • Lidia Fuentes, Universidad de Malaga, Spain • Malte Lochau, University of Siegen, Germany Tutorials Chairs • Loek Cleophas, Eindhoven University of Technology and Stellenbosch University, The Netherlands • Mahsa Varshosaz, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark Proceedings Chair • Sophie Fortz, King's College London, UK Publicity Chairs • Wesley Assunção, North Carolina State University, USA • Kentaro Yoshimura, Hitachi Ltd, Japan Local Organiser and Finance Chair • George A. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus

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Workshop on the politics of GenAI governance
by João C. Magalhães 14 May '26

14 May '26

Dear all, Klara Matusewicz (University of Manchester), Robert Gorwa (WZB Berlin), and I are putting together a two-day workshop on 'The Politics of GenAI Governance' at Mancept 2026 in Manchester, September 2–4. See the CfA below and, if you’re interested, please send a *500-word abstract by May 21* to joao.magalhaes(a)manchester.ac.uk. Full details of Mancept 2026 here: https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/activities/mancept-workshops-2026/ — The politics of GenAI governance The governance of GenAI is often framed as a computational task (how can code and data ensure that AI systems reliably do what designers want them to do?), an abstract normative question (which norms should AI systems behave in accordance with?), or a narrowly legal challenge (how can different regulatory bodies define, codify, and enforce these norms, in computational and institutional terms?). Yet it is also, obviously and perhaps centrally, a political problem: which actors, representing whose interests, have less or more power and legitimacy to influence the mechanisms whereby GenAI is governed into being? Who’s set to benefit and lose from these processes? The need for perspectives rooted in political theory is made increasingly urgent by two trends in how GenAI governance is defined. First, the discourse about what governance means and what constitutes success is rapidly consolidating around a narrow set of actors and understandings. As it is often spurred by private companies which operate with limited public oversight, this kind of discourse and its related proposals call for an inquiry into the rights, responsibilities, and ideologies that underpin them, particularly as the datasets and training used for governing GenAI have previously resulted in bias, exclusion and the reinforcement of existing systems of oppression. Second, governance proposals aspire to a global scope, implicitly advancing claims about universal values. Such disregard for pluralism raises questions about legitimacy, and concerns about the associated asymmetries in geopolitical power. Importantly, these trends unfold amid a historical crisis of liberal democracy. As GenAI becomes increasingly embedded in everyday life, its governance is no longer just about preventing reward hacking during training or the hypothetical, potentially catastrophic consequences of mis-specified goals. It is about institutionalising quotidian norms and inequities, thus encoding particular visions of social order into what is quickly becoming a pervasive, all-purpose sort of infrastructure. To truly understand and intervene in the governance of GenAI, we need first treat it as a collective and contested political practice. This workshop addresses this urgent task by inviting contributions that grapple with the visible and covert disagreement, authorities, and rationalities that shape the emergence of GenAI under conditions of extreme uncertainty. In particular, we welcome scholars working on topics related, but not limited, to the following guiding questions: 1. How should we conceptualise GenAI governance as a form of power, and in which ways does it differ (or not) from previous control systems? 2. How does GenAI governance intersect with theories and the current realities of democracy and authoritarianism? 3. Can traditional approaches explain the political economy of GenAI? 4. In what ways do existing GenAI governance proposals implicitly rely on contested political assumptions (e.g. moral realism, liberal individualism, etc)? 5. To what extent and how should GenAI governance be democratised? -- João C. Magalhães Senior Lecturer in AI Trust and Security | School of Art, Languages, and Cultures<https://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk> Head of the AI Trust and Security Cluster | Centre for Digital Trust and Society<https://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/research/centres-institutes/cluster…> University of Manchester https://jcmagalhaes.com/ Selected publications: The emergence of platform illiberalism, 2026 <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14614448261424889?_gl=1*97g6hw*_up…> (New Media & Society, w/ Clara Iglesias Keller and Rob Gorwa) | Socially blind engineering in Facebook's foundational technologies, 2025<https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-025-00971-9> (Philosophy & Technology, w/ Nick Couldry) | Open-ended technological inevitability in journalistic discourses about AI, 2025<http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21670811.2025.2522281#d1e238> (Digital Journalism, w/ Rik Smit) | A history of objectionability in Twitter’s moderation practices, 2023<https://academic.oup.com/joc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/joc/jqad015/720476…> (Journal of Communication, w/ Emillie de Keulenaar, Bharath Ganesh) | Social media, social unfreedom, 2022 <https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2022-0040/html> (Communications, w/ Jun Yu) | Big Tech, data colonialism and the reconfiguration of social good, 2021<https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/15995> (International Journal of Communication, w/ Nick Couldry) | Considering algorithmic ethical subjectivation, 2018<https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2056305118768301> (Social Media + Society)

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IPA2026BR: Panel on 'Critical Policy Studies in the Age of Digital Imperialism, Sovereignty Crises and Tech Races'
by Preeti Raghunath 14 May '26

14 May '26

Dear all, Three of us cordially invite those of you working on/interested in policy research to consider applying for a panel on “Critical Policy Studies in the Age of Digital Imperialism, Sovereignty Crises and Tech Races” at the forthcoming IPA conference – and sending the call on to interested colleagues, especially in the Global South. The call is here: https://www.ippapublicpolicy.org/conference/14a-ipa-conference-br/panel-lis… More information on the wider conference setting can be found below. Please do reach out should you have any questions. Guilherme (Guilly), Regine and Preeti --- Dear colleagues, We are pleased to invite the critical-interpretive policy studies community to submit proposals for IPA2026BR – the Interpretive Policy Analysis Seminar, to be held in Brasília, Brazil, from November 9–11, 2026. IPA2026BR is an international gathering dedicated to critical and interpretive approaches in public policy. It is designed as a welcoming academic space, open to interdisciplinary dialogue and methodological experimentation, where theory and practice are understood as deeply intertwined dimensions of social life and of the critical analysis of contemporary policies. Originally launched in 2006, the IPA conferences have been held in multiple regions worldwide, but never before in the Global South. This relaunch, under the overarching theme “Interpretive Policy Analysis Community: Renewing Critical Dialogue, Building Connections,” seeks to renew both the format and the experience of these meetings, strengthening more collaborative and interactive approaches while expanding the reach, diversity, and depth of debate in the field. IPA2026BR will take place at the University of Brasília (UnB), at the Darcy Ribeiro Campus, located in the Plano Piloto de Brasília, Brasil. The seminar unfolds in a territory shaped by intellectual and political projects associated with foundational critical thinkers such as Paulo Freire and Darcy Ribeiro. The choice of Brasília is not merely logistical, but political: the city is positioned here as a decolonial hub for the production and circulation of critical interpretive knowledge in public policy. The event is supported by the Critical Policy Studies Journal (CPS), the Critical Interpretive Policy Studies Network (ipa.science), and the International Public Policy Association (IPPA), as well as by the National School of Public Administration (ENAP) and the Foundation for Support to Research and Technology (FINATEC). IPA2026BR combines interactive and agile methodologies, articulating academic production, territorial experiences, and decolonial perspectives. It also seeks to reduce the environmental impacts associated with long-distance travel while reinforcing Brasília’s role as a hub for global and macro-regional circulation of knowledge. You can explore the full proposal and program here: https://www.ippapublicpolicy.org/conference/14a-ipa-cnference-br/28 Beyond academic panels, the seminar offers an expanded experience of learning and exchange. The program balances intellectual debate, territorial immersion, and formative activities. It will include advanced workshops, ethnographic walks across Brasília, and visits to insurgent democratic initiatives in the Federal District, alongside dedicated time for discussion, networking, and research group meetings. We believe this initiative may resonate with your work, as it seeks to foster both the collective construction of critical knowledge in public policy and dialogue across diverse theoretical traditions, including Latin American critical thought and other situated perspectives. Call for Papers The Call for Papers is now open. We warmly invite the submission of extended abstracts (up to 500 words) aligned with the thematic tracks of the panels, all developed and coordinated by members of the Scientific Committee. Submission period: April 15, 2026 – June 12, 2026 Notification of acceptance: July 25, 2026 Full paper submission deadline: September 29, 2026 Please note that this is an in-person event. Explore our eight panels, organized and led by members of the Scientific Committee, on the website. We are confident that at least one of them will be of interest to you! https://www.ippapublicpolicy.org/conference/14a-ipa-conference-br/28 In addition to panel submissions, calls for advanced workshops will be published on the website starting May 15. Registration for ethnographic walks and visits to insurgent democratic initiatives will open soon and close two months prior to the event. Governance and committees IPA2026BR is supported by a strong international network of scholars committed to academic excellence, including an Executive Organizing Committee, an International Advisory Committee, and a Scientific Committee composed of 61 researchers from 18 countries, reflecting a diverse and plural academic community. Full details are available on the website! We warmly invite you to visit the website, explore the proposal, submit your work, and join this international space of ideas, practices, and dialogue. This is an opportunity to contribute to a more plural and situated production of knowledge, attentive to the inequalities shaping the global field of public policy, and to engage with multiple epistemologies, particularly from the Global South. For any further information, please feel free to contact us at: ipa2026br(a)gmail.com We very much hope to welcome you to Brasília! Best, Preeti -- Dr Preeti Raghunath, SFHEA Lecturer in Digital Media and Society School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations University of Sheffield, UK 🌐preetiraghunath.com

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External Examiner opportunity in Digital Media
by Liam Voice 14 May '26

14 May '26

Greetings! The School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Keele University is currently seeking an External Examiner for its new BA programmes in Digital Media. The post will be for four years from September 2026, and involve scrutiny of undergraduate work at level 5 (in 2026-27) and then levels 5 and 6 (from 2027-28). Expressions of interest (plus short CV) or questions about the role should be directed to the Media programme director, Dr Neil Archer (n.archer(a)keele.ac.uk) by 1 June 2026. Many thanks, Liam (Message sent on behalf of Dr Neil Archer)

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Call for applications - 6 PhD scholarship in Sociology - NASP, University of Milan - University of Turin
by Alessandro Gandini 14 May '26

14 May '26

Apologies for cross-posting Please see below a call for applications for 6 scholarships (1 reserved to candidates holding an international degree) for the NASP PhD in Sociology and Methodology of Social Research a.y. 2026-2027: https://www.nasp.eu/training/phd-programmes/somet.html Deadline: 9 June 2026, h. 12:00 p.m. (Italy time zone) Jointly run by the University of Milan and the University of Turin, we are a unique international faculty where quantitative, qualitative and digital methods are applied to a wide range of research topics across (among others) digital media, consumer research, journalism, visual studies, and more. Please circulate widely among your networks! Admission to the SOMET Ph.D. programme is based on qualifications and interviews. Admitted Ph.D. students will be granted a scholarship. The Ph.D. programme, fully taught in English, offers quality teaching at the international level and promote international exchanges with top European research institutions. Full information and documents for application are available on the University of Turin website (both in Italian and English): https://www.dottorato.unito.it/do/home.pl/View?doc=Bando_XLII_ciclo.html For general information on the application procedure, please open the section: “Call”. For a description of the PhD Programme and information on how to apply, please open the section: “Sociologia e Metodologia della Ricerca Sociale / Sociology and Methodology of Social Research”. Alternatively, see here: https://www.nasp.eu/training/phd-programmes/somet.html. Publication of the dates and locations of the examinations: by June 15, 2026. Publication of the final ranking: from 20 July 2026. Enrolment: Within 7 days from the publication of the ranking list. -- Prof. Alessandro Gandini University of Milan, Department of Social and Political Sciences Via Conservatorio 7, 20122 Milan, Italy PI of the CRAFTWORK project – ERC Starting Grants 2020

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New Book: Social Media as Fragile State
by Caroline Haythornthwaite 14 May '26

14 May '26

I am pleased to share that my book "Social Media as Fragile State: Vulnerabilities, Pressures, and Human Rights” is now available in hardcover (May 2026), with digital and paperback versions to follow. See details at: https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/isbn/9783111829920/html Drawing on years of my research and of many others (particularly from AoIR) the book begins by examining the way that social media platforms take on characteristics of states — but fragile states. The first four chapters take up the concepts of Social Media as State, Social Media Societies and Citizens, and Sources of Social Media Fragility. The book then outlines six “Social Media Fragility Indicators” derived from aggregating major issues facing society and social media platform. Chapters discuss each of the six indicators — Vulnerabilities and Protections, Social Pressures, Fragmentation, Human Rights, Economic, and External Pressures indicators, as well as factors that cross these indicators. Rather than a classification system for every case facing social media, the indicators are presented as a framework for use in eliciting consideration of each category of fragility. This approach derives from the Fund for Peace Fragile States Indicators (https://fragilestatesindex.org/indicators/) I hope AoIR readers will find the earlier chapters useful for review and/or introduction to major issues around social media, and that the Indicators will provide a useful framework for approaching issues relating to social media and social media platforms. Chapter list below. /Caroline PS. Ask your library to order one :) Caroline Haythornthwaite chaythor(a)syr.edu Professor Emerita, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University Professor Emerita, School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign TITLE: Social Media as Fragile States: Vulnerabilities, Pressures, and Human Rights 1 Social Media as Fragile States: Introduction 2 Social Media as State 3 Social Media Societies and Citizens 4 Sources of Social Media Fragility 5 Deriving the Social Media Fragility Indicators 6 Vulnerabilities and Protections Indicator 7 Social Pressures Indicator 8 Fragmentation Indicator 9 Human Rights Indicator 10 Economic Indicator 11 External Pressures Indicator 12 Prominent Themes and Cross-Cutting Factors 13 Looking Ahead

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