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Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in Queer Media & Civic Engagement
by Mathias Klang 27 Sep '18

27 Sep '18

The Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University, The Jesuit University of New York, invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor , to commence September 1, 2019. The position will be based at Fordham’s Rose Hill Campus in the Bronx, with opportunity to contribute to the Lincoln Center campus in Manhattan as well. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute pedagogically to one or more of our undergraduate majors in Communication and Culture, Film and Television, Digital Technology and Emerging Media, and/or Journalism. The candidate would also have an opportunity to teach in our M.A. program in Public Media, which has concentrations in Strategic Communication and Multi-Platform Journalism. About the Position: Applicants are sought in the area of queer media and civic engagement. Candidates can employ any number of methodological and theoretical approaches to explore the relationships between communication, LGBTQ communities, and social change, past or present. Humanists or social scientists who use critical analysis and/or take an engaged scholar-activist approach to promote social justice are particularly encouraged to apply. Requirements: Ph.D. in Communication, Media Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, or a related area. A strong research agenda and publication record. Ability to teach a variety of courses at the intersection of cultural studies, gender and sexuality studies, and social movement studies, as well other courses in the candidate’s particular area of expertise. Evidence of excellence in teaching. Commitment to mentoring and advising students About the Department Communication and Media Studies is an interdisciplinary department at Fordham’s Bronx and Manhattan campuses serving the largest number of majors across its five undergraduate programs, and approximately twenty graduate students a year in its one-year Public Media Masters degree. From high technology to everyday interactions, Fordham’s Department of Communication and Media Studies critically and independently turns its attention to the connective tissue between past and present, historically grounding old and new media through ethically-infused teaching and research. We advocate the model of the publically-engaged scholar and critically-informed practitioner who is civically and socially reflective and critical through analytical and/or applied means. Our faculty includes scholars and practitioners from a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives. We seek to attract and promote a diverse workforce to maintain the excellence of the University, and to offer students richly varied disciplines, perspectives and ways of knowing and learning. We believe that cultural and intellectual diversity is central to the excellence of our academic program, and strive to create an academic community and campus culture that attracts and facilitates the development of promising and diverse teacher-scholars. As our student body becomes increasingly diverse, we are especially interested in candidates with substantive experience and commitment to teaching and mentoring students from a range of social, cultural and economic backgrounds, and who have successfully incorporated the research of women and scholars of color into their courses. Fordham is located in the heart of New York City, interacting on many levels with a diverse array of communities and institutions. Through research, teaching and service, we are committed to developing and deepening our connections to the people and organizations around us. Interested applicants should submit (1) a cover letter with qualifications, including approach to teaching and scholarship; (2) curriculum vitae; (3) one writing sample (30 pp maximum); (4) the names and contact information for three references; and (5) and a one-page statement that addresses how your teaching, mentoring, research, scholarship, and/or community service supports Fordham’s commitment to diversity. Application materials should be uploaded to interfolio at apply.interfolio.com/55543. To ensure full consideration, complete applications should be received by Friday, October 26, 2018. Please apply to only one of our advertised tenure-track positions. For questions or additional information, please contact Michelle O’Dwyer at modwyer(a)fordham.edu. Fordham is an independent, Catholic University in the Jesuit tradition that welcomes applications from all backgrounds. Fordham is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and women, people of color and people with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply. Same-sex spouses are eligible for benefits. https://cms.blog.fordham.edu/open-position-tenure-track-assistant-professor… -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mathias Klang Associate Professor & Associate Chair Communication and Media Studies, Fordham University Faculty Memorial Hall #438, Phone: 718-817-4870 http://klangable.com <http://klangable.com/> ~ @klangable ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Call for applications » SMART Data Sprint 2019
by Cristian Ruiz 27 Sep '18

27 Sep '18

Digital Media Winter Institute 2019 | iNova Media Lab SMART Data Sprint: Beyond visible engagement 28 January - 1 February 2019 I 9:30 - 17:30 NOVA University Lisbon Lisbon, Portugal We are pleased to invite you to SMART Data Sprint <https://smart.inovamedialab.org/> 2019. SMART Data Sprint is an intensive hands-on work, driven by online data and digital methods. For one week participants will have the chance to attend to keynote lectures, short talks, and parallel sessions of practical labs. After that, experts and scholars will invite participants to join projects and work in a collective problem. We are pleased to announce that our keynote speaker is Richard Rogers (University of Amsterdam), the director of Digital Methods Initiative and the author of Digital Methods (MIT Press, 2013). An International team of senior researchers, including Richard Rogers, and several doctoral researchers will also be leading Short Talks and Practical Labs*. This year, the practical labs will contemplate the following themes: » Query Design » Data Extraction Tools » Querying App Stores » Network Analysis with Gephi » Image Networks » YouTube Data Analysis » Text Analysis with Antconc and Voyant Tools » Raw Graphs » Visual content analysis with Image Plot Deadline for applications: 13 January 2019 For further information, please access the link http://inovamedialab.org/winter-institute-2019 Learn more about the data sprint approach in this video: #SMARTDataSprint <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bveMpEtAvug&index=1&list=PLcGiWiKtsR0_BTLB4…> On behalf of the co-organizers, Janna Joceli Omena, Elsa Caetano and Ana Marta Flores. Best regards, -- *Cristian Jiménez Ruiz* *@CristianCJRuiz* *M.a. Communication Sciences* *SMART Research Member* *iNovaMediaLab – NOVA/FCSH* *E4Value Research Member* *IN+ **– UL/IST*

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The 27th ACM Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation and Personalization (UMAP 2019): Student Grants
by Announce Announcements 27 Sep '18

27 Sep '18

*** SIGCHI Student Travel Grant (SSTG) Program *** 27th ACM International Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation and Personalization (ACM UMAP 2019) Golden Bay Beach Hotel 5*, Larnaca, Cyprus, June 9-12, 2019 http://www.cs.ucy.ac.cy/~george/lm/lm.php?tk=YWlyLUwJCQlhaXItTEBsaXN0c2Vydi… We are pleased to announce that the SIGCHI Student Travel Grant (SSTG) program is offering support opportunities for students to attend UMAP 2019 (http://www.cyprusconferences.org/umap2019/) This grant is for students who lack other support opportunities and whose intention is to present their work at the conference, not just plan to attend the conference. The goal is to pre-approve students for grants before the conference submission deadline, so if a student gets a submission accepted, the student can count on having a grant awarded for travel to the conference. More information about this program and the application process: http://www.cs.ucy.ac.cy/~george/lm/lm.php?tk=YWlyLUwJCQlhaXItTEBsaXN0c2Vydi… Relevant deadline for UMAP 2019: November 1, 2018 (application will open in October) Notification of pre-approval: November 15, 2018 Information on additional funding options for students will soon be available on the UMAP 2019 web site.

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Job opening: Assistant Professor, Social Media Analytics @ University of Illinois at Chicago
by Adrienne Massanari 26 Sep '18

26 Sep '18

Assistant Professor, Social Media Analytics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Communication The Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago invites applications for an Assistant Professor, tenure-track position, in Social Media Analytics. The position focuses on social computational analytics and science and technology studies. Emphasis will be placed on big data analysis, computational propaganda, social media and branding, and algorithm/platform politics. Secondary areas of emphasis can include the politics of AI, augmented and virtual systems of representation, human machine communication, and sentient technologies/robotics. The candidate will have an earned doctorate in Communication or a related field, strong promise of scholarly achievement and teaching success (at the undergraduate and graduate levels) appropriate for appointment as Assistant Professor, good prospects for external research funding, and demonstrated commitment to multidisciplinary scholarship. For fullest consideration, please apply by October 1, 2018; applications received by then will receive full consideration. The search will proceed until the position is filled. UIC is a Carnegie Research Extensive University (Research I), is the largest institution of higher education in the Chicago area, is in the top 50 U.S. universities in federal research funding, and is among the top 200 universities in the world. Recently ranked in the top 50 worldwide, the Department of Communication at UIC focuses on New Media, and offers a BA, MA and PhD with emphasis in: social media + social networks         political communication mass media + journalism studies   cultural studies gaming + game studies                     intercultural communication mobile media                                     health communication policy + platform politics                 science + technology studies human augmentics                           social computational sciences Located in the heart of Chicago, we collaborate with the UIC Electronic Visualization Laboratory, <http://www.evl.uic.edu/> the pre-eminent virtual reality and high-speed networking research site in the world. The Department is the birthplace and current home of New Media and Society <http://nms.sagepub.com/>, the leading journal in the field, and the only department to host three leading journals: Mobile Media and Communication <http://www.sagepub.com/journals/Journal202140> and the open access and free journal, Social Media & Society <http://sms.sagepub.com/> . The desired appointment date for the position is August 16, 2019, subject to budgetary approval. Electronic applications accepted only – Interested parties should complete the on-line application and submit a letter of interest, a full curriculum vitae, samples of relevant scholarly publications, evidence of teaching effectiveness, and names of and contact information for three references at https://jobs.uic.edu <https://jobs.uic.edu/job-board/job-details?jobID=101140&job=assistant-profe…>. The University of Illinois at Chicago is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer, dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse pluralistic faculty and staff committed to teaching in a multicultural environment.  We strongly encourage applications from women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and covered veterans The University of Illinois may conduct background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer. Background checks will be performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. --- Adrienne Massanari, PhD Associate Professor Department of Communication University of Illinois at Chicago @hegemonyrules www.adriennemassanari.com <http://www.adriennemassanari.com/>

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Post-truth Empiricism - call for the DMI Winter School Amsterdam
by Esther Weltevrede 26 Sep '18

26 Sep '18

Dear all, The Digital Methods Initiative (DMI) will host its annual Digital Methods Winter School from January 7-11, 2019 at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Below please find the call for participation. This year’s theme is: "Post-truth Empiricism: On the new epistemologies and research affordances of social media". The deadline for application is November 26, 2018. More information is available at https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/WinterSchool2019 or winterschool@ digitalmethods.net. Best regards, Esther ------- Post-truth Empiricism: On the new epistemologies and research affordances of social media *Digital Methods Winter School and Data Sprint 2019* *7–11 January 2019* *https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/WinterSchool2019 <https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/WinterSchool2019>* *Everyday location* Digital Methods Initiative University of Amsterdam Media Studies Turfdraagsterpad 9 1012 XT Amsterdam the Netherlands The Digital Methods Initiative (DMI), Amsterdam, is holding its annual Winter School on 'Post-truth empiricism: On the new epistemologies and research affordances of social media.' The format is that of a (social media and web) data sprint, with tutorials as well as hands-on work for telling stories with data. There is a programme of keynote speakers as well as a book launch with the authors of 'Spotify Teardown’ (MIT Press, 2018, https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/spotify-teardown) It is intended for advanced Master's students, PhD candidates and motivated scholars who would like to work on (and complete) a digital methods project in an intensive workshop setting. Nearing two years on from the scandal of fake news, web epistemology has changed irrevocably. Social media platforms have been revealed as primary vectors for rumour-mongering and conspiracy theory, and Facebook in particular (and Instagram before it) are shutting down access to data (through APIs) or deleting it, without committing it to public archives. As researchers we are compelled to rethink how we study these platforms. One conceptual response, the post-digital, became a forceful rejoinder to any naiveté about ‘new media’ and its playful study, left over after the Snowden revelations of widespread digital surveillance by governmental agencies. Another response, post-truth, concerns the new state of epistemological affairs online, a realisation that ‘we can’t have our facts back,’ as Noortje Marres phrased it, for social media — not to mention much of the non-editorial web that preceded it — are ’truthless’ media. The web has long been conceived of as a medium of ill repute, populated by pirates, pornographers and self-publishers, later to be cleaned up by folksonomy and sifted through by the wisdom of the crowd. Where are those mass editing publics these days? Have they really been replaced by small fact-checking bureaus? This year’s Winter School is dedicated to the broad post-truth problematic, not only conceptually but empirically. How are online media being adjudicated? Previous work has examined genres of misinformation, their spread as well as detection, comparing them across platforms. Conspiracy (complicated emplotments) was found to flourish on the web, but well detected on Facebook, but the opposite held for disinformation (hard facts inverted). The ontological work of identifying and classifying post-truth continues. One ‘so what’ question that persists since the beginning of the post-truth period concerns whether these content consumers are persuaded. Are they ‘communities of believers’ or ‘active filtering audiences’? Another crucial question concerns the availability of online materials, once considered ‘big data’ but now difficult to access without scraping or other ill-gotten means. Are there materials, or perhaps remnants, still available for study? At last year’s Winter School researchers built an archive of the traces from some 88 Russian disinformation pages that had been pushed onto other platforms, and are available for study. There are homemade collections, some rather large. One is a Twitter archive put out for public use by a US news agency. Facebook’s Social Science One project also should be interrogated for the lengths researchers would go for Facebook-sanctioned data (and what kinds of research may be performed with it). Of interest as well are the relatively understudied platforms such as YouTube’s so-called dark intellectual web, the ‘manosphere’ in Reddit as well as fringe platforms such as 4chan, gab, Voat, etc. At the Winter School there are the usual social media tool tutorials (and the occasional tool requiem), but also invitations for thinking through and proposing how to work on web epistemology after the fake news debacle. New tutorials include digital ethnography, data journalism and small data work, plus a new variation on the walk-through method. Applications: Key Dates The deadline for application is 26 November 2018. To apply please enter on the secure website a letter of motivation, your CV (including postal address), a headshot photo, 100-word bio as well as a copy of your passport (details page only). Application should be made here: http://bit.ly/DMI_APP. Alternatively you may send those materials along to winterschool [at]digitalmethods.net. Notifications of acceptance will be sent on 27 November. The full program and schedule of the Winter School are available around 19 December 2018. Tuition Fees, Accommodations & Other Logistics The fee for the Digital Methods Winter School 2019 is EUR 595, and upon completion all participants receive certificates (and 6 ECTS). To complete the Winter School successfully all participants must co-present the final presentation and co-author the final project report, evidenced by the presentation slides as well as the final report itself. Bank transfer information is sent along with the notification on 27 November 2018. Participants must pay the fee by 5 January 2019. Students at the University of Amsterdam do not pay fees. Participants from LERU as well as U21 universities receive a tuition waiver of EUR 500. Dutch universities in LERU and U21 unfortunately are unable to receive the tuition waiver. The Winter School is self-catered. The venue is in the center of Amsterdam with abundant coffee houses and lunch places. Participants are expected to find their own housing (short-stay sites are helpful), or we have available accommodations at the Student Hotel: *The Student Hotel Amsterdam* Jan van Galenstraat 335 1061 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands Tel: +31 20 760 4000 (Arrival: 6 January 2019; Departure: 12 January 2019) https://www.thestudenthotel.com/amsterdam-west If you would like to have accommodations at the Student Hotel, please write to the student hotel directly. To avoid disappointment, please write to them as early as possible. Ask the hotel for the Digital Methods Winter School discount. The Winter School closes on Friday, 11 January, with a festive event, after the final presentations. For further questions, please contact the local organizers, Sal Hagen and Emilija Jokubauskaite, at winterschool [at] digitalmethods.net. Please bring your laptop computer, your European plug as well as the VGA / HDMI adaptors for connecting to the projector. About DMI The Digital Methods Winter School is part of the Digital Methods Initiative (DMI), Amsterdam, dedicated to developing methods for Internet-related research and the study of the natively digital. The Digital Methods Initiative also holds annual Digital Methods Summer Schools(twelve to date), which are intensive and full-time, 2-week undertakings in the Summertime. The next Summer School will take place from 1–12 July 2019. The Digital Methods book (MIT Press, 2015, https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/digital-methods) provides an introduction to the methodological outlook that frames and informs the work of the DMI. This is accompanied by a companion volume about mapping social and political issues with digital methods: Issue Mapping for an Ageing Europe (Amsterdam University Press, 2015, http://bit.ly/issue_mapping) which is also freely available on the web as an open access monograph. Further information and resources about digital methods can be found at digitalmethods.net - including links to projects, publications, tools, an introductory ‘founding narrative’ about the Digital Methods Initiative as well as short bios of affiliated researchers. The coordinators of the Digital Methods Initiative are Dr. Sabine Niederer (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences) and Dr. Esther Weltevrede (New Media & Digital Culture, University of Amsterdam), and the director is Richard Rogers, Professor of New Media & Digital Culture, University of Amsterdam. http://www.digitalmethods.net/ _______________________________________________ Dmi mailing list Dmi(a)mediastudies.nl http://mailman.sonologic.nl/mailman/listinfo/dmi

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Senior Lecturer in Digital and Social Media at University of Technology Sydney
by James Meese 26 Sep '18

26 Sep '18

Hi all, There is a Senior Lecturer position available at the UTS School of Communication as part of the Digital and Social Media team. For U.S. folk this is equivalent to late-Ass Pro/early post-tenure. The Digital and Social Media major was established in 2014.It introduces students to key debates around the role of social media in everyday life and focuses on developing innovative and analytical solutions to problems through the use of digital and social media. It also provides students with practical skills in social media management, user experience and user interface design, and digital marketing. We're particularly interested in hearing from people with an understanding of User Experience and User Interface Design. In addition to teaching, the appointee will be expected to will provide leadership in research, including research training and supervision. Applications will close on 4 or 5 October but we're using recruiters so I suspect that you can get an extension on materials as long as you are in conversation with recruiters by that timeframe and have provided a CV. Feel free to chat to me if you want more information. You can contact recruiters at Odgers Berndtson Executive Search at: UTSDSM(a)odgersberndtson.com - Dr James Meese Senior Lecturer Digital and Social Media School of Communication Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences T. +61 (02) 9514 2955 PO Box 123. Broadway NSW 2007 Australia UTS acknowledges the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation and the Boorooberongal People of the Dharug Nation upon whose ancestral lands our campuses now stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands. UTS CRICOS Provider Code: 00099F DISCLAIMER: This email message and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority, states them to be the views of the University of Technology Sydney. Before opening any attachments, please check them for viruses and defects. Think. Green. Do. Please consider the environment before printing this email.

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Social imaginaries of the blockchain - Oct 9 - INRS Montreal
by Nathalie Casemajor 26 Sep '18

26 Sep '18

Hi Everyone, For those of you arriving early in Montreal for AOIR, here's an event on blockchain. Best, Nathalie Casemajor _ Ph.D. Professeure adjointe Centre Urbanisation Culture Société Institut national de la recherche scientifique 385 Sherbrooke Est, H2X 1E3 Montréal (Québec) T. 514 499 8278 | Bureau 5124 ______________________________________ Network with consequences: social imaginaries of the blockchain 9 October 2018 | 4–6 pm Venue : INRS <http://www.inrs.ca/english/homepage> - 385 Sherbrooke East, Montreal - Room 1106 RSVP (limited seating) : https://goo.gl/forms/ZyLi7bTDksdwegFD2 <https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fgoo.gl%2Fforms%2FZyLi7bTDksdwe…> Following the 2017 ICO mania (Initial Coin Offering), the speculative and mediatic bubble around bitcoin and cryptocurrencies seems to have come - at least for now - to an halt. What's next for blockchain then? The emergence of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) has triggered a new age of monetary experimentation which effects extend far beyond a redefinition of money per se. Economy and governance are two sides of the same token. More and more people are experimenting with new logics and protocols of self-organization, embracing and inventing different networked-based p2p models of self-organization and value production along the way. Are we moving toward what Lovink and Rossiter have dubbed "organized networks" or "networks with consequences"? What are the thresholds of financialization defining these new organizational forms? What are the social-political concerns and aesthetical enabling constraints that contribute to the shaping of these new value propositions? Roundtable hosts > Erik Bordeleau (Fugitive Finance designer at Economic Space Agency and researcher at the SenseLab, Concordia University) > Nathalie Casemajor (Assistant Prof. at INRS, Centre Urbanisation Culture Société) Guests speakers > Tiberius Brastaviceanu is the Co-Founder of Sensorica (Montreal), the world’s first commons-based peer production network focused on open hardware development, production and distribution. Active in developing sustainable, self-organising ecosystems based on open innovation, Tiberius is focused on business models that are based on p2p economics principles and rely on p2p technologies. > Andrea (Andy) Morales designs innovative products, services, and experiences, through the lens of play. For 7 years, she has used traditional storytelling and game design thinking to create new strategic opportunities for businesses and social movements. She is currently the Senior Design Strategist at the Cryptosystems Productization Lab, a ConsenSys venture with the mission to move beyond theory and discover the limits and real properties of novel cryptosystems by observing them in production. Respondant > Joel E. Mason (Economic Space Agency core member and researcher at the SenseLab (Concordia University) https://www.facebook.com/events/553965638368166/

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Call for Applicants-Assistant Professor of Media Studies @ Purchase College-SUNY
by Mcglotten, Shaka 25 Sep '18

25 Sep '18

Very happy to be posting this. Please email me with questions. Note the short turnaround! Nov. 5 deadline. Assistant Professor of Media Studies Founded on the principle that artists and scholars are indispensable to each other and the pursuit of social justice, Purchase College combines professional conservatory programs in the visual and performing arts and distinguished programs in the liberal arts and sciences. The Media Studies Program invites applications for a full-time tenure-track Assistant Professor to join our faculty, beginning Fall 2019. We seek a scholar of media cultures who will also contribute to the recently inaugurated MFA in Media Arts and Culture. We are particularly interested in candidates with an interdisciplinary approach (critical race theory, decolonial/postcolonial studies, disability studies, indigenous studies, and gender/queer studies) with research in one or more the following areas: artificial intelligence, critical data studies, digital activism, media archeology, platform studies, and social media. Media Studies is intertwined with the Anthropology Program; therefore, familiarity with ethnographic methods is highly desirable. The candidate should have a record of excellence in teaching, and a passion for working closely with students is essential. The successful candidates will be committed to student learning, student success, and a liberal arts education. Responsibilities include teaching 5 courses and supervising 4-6 senior projects per academic year. Professors in Media Studies typically teach 3 required courses and 2 electives in the faculty’s area of research. Other duties include mentoring upper-level undergraduate students and graduate students, academic advising and community service (which encompasses committee work as well as College, School, and Board of Study governance). Located 25 miles north of Manhattan in Westchester County, the campus celebrates diversity and creativity, encouraging students to “Think Wide Open.” Purchase College is part of the State University of New York system. Qualifications: PhD in Media Studies or related field. ABD candidates with completion date by May 2019 will be considered but must have the PhD in hand by the time of appointment. Evidence of excellence in teaching at the undergraduate college level, or of potential as an effective teacher, is also required. Candidates from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply. Applicants must attach the following to the online employment application: 1) Cover letter should discuss research and teaching, as well as how the candidate will contribute to the Bachelor’s and MFA program. 2) CV 3) Teaching portfolio or student evaluations To apply, please visit the following website: https://jobs.purchase.edu and complete an online application first. Hard copy and email submissions are not accepted. Review of applications will continue until November 5, 2018. Purchase College, SUNY is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Best, — Shaka McGlotten (they/he) Associate Professor of Media Studies Coordinator, Gender Studies & Global Black Studies Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies<https://criticalracedigitalstudies.com/> Fall 2018 Office Hours: Th, 12-2; and by appointment Social Sciences 1024

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Survey about Twitter research practices
by Proferes, Nicholas 25 Sep '18

25 Sep '18

Good Afternoon All, If you have ever completed research using publicly available data from Twitter, I would like to invite you to take part in a survey about your experiences with IRBs and ethics review boards when conducting that research. Your responses may help us understand more about researchers’ attitudes towards the research protocols used in relation to publicly available Twitter data. The survey/questionnaire will take about 15 minutes to complete. The survey can be found at: <https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6wZpuBsKIVuvqex?Q_DL=bIN3g0i8QD68…> https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6wZpuBsKIVuvqex If you have questions about the study, please feel free to ask; my contact information is given below. If you have complaints, suggestions, or questions about your rights as a research volunteer, contact the staff in the University of Kentucky Office of Research Integrity at 859-257-9428 or toll-free at 1-866-400-9428. Thank you in advance for your assistance with this project. Sincerely, Nicholas Proferes, PhD School of Information Science, University of Kentucky PHONE: 859-218-3417 E-MAIL: nproferes(a)uky.edu

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Corporate funding, Palantir and the Amsterdam Privacy Conference
by Niels ten Oever 25 Sep '18

25 Sep '18

Dear AIOR, The next Amsterdam Privacy Conference is about to get underway, providing a key space for debate for hundreds of privacy researchers. Unfortunately the organisers have chosen to invite sponsorship from some problematic companies, with Palantir as a platinum sponsor. A group of academics and advocates have drafted the statement below, making three demands of the organizers of the conference (published at fundingmatters.tech). We are asking keynote speakers, conference attendees and members of the academic community and civil society to sign the statement. We would greatly appreciate your support with this: it is a process of change that is long overdue, and we are adding our voices to many that are already speaking out about this issue across related disciplines. It would be great if the privacy studies community could lead this process and model the discussion for academia as a whole. If you would be willing to sign, you can either do so by emailing your name and affiliation to signon(a)fundingmatters.tech. Thanks for considering, and best wishes, Niels PS We are also more to happy to discuss, and seek answers to some difficult questions, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FundingMatters **Funding Matters** As privacy scholars and advocates concerned with human rights, we write to express our dismay with the decision to have Palantir as a platinum sponsor for the Amsterdam Privacy Conference (APC). Privacy is one of the central challenges of our time and a pressing topic in today’s discussions on platforms, algorithms and policy making.The APC is a powerful forum for academics and advocates from around the world to move the field of privacy research forward. The conference is an important venue for privacy scholars from many different disciplines. The presence of Palantir as a sponsor of this conference legitimizes the company's practices and gives it the opportunity to position itself as part of the agenda. This is deeply problematic and extremely regrettable. Palantir's business model is based on a particular form of surveillance capitalism that targets marginalized communities and accelerates the use of discriminatory technologies such as predictive policing, for which the company has already been heavily criticized [1, 2]. Among Palantir's public clients are police agencies and defense departments from all over the world. In the last year, Palantir has helped the Trump administration to find and deport asylum seekers, undocumented immigrants and refugees, raising serious concerns about wide-scale human rights violations [3]. While the company is largely secretive about its operations, it reportedly collaborated with Cambridge Analytica [4][5], hedge funds, banks and financial service firms [6]. Despite criticism over Palantir's sponsorship since the conference's 2015 edition, APC's sponsorship strategy has not changed. This stance has consequences: it contributes to the marginalization and exclusion of scholars that otherwise would have participated and enriched the conversation at these events. Hence it also impacts APC's ability to nurture public debate on privacy. Palantir has also surfaced as a sponsor at a range of other prominent privacy and technology policy events. Due to similar concerns, some ofthese conferences have discontinued Palantir sponsorship, an example that we hope to see replicated. Given the political, economic and societal implications of privacy today, the funding strategies of our conferences matter more than ever. However complicated the process maybe, it is time to develop sponsorship criteria and guidelines that ensure academic independence and proper consideration of human rights. We therefore call for: 1. The discontinuation of Palantir's sponsorship of the Amsterdam Privacy Conference, 2. Organizers and participants alike to engage in an action-oriented discussion on corporate funding of academic events, 3. The development of rigorous criteria and guidelines for corporate sponsorship, for example, based on Human Rights Impact Assessments. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/27/17054740/palantir-predictive-policing-to… [2] https://edri.org/new-legal-framework-for-predictive-policing-in-denmark/ [3] https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/07/31/activists-call-on-palo-alto-tech-fir… [4] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/28/palantir-employee-cambridge… [5] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/us/cambridge-analytica-palantir.html [6] https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2018-palantir-peter-thiel/ -- Niels ten Oever Researcher and PhD Candidate Datactive Research Group University of Amsterdam PGP fingerprint 2458 0B70 5C4A FD8A 9488 643A 0ED8 3F3A 468A C8B3

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