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New Special Issue in JITP: The Future of Conspiracy Theory Scholarship
by Zelly Claire Eliane Martin 23 Apr '25

23 Apr '25

Dear Colleagues, We’re delighted to announce the publication of our special issue entitled, "The Future of Conspiracy Theory Scholarship <https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/GCKGVUJDCWXCDVCBWUCY/full?target=10.1080…>," in Journal of Information Technology & Politics. Inga Trauthig, Alice Marwick, Sam Woolley and I began this project with a preconference at AoIR 2023 focused on new epistemologies and imaginaries in conspiracy theory research. We are thrilled to share our special issue, which consists of eleven articles examining conspiracy theory production, spread, and scholarship throughout Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. Together, these articles deepen understandings of how conspiracy theories spread, who spreads them, the topics associated with them, and the role technology and people play in facilitating them. We would be honored if you would give it a read! Warmly, Zelly, Inga, Alice, and Sam -- *Dr. Zelly Martin* | Senior Research Fellow Center for Media Engagement | Moody College of Communication | The University of Texas at Austin mediaengagement.org/propaganda/ <https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmediaengag…>| @zellycmartin Latest publication: Trauthig, I., Martin, Z., Marwick, A., & Woolley, S. C. (2025). The future of conspiracy theory scholarship. *Journal of Information Technology & Politics*. https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/GCKGVUJDCWXCDVCBWUCY/full?target=10.1080…

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WEBCAST APR 23 – International Cooperation on Internet Freedom and Openness
by Joly MacFie 23 Apr '25

23 Apr '25

Coming up at 15:00 UTC (REAL TIME TEXT <https://otter.ai/u/W6VcalkCrcA54skKgu0XNFd00ow?utm_source=copy_url>) The session's announcement precipitated some fairly vigorous discussion on GigaNet. Pari Esfandiari cited her CircleID essay How Trump’s Trade War is Reshaping the Global Internet <https://circleid.com/posts/how-trumpas-trade-war-reshaping-the-global-inter…> which includes *"What began as a debate over tax fairness has morphed into a contest over who gets to write the rules of the internet economy. With the United States aggressively defending its tech sector and other countries asserting fiscal sovereignty, the world is entering an era of contested digital governance. Whether the internet evolves as a shared global commons or fragments into isolated walled gardens will depend on choices being made right now."* Wolfgang Kleinwächter responded *"A landmark moment was last week in Geneva during the UNCSTD session. During the negotiations on the WSIS+20 resolution it was mainly Iran which watered down proposals to make the IGF a "permanent institution" and to refer to the "Sao Paulo Multistakeholder Guidelines" (SPMGs). Nevertheless, the final text included some positive language on human rights, sustainable development goals, AI and against "duplication" of processes and institutions. But when the resolution was ready for adoption, it was the US which asked for a "roll call". The US rejected all references to SDGs, gender and climate and voted as the only country with "No". The UNCSTD resolution will go to ECOSOC and constitutes the main reference for the "intergovernmental prepratory process" (as mentioned in 79/227) for the WSIS+20 high level review conference in December 2025. So far, all WSIS documents were adopted by consensus. An interesting "Road to NYC" is ahead of us. Will we move from the "WSIS Spring" (Tunis) to the "WSIS Winter"?"* Milton Mueller, then chimed in * "I think as part of the Oslo IGF and the WSIS+20 process, we need to start asking hard questions about whether participating in multilateral UN processes is our friend, our enemy, or just unnecessary baggage in the quest for a free and open internet. I think we need to shore up the independence and legitimacy of the native internet institutions, such as ICANN, RIRs, IETF, and yes, IGF (which was supposed to provide a link to, not control by, the UN system). Agree with Alexander that ICANN's tendency to keep itself out of the line of fire by saying nothing is short-sighted and cowardly. If they won't stand up for self-governance by the Internet community, who will?"* So, should be interesting, to say the least! [image: ISOC LIVE] <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=11b14c49642593885741def…> On *Wednesday April 23, 2025*, at *11:00-12:30 EDT* (15:00-16:30 UTC), the *Columbia Institute for Tele-Information <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=117fa3d7f8f917f917345b9…>*, as part of its *Global Digital Governance series <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=93977b2867b2564f108c0fe…>*, presents a webinar '*International Cooperation on Internet Freedom and Openness <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=4ebbfc24bd9bf34be1cdf47…>* '. In recent years there has been debate in U.S. foreign policy circles about ways to strengthen cooperation among democratic countries seeking to promote Internet freedom and openness. In this context, the Biden Administration considered spearheading a new alliance to work alongside other initiatives on democracy promotion and Internet freedom, and in April 2022 launched a *Declaration for the Future of the Internet <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=13a7ded7b9c88a97d0c8b1e…>* with sixty partner countries. But two years on, the policy environment has changed dramatically. Digital cooperation among the liberal democracies is now complicated by a host of new disagreements over trade, regulation, security, information and geopolitical alignments. At the same time, digital cooperation among nondemocratic governments is proceeding without such disruptions and is producing results. These trends raise a number of pressing questions about the future of global digital governance in general and the international coalitional dynamics around Internet freedom and openness in particular. What has and has not been achieved in this issue-area, and what is the state of play today? How might the apparent weakening of the coalition of liberal democracies impact the international politics of Internet freedom and openness in the years ahead? How might key countries, regions and multinational companies adapt to the new environment? Can multistakeholder cooperation help to fill in any gaps and influence the trajectory of change? This webinar will take stock of these and related questions. A panel of experts with hands-on experience in this field will lead off the conversation, and then the rest of the session will be devoted to open discussion among all interested attendees. The session is simulcast live by *ISOC LIVE <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=11b14c49642593885741def…>* . *INTRODUCTION* *Eli Noam*, Director, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, Columbia Business School. *PANEL* *Eileen Donahoe* - Former U.S. Special Envoy for Digital Freedom *Ambassador David A. Gross* - Wiley Rein LLP / Former U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy *Jason Pielemeier* - Executive Director, Global Network Initiative, *MODERATOR* *William J. Drake*, Director of International Studies, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information *LIVESTREAM <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=93dc3ada1a0a89f1cf8c09f…>* |* SIMULCASTS X Live <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=044834138ea96ad46d03505…> | Twitch <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=e632c8c21d8cb2a885fa51e…>* *PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=e5896bb4c5005eea6165ee1…> | REAL TIME TEXT (see ISOC.LIVE <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=11b14c49642593885741def…>) | ADD TO CALENDAR <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=5beef6109c46466518d0b70…> | PERMALINK <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=11b14c49642593885741def…>* *X #internetfreedom <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=c44e235a587050aa50dc028…> @wjdrake @Columbia_Biz | MASTO <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=8a0c22c16c30d71f2eaa024…> | BLUESKY <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=aebb6a96af23ad8258ddb34…> | INSTA <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=51a3dbf0a3759cea0af99b8…> | LI <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=a61e3a3b7047808c4ade772…>* *** 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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Feminism & the Far-Right Symposium @ Goldsmiths
by Kathryn Higgins 23 Apr '25

23 Apr '25

Feminism and the Far-Right Symposium @ Goldsmiths On Friday 6th June 2025, Goldsmiths’ Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies (MCCS) will be hosting a one-day symposium about bodily autonomy, reproductive justice, gender, and the cultural politics of the globally networked far-Right. Across the globe, far-Right political actors and agitators have been buoyed to seats of legislative power by a sustained cultural incursion around issues of gender, sexuality, and the ‘traditional’ family. From Italy to the United States to India to Argentina to the United Kingdom, far-Right political agendas are galvanized by regressive attacks on reproductive choice and bodily autonomy. Animating and emerging from these attacks are a renewed set of cultural villains: pregnant people who seek abortions, but also feminists, bad wives and bad mothers, women who refuse motherhood (“childless cat ladies”), women who refuse heterosexual marriage (including queer women), and queer and transgender people of all genders. The complex backdrop for this cultural assault comprises abject economic inequality and an intensifying climate crisis, but also strategic moral panics around migration and declining birth rates (including racist conspiracy theories of Great Replacement), aggressive anti-feminist and anti-queer cultural backlashes, and the simmering popularity of “pro-natalist” ideology and discourse across the globally networked misogynistic far-Right—including among its emerging billionaire ringleaders in Silicon Valley. Feminism and the Far-Right <https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/feminism-and-the-far-right-tickets-131765297…> is a one-day symposium that will draw connections between these developments to try and situate recent political and legislative assaults on reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy within their broader cultural and political conditions of possibility. It will bring together feminist scholars of media and culture whose work coalesces around: a) shared concern with the misogynistic, racist, and anti-feminist cultural logics of far-Right movements; and b) shared commitment to finding strategies to safeguard the rights and freedoms of women, queer and transgender people in this moment, including in/through media culture as a site of resistance. The symposium will take place at Goldsmiths, University of London on 6th June 2025 and is free to attend. The day will comprise three panels: on abortion and reproductive choice; on wives, mothers and (anti-)feminisms; and on bodily autonomy, queerness, and transgender rights. Speaker presentations will be 10-15 minutes each, with a large part of each panel session reserved for discussion among panelists and attendees. Symposium Speakers: Sarah Banet-Weiser (University of Pennsylvania) Jilly Kay (Loughborough University) Akanksha Mehta (Goldsmiths, University of London) Sama Khosravi Ooryad (University of Gothenburg) Abel Guerra (London School of Economics and Political Science) Limichi Okamoto (London School of Economics and Political Science) Azsaneé Truss (University of Pennsylvania) Siân Norris (Journalist, Author of Bodies Under Siege: How the Far-Right Attack on Reproductive Rights Went Global<https://www.versobooks.com/products/2825-bodies-under-siege?srsltid=AfmBOoo…>) *Please note that this list is still being updated. A final list of speakers and respondents will be confirmed and circulated in May 2025. Symposium Respondents: Catherine Rottenberg (Goldsmiths, University of London) Jo Littler (Goldsmiths, University of London) Nirmal Puwar (Goldsmiths, University of London) Lunch will be provided for all attendees and a drinks reception will follow the final panel. The symposium is free to attend but places are limited. Please RSVP via the Eventbrite page<https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/feminism-and-the-far-right-tickets-131765297…>, and please return your ticket if you are unable to attend. For any questions or queries about the event, please contact Kat Higgins (k.higgins(a)gold.ac.uk<mailto:k.higgins@gold.ac.uk>) or Laurel Rogers (lroge004(a)gold.ac.uk<mailto:lroge004@gold.ac.uk>). This event is being hosted by Goldsmiths MCCS in collaboration with the Centre for Feminist Research. It is supported by funding from Goldsmiths' Early-Career Research Fund (ECRF). Dr Kathryn Claire Higgins Lecturer in Global Digital Politics Department of Media, Communications & Cultural Studies (MCCS) Goldsmiths, University of London (she/her) Convenor, MC52082A: Post-Truth Politics and Media (Autumn 2024) Convenor, MC53071A: Global Cultural Politics (Spring 2025) MCCS International Liaison Officer MCCS Research Events Coordinator e: k.higgins(a)gold.ac.uk<mailto:k.higgins@gold.ac.uk> w: www.kchiggins.com<http://www.kchiggins.com> Recent Publications Believability: Sexual Violence, Media, and the Politics of Doubt (Polity Press, 2023; available here<https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=believability-sexual-viole…>) “The Post-Truth of Rape” (with Sarah Banet-Weiser, Routledge, 2023; available here<https://www.routledge.com/Re-thinking-Mediations-of-Post-truth-Politics-and…>) “Cruel benevolence: vulnerable menaces, menacing vulnerabilities, and the white male vigilante trope.” (Routledge, 2023; available here<https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003200871-10/cruel-…>)

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CFP - Money, Games, Power: The Money Turn in Games Studies Edited Collection
by Taylor Hardwick 23 Apr '25

23 Apr '25

Hi everyone! We are seeking abstract submissions for an edited collection which explores the developing “Money Turn” in game studies. The book aims to reveal how economic and financial imperatives reconfigure player experiences, game aesthetics, industry practices, and monetization models – positioning the “Money Turn” in game studies as a crucial paradigm for understanding contemporary game cultures and the entanglements of power, profit, and play. Taking an intentionally broad view of money, the edited collection seeks to critically dissect the intersections of capitalism and games, and explore the many roles money plays in games and game studies—not only in its most visible forms, but also in the ways it influences who makes games, who profits from them, and who is excluded from their economies. We welcome abstract submissions for chapters that examine aspects of the intersections and interrelations between money and games. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to: * The financialization of the videogame industry * Methodological approaches to studying money and games * Alternative and emerging monetization models and approaches * Impacts of game monetization on players, particularly vulnerable groups * Global efforts to regulate videogame monetization models * The impacts of platform capitalism on games production and play * The impacts of money on labor and industrial conditions * How money interacts with players, and how players interact with money Abstracts of 250-300 words are due by Friday 23rd May 2025 at 11:59 pm (Anywhere on Earth) and should be submitted to moneygamesbook(a)gmail.com. Your submission should also include a 100-word bio. Final chapters should be 5000-6000 words, and will be subject to blind peer review. Key dates * Abstract & bio submissions due: 23 May 2025 * Acceptance notifications: 6 June 2025 * Full chapters (5000-6000 words) due: 6 October 2025 Editors: Ben Egliston, Taylor Hardwick and Marcus Carter Please find the full CFP at http://bit.ly/4iyR8gI If you would like further information or have any questions, please reach out at moneygamesbook(a)gmail.com. All the best, Taylor, Ben and Marcus Dr Taylor Hardwick (She/Her) Postdoctoral Research Fellow | Sydney Games and Play Lab School of Architecture, Design and Planning The University of Sydney I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the unceded lands on which I live and work, the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung people of the Kulin Nations, and pay my respects to their Elders past and present.

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The weight of connectivity –disconnection, disengagement and digital rights
by Adi Kuntsman 23 Apr '25

23 Apr '25

Theweight of connectivity –disconnection, disengagement and digital rights 9May 10.30am-12noon UK time, online Event info: Kenzie Burchell, the author of ConstantDisconnection: The Weight of Everyday Digital Life (StanfordUP) and Adi Kuntsman, the co-author of Paradoxesof Digital Disengagement : In Search of the Opt Out Button (withEsperanza Miyake, Westminster UP) will discuss compulsory connectivity,disengagement and digital rights. Please join us to hear more about their twobooks, and explore how digital communication shaped and was shaped by theCovid-19 pandemic, global war and capitalism, and the rise of generative AI. Moreinformation about the event. Registration -------- DrAdi Kuntsman,Reader in Digital Politics Head of Ethics, Faculty of Arts andHumanities Co-Lead, Digital Society Research Group Director, Digital Politics Summer School Department of History, Politics and Philosophy Manchester Metropolitan University Series Co-editor, Digital Materialities and Sustainable Futures Latest books: 2024 Digital Technologies, Smart Cities and the Environment:in the Ruins of Broken Promises (with Liu Xin, BristolUniversity Press) 2023 Digital Disengagement: COVID-19, Digital Justice and thePolitics of Refusal (with Sam Martin and EsperanzaMiyake, Bristol University Press). 2022 Paradoxes of Digital Disengagement : In Search of the OptOut Button (with Esperanza Miyake, Westminster UniversityPress)

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WhatsApp in the World – Forum on Encryption & Extreme Speech
by job Mwaura 22 Apr '25

22 Apr '25

Dear AoIR Members, You’re warmly invited to WhatsApp in the World: Encrypted Messaging and Extreme Speech, a timely forum exploring how WhatsApp mediates extreme speech and disinformation globally—and what this reveals about the promise and contradictions of encryption. Join Prof. Sahana Udupa (BKC Fellow, LMU professor) presents insights from her forthcoming edited volume in conversation with Gabriella Coleman (Faculty Associate, Harvard University). Together, they’ll unpack the concept of “lived encryptions” and examine how encrypted platforms shape public discourse, privacy, and politics in complex ways. Date: Thursday, April 24, 2025 Time: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM ET Location: 1557 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138 (and on Zoom) More info including details on online participation & RSVP: https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/whatsapp-world We hope to see you there—whether in person or online!

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Slow AI: Small AI, Esoteric AI, and Ancestral AI research launching at AIxDESIGN Festival May 1-3, 2025 in Amsterdam
by Natalia Stanusch 22 Apr '25

22 Apr '25

Dear Colleagues, I’m writing to you on behalf of AIxDESIGN, as you might be interested in our most recent research project "Slow AI" and its official launch taking place next week in Amsterdam. AIxDESIGN is a global community and lab nourishing alternative, feminist, and participatory approaches to AI. After over a year of researching, brainstorming, and conspiring, we finalized "Slow AI;" "Slow AI" seeks to unpack and re-imagine alternative narratives for AI outside Silicon Valley ideologies. Inspired by counter movements like slow fashion and slow food, it aims to subvert corporate-first thinking by collectively researching & practicing new perspectives. We conceived 'Slow AI’ to work in an open-lab mode, inviting researchers, artists, theoreticians, and practitioners to engage with and comment on the anthology that we were compiling. Hence, Slow AI consists of three separate yet intertwining parts (or 'chapters'): Small AI, Esoteric AI, and Ancestral AI, which are published as three separate research reports that are now available to download at aixdesign.co/posts/slow-ai. I can speak for both the chapter that I had the pleasure to work on (Esoteric AI) as well as the two chapters made by my colleagues, that each part of "Slow AI” offers an overview as well as a deep dive towards practical and theoretical alternative paths. "Slow AI" aims to be a starting point, a form of a grounding for others to further built upon; a relevant resource for researchers, designers, artists, practitioners and thinkers interested in theorizing, reimagining, and creating various modes of engagement with AI. For the official project launch, we are organizing an in-person AIxDESIGN 'On Slow AI’ Festival which will take place on 1-3 May, 2025, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Festival will include talks, workshops, exhibition, zine-making sessions, and more, with contributions by Eryk Salvaggio, Caroline Sinders, Hanna Barakat, Fabian Mosele, Gaston Welisch, Jazmin Morris, and more. You can find the information on the festival on the following website: https://aixdesign.co/festival. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Best regards, Natalia Natalia Stanusch PhD Candidate University of Amsterdam ASCA | Media Studies Recent publications: Stanusch, N. (2025). ‘Esoteric AI.’ In Vieira, S., Flynn, P., and Piet, N. (Eds.) Slow AI. AIxDESIGN. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.19187.03368. https://aixdesign.co/posts/esoteric-ai-chapter Stanusch, N., Rogers, R., Baym, N., Liu, C., Shaw R., Katzenbach, C., Richter, V., Kannengießer S., Mollen, A., Brause, S. R., Yang, H., Schäfer, M., Zeng, J., Glawatzki, A. (2024). AI Industry Expectations and Underperforming Imaginaries. Panel presented at AoIR2024: The 25th Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers. Sheffield, UK: AoIR. https://spir.aoir.org/ojs/index.php/spir/article/download/14086/11951. Stanusch, N. (2024). ‘Imgur, Image Macros, and Algorithms: Memes as Imaginary Issue Spaces of Users’ Encounters with Algorithmic Recommendations.’ Information, Communication & Society. DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2024.2420026.

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19th European Conference on Software Architecture (ECSA 2025): Second Call for Journal First Papers
by Announce 22 Apr '25

22 Apr '25

*** Second Call for Journal First Papers *** 19th European Conference on Software Architecture (ECSA 2025) September 15-19, 2025, 5* St. Raphael Resort and Marina, Limassol, Cyprus https://conf.researchr.org/home/ecsa-2025 The European Conference on Software Architecture (ECSA) is the premier European software architecture conference, providing researchers, practitioners, and educators with a platform to present and discuss the most recent, innovative, and significant findings and experiences in the field of software architecture research and practice. The 19th European Conference on Software Architecture (ECSA 2025) will be held from September 15 to 19, 2025. ECSA 2025 is planned as an in-person conference taking place in the beautiful city of Limassol (Cyprus). ECSA 2025 enriches its partnership with more journals and opportunities than ever before, to incorporate journal-first papers into its program. The journals are: - Journal of Systems and Software (JSS) - IEEE Software - Information & Software Technology (IST) - Transaction on Software Engineering (TSE) We invite authors of journal papers accepted by JSS, IEEE Software, IST, or TSE since December 1, 2023 to submit their work for presentation at ECSA 2025, which will allow authors of journal-first papers to present their work to the community. SCOPE A journal-first paper submitted to ECSA 2025 must adhere to the following criteria: • The paper must have been accepted after peer review by one between JSS, IEEE Software, IST or TSE. • The paper is in the scope of the conference. • The paper has not been presented at and is not under consideration for journal-first programs of other conferences. PAPER SUBMISSION We invite authors of papers that meet the above criteria to submit a proposal that includes a summary of the original paper that highlights the contributions, motivates the relevance for the ECSA, and briefly discusses how the work has developed after the original publication - if it is the case. Please include the DOI of the original journal paper. ECSA offers an opportunity to disseminate your work to a broader community audience. The submission must be 3-4 pages long and conform to the Springer LNCS style (https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu…) Accepted submissions will be invited to present at the conference. The track chairs will write a summary of the accepted submissions that will be included in the conference proceedings. Proposals must be submitted via the online EasyChair submission site for the ECSA 2025 conference, selecting the "Journal First" Track: https://easychair.org/my/conference?conf=ecsa2025 . EVALUATION Authors will be invited to present their paper at ECSA 2025 if it meets the above criteria. Please note that we plan to include as many journal-first papers as possible in the ECSA main program. However, if we receive an exceptionally high number of submissions, we may have to prioritize presentation proposals according to their fit to the conference theme and sessions structure. As the papers have already been reviewed and accepted by a journal, we will not review the submission for technical content; instead, we will focus on the track’s criteria. PRESENTATION ECSA 2025 is planned to be an in-person/physical conference. The journal-first paper presentations are part of the ECSA conference’s main program. As a journal-first presenter, you will benefit from the conference presentation in many ways, such as, outreach to a broader audience and interactions and discussions with peers. At least one author of each submission accepted for the journal-first program must register and attend the conference to present the paper. IMPORTANT DATES • Paper submission: May 23, 2025 • Acceptance notification: June 20, 2025 All dates are 23:59h AoE (anywhere on Earth). ORGANISATION General Chairs • Cesare Pautasso, University of Lugano, Switzerland • Vasilios Andrikopoulos, University of Groeningen, The Netherlands Journal First Track Chairs • Jesper Andersson, Linnaeus University, Sweden • Romina Spalazzese, Malmö University, Sweden

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Call for proposals: Decentralised Creativity and Agential Systems in Music
by Adam Lukawski 22 Apr '25

22 Apr '25

Call for proposals: Decentralised Creativity and Agential Systems in Music Conference at Orpheus Institute, Ghent, Belgium, 17-18 November 2025 This conference invites creative and critical contributions from musicians, sound artists, researchers, and technology-focused practitioners, exploring how emerging technologies—especially generative AI and blockchain—reimagine the current notions of creative agency. Convenors: Adam Łukawski, Martin Zeilinger More information and registration: LINK <https://orpheusinstituut.be/en/news-and-events/decentralised-creativity-call> Open call: Artificial intelligence (AI), with its learning algorithms operating at scale, can mimic human creative agency, and blockchain technologies, through smart contracts, can augment works of art with more or less autonomous behaviours that correspond to the agency of human participants in socio-economic interactions. While such developments can destabilise traditional notions of ownership, provenance, and agency in musical practices, they can also empower artists. Those working creatively with sound and music are today increasingly becoming system-builders and curators of musical ecosystems, turning their focus from the creation of singular, standalone musical works (in any traditional sense of the term) to the design of systems capable of generating artworks. This suggests an evolving role of music-producing systems today: from fixed intellectual constructs and creative expressions to dynamic, more-than-human technological networks that not only actively participate in the production of artworks with increasing levels of agency, but which can themselves be considered as artworks that constitute generative, expressive assemblages. This shift is further emphasised in distributed contexts, where varying levels of automation blur the boundaries between human and non-human contributions, creating environments where agency is negotiated and shared across diverse actants. We invite contributors to join us in exploring continuities, differences, and new challenges and opportunities arising in this context. Submissions to the conference should examine the intersections of music and sound art, technology, creativity, and philosophy, and focus on how the shifts outlined above redefine the roles of artists and the nature of musical practices. By exploring the implications of AI and/or blockchain technologies as agential systems, we aim to engage with emerging frameworks that rethink, challenge, or advance traditional perspectives on authorship, creativity, and collaboration. We welcome proposals addressing, but not limited to, the following themes: • Generative and Collaborative Systems: How learning algorithms and distributed networks enable new forms of generative music and sound-based art. Case studies of collaborations between human and non-human agents in artistic creation. • Decentralized Networks and Autonomous Works: The role of blockchain in supporting decentralized creative practices and enabling autonomous artworks. Explorations of smart contracts as a medium for embedding agency into artistic systems. • Agency and Aesthetics in Posthuman Creativity: How agency is redefined when systems actively participate in the creative process. Aesthetic implications of emergent and distributed systems in music and sound art. • From Frameworks to Agential Technologies: Historical precedents in systematic composition and their evolution into contemporary technological practices. How technological systems extend the boundaries of human creativity by operationalizing intellectual constructs. • Ethical and Philosophical Reflections: The ethical considerations of embedding agency into systems and artworks. Philosophical perspectives on ownership, provenance, and the decentering of human-centric creativity. We encourage submissions from researchers, artists, and practitioners working across disciplines, including music, sound art, digital art, philosophy, media studies, and computer science. Presentation formats • Academic/critical presentations (20-minutes) followed by panel discussions. • Submission for exhibition (digital, web-based, screen-based, installation-based, etc.) and/or performance/concert setting. (Contributors to exhibition and performance events will also give a critical presentation about the artwork.) Submission guidelines • Title + Abstract (300 words) detailing the relevance to the conference themes. • A short biography (150 words max). • Technical or spatial requirements, if applicable. Important Dates: • Proposal submission deadline: June 15, 2025 • Notification of acceptance: July 15, 2025 More information and registration: LINK <https://orpheusinstituut.be/en/news-and-events/decentralised-creativity-call> Announcing our first keynote speaker: Timothy Morton Timothy Morton (Professor and Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English at Rice University) is a philosopher and critical theorist whose work bridges object-oriented ontology, ecological thought, and art, best known for developing the concept of ‘hyperobjects’ and advocating for perspectives of radically entangled existence that dissolve boundaries between human and nonhuman actors and systems. Additional keynote speakers will be announced soon. We look forward to your innovative contributions and a lively exchange of ideas on the future of musical creativity. Best regards, Adam Łukawski and Martin Zeilinger, Conference Convenors, Orpheus Institute, Ghent, Belgium

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[CfP] Call for Research & Innovation Papers at SEMANTiCS 2025 - Extended Deadline
by Beyza Yaman 19 Apr '25

19 Apr '25

Call for Research & Innovation Papers SEMANTiCS 2025 EU 21st International Conference on Semantic Systems Vienna, Austria September 3 - 5, 2025 Important Dates: - Abstract Submission Deadline: April 25 , 2025 May 16, 2025 - Paper Submission Deadline: May 2, 2025 May 23, 2025 - Notification of Acceptance: June 13, 2025 June, 27, 2025 - Camera-Ready Paper Deadline: July 04, 2025 July 15, 2025 All deadlines are set for 11:59 pm, Anywhere On Earth time (UTC-12) Submissions will be through Easychair and the submission link will be provided soon. Proceedings of SEMANTiCS 2025 EU will be made available open access. Research and Innovation Track The SEMANTiCS 2025 conference is excited to invite submissions for the Research and Innovation Track, welcoming groundbreaking research contributions, innovative solutions, and experimental studies relevant to the Semantic Web, Semantic Technologies, and AI-enabled semantics. We also encourage submissions at the intersections of these fields with other scientific and applied disciplines, fostering cross-disciplinary exchange and advancement. Papers should present original work that has not been published or is not under consideration elsewhere. All submissions must adhere to the submission guidelines, including reference formatting and any additional documentation as required. Each submission will undergo a rigorous review process, with at least three independent reviews, evaluating the novelty, technical quality, reproducibility, and practical relevance of the work. Topics of Interest SEMANTiCS 2025 calls for submissions of high-quality research papers across a broad spectrum of topics in Semantic Web, Semantic Technologies, and AI. We are particularly interested in new and emerging trends, especially where semantic technologies intersect with evolving fields such as large language models, explainable AI, and trustworthy data infrastructures. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: - Web Semantics & Linked (Open) Data - Enterprise Knowledge Graphs, Graph Data Management - Machine Learning Techniques for/using Knowledge Graphs (e.g. reinforcement learning, deep learning, data mining and knowledge discovery) - Generative AI and Knowledge Graphs (e.g., Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) with knowledge graph integration, generative model grounding) - Reasoning, Rules, and Policies on RAG - Knowledge Engineering and Management (e.g., knowledge acquisition, extraction, integration, and publication workflows) - Terminology, Thesaurus & Ontology Management, Ontology engineering - Web agents - Natural Language Processing for/using Knowledge Graphs (e.g. entity linking and resolution using target knowledge such as Wikidata and DBpedia, foundation models) - Crowdsourcing for/using Knowledge Graphs - Data Quality Management and Assurance - Mathematical and Logical Foundations of Knowledge-aware AI - Multimodal Knowledge Graphs (e.g., text, image, audio fusion in graph structures) - Semantic-Enhanced Data Science Pipelines and Processes - Semantics in Blockchain environments (e.g., traceability, decentralized knowledge representation) - Trust, Data Privacy, and Security with Semantic Technologies - Internet of Things (IoT), Stream Processing, and Temporal Data Management (e.g., real-time semantic processing and predictive analytics) - Conversational AI and Dialogue Systems powered by Knowledge Graphs - Provenance and Data Change Tracking (e.g., semantic versioning, data updates in distributed settings) - Semantic Interoperability (e.g., cross-domain standards, mapping frameworks, ontology alignment) - Linked Data storage, triple stores, graph databases - Robust, Scalable, and Fault-Tolerant Semantic Data Systems (e.g., distributed querying, optimization) - User Interfaces and Usability of Semantic Technologies (e.g., visualizations, intelligent user interaction) - Explainable and Interoperable AI - Decentralised and Federated Knowledge Graphs (e.g., federated querying, link traversal) Applied Semantic Technologies and AI in Real-World Scenarios, such as, but not limited to: - Biomedicine and Health (e.g., Knowledge Graphs for biomedical applications, AI-driven diagnostics, personalized health) - AI for Environmental and Climate Solutions (e.g., semantic modeling for environmental impact, biodiversity knowledge graphs) - Scientific Knowledge Graphs and Open Science (e.g., FAIR data principles, enhanced scholarly communication) - Semantic Technologies in GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) - Knowledge Graphs and Hybrid AI for Industry 4.0/5.0 and Predictive Maintenance - Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage Preservation - Legal Technology, AI Ethics, and Regulatory Compliance (e.g., AI and legal frameworks, semantic-enabled compliance with the EU AI Act) - Economics and Governance of Data Ecosystems (e.g., data marketplaces, semantic service interoperability, data policy) Submission Guidelines The Research and Innovation Track at SEMANTiCS 2025 invites both long and short paper submissions. - Long papers should be 12-15 pages in length (excluding references). These submissions are expected to present comprehensive, mature research findings, including in-depth theoretical or practical insights. - Short papers should be a maximum of 6 pages (excluding references). These submissions can include preliminary findings, innovative ideas, or position papers that aim to spark discussion and exploration. References are not included in the page count, so authors may add additional pages for relevant citations if needed. This flexibility allows authors to fully reference foundational and related work to strengthen the context and impact of their research. - Submissions should follow the guidelines of IOS Press. Details are available at https://www.iospress.com/book-article-instructions. - Authors need to use the Word template <https://www.iospress.com/sites/default/files/media/files/2022-06/ECRC-Autho…> or LaTeX <https://vtex-soft.github.io/texsupport.IOS-Book-Article/> template provided by IOS Press. Overleaf users can copy the project from here <https://www.overleaf.com/read/gkkspcvjgwxv#563836> (follow instructions in the abstract). - Abstract submission is mandatory for all papers. To aid the review and bidding process, we highly encourage authors to submit structured abstracts. - All papers and abstracts have to be submitted electronically via EasyChair. - Submissions must be in English. - Submissions must adhere to the fair use of Large Language Models. Please refer to the SEMANTiCS full policy <https://2025-eu.semantics.cc/page/llm-policy> for more details. - Submissions must be anonymous; the reviewing process is double-blind, but reviewers will be able to disclose their identities if they wish, by signing their reviews. - Accepted papers will be published in open access proceedings by IOS Press, and the text of all the reviews (excluding the scores) of all the accepted papers will be posted on the conference website and will be archived on Zenodo <https://zenodo.org/> as publicly available material. - At least one author of each accepted paper must present it in person and therefore register for the conference at the ONSITE rate. - All authors are strongly suggested to provide optional links to code, materials, and datasets during the submission process - we will have specific optional fields in the EasyChair submission form - the review process will take these into account when provided. To anonymise resources for the reviewing process, authors can use services like Anonymous GitHub <https://anonymous.4open.science/> or figshare/Zenodo as described here <https://github.com/dgraziotin/disclose-data-dbr-first-then-opendata?tab=rea…> . - The Research and Innovation Track will not accept papers that, at the time of submission, are under review or have already been published in or accepted for publication in a journal or another conference. - All authors will have the opportunity to provide an ORKG comparison in the Open Research Knowledge Graph (https://orkg.org) during the submission process - we will have a specific optional field in the EasyChair submission form. Review and Evaluation Criteria Each submission will be reviewed by at least three Programme Committee members. The reviewing process is double-blind. However, reviewers can disclose their identity by signing their reviews and/or adding one of their persistent identifiers (e.g. their ORCID). The text of all the reviews (excluding the scores) of all the accepted papers will be posted on the conference website with the basic bibliographic metadata of the reviewed submission (i.e. title and authors), and it will be archived on Zenodo as publicly available material. All the signed reviews of the accepted papers will be licensed using a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY, the copyright holder will be the reviewer), except the anonymous ones that will be released in CC0. Papers submitted to this track will be evaluated according to the following criteria: - Appropriateness - Originality, novelty, and innovativeness - Impact of results - Technical quality of the methods - Soundness of the evaluation - Proper comparison to related work - Clarity and quality of writing - Reproducibility of results and resources We look forward to receiving your contributions! Research and Innovation Track Chairs Blerina Spahiu (University of Milano-Bicocca, IT) Mehdi Ali (Lamarr Institute & Fraunhofer IAIS, Germany) Kind Regards, On behalf of the organising committee ========================= Beyza Yaman, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

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