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Call for Papers and Panel Proposals: "Identity and Culture"
by Loreta Georgievska - Jakovleva 01 Dec '14

01 Dec '14

***APOLOGIES FOR MULTIPLE POSTINGS*** Please, circulate the attached call for papers among relevant departments and interested researchers, PhD students… Sorry for cross posting. Centre for Culture and Cultural Studies (CCCS) Third Annual International CCCS Conference 2015: "Identity and Culture" September 3-5, 2015, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Deadline for submitting abstracts: February 15, 2015 Deadline for submitting full papers: December 15, 2015 Call for papers: http://cultcenter.net/?p=2002 Call for Papers and Panel Proposals The Centre for Culture and Cultural Studies organizes the 3rd Annual International Conference of the CCCS 2015: "Identity and Culture". The concepts of culture and identity have insofar been argued from various perspectives. However, due to our rapidly changing world, these two concepts, in their 21st century-situatedness require new considerations and academic approaches. The two terms, in and of themselves, are rather vast and complex. Namely, they carry across, oftentimes, opposing views and meanings. Along those lines, this conference aims at: 1) unearthing a better framework for the processes of identity-formation, be it individual or collective; 2) evaluating the interactions existing between culture and identity; 3) examining the role culture plays in identity-formation, i.e., its development, integration and assimilation, whilst creating an interdisciplinary form for the presentation of the new advances and research results in the respective fields of Identity and Culture. Particular emphasis will be placed on examining the depth and complexity of said identity processes and domains, when viewed from the perspectives of several different disciplines, theoretical schools and empirical approaches. We thus welcome research that helps shed light on the role/s played by linguistic, social, psychological, political, artistic, religious and economic factors in the processes of identity-formation, particularly when set against historical contexts. We also welcome papers that engage with the more theoretical aspects of identity-formation as well as papers that focus on case studies or help discern an interpretative evaluation of the cultural products involved in identity-formation. Indeed, culture acts as the defining marker of individual identity, as it ushers the process of self-formation and identification with Others. Since culture does not always act consciously, sometimes the ways in which it shapes our individual and collective identities remain unseen. However, when reading and examining culture, we begin to identify the aspects that help shape our beliefs and behaviors. Individual characteristics and markers, such as biological sex, age, intellectual stamina, etc., when juxtaposed to cultural and subcultural constructs such as class, education, religion, professional affiliation, etc., help form (produce) our identity. On the other hand, a national identity is of particular value, as it can be evidenced through a steadfast commitment by many to die for their respective nation. The same applies to religious beliefs, so people are ready to sacrifice themselves, even discriminate others due to their religious identities. Europe’s identity (or better: the European identity) rests on one such long-standing debate, which had originated with the EU’s identity-formation. In multi-lingual societies, the safekeeping and safeguarding of the languages belonging to different cultural and ethnic groups is of paramount importance for the safeguarding and safekeeping of their cultural legacy, i.e., their respective identity. Losing a language implies a loss of the culture surrounding that identity. The term identity is oftentimes marked by stereotypes and sadly the exclusion of those whose identity differs from the central one. No matter the approach, we seem to arrive at the same question: why does identity (identification) matter? Or: what does identity mean (entail)? What is the relationship between culture and identity? How does culture shape identity? Does identity affect culture? What informs individual and collective identities? How do identity-processes function? Is identity biologically determined or is it constructed? Is identity stable, fixed and constant, or can it be only temporarily stabilized? Why do we encounter identities (the plural form) more so than identity (in the singular)? What are the inner and outer factors that shape identity? How do ethnic groups keep their identity unchanged? What is the role of media? In turn, this Conference aims at investigating the interactions present between culture and identity, whilst unearthing the numerous factors that affect the formation of individual and collective identities. Henceforth, the Conference welcomes researchers from various disciplines and conceptualizations of identity and culture. Possible topics could include, but are not limited to, the following areas: Culture and personal identity: Identity and self-construction; Psychology and identity; Personal characteristics and identity; Manners of construction of personal identity; Emotions and behaviour; Behaviour and identity; Identity processes in interpersonal relations; Gender and identity; Trans-gender experience and identity; The human body and identity; Disability and identity; Culture and collective identity: Static vs. Dynamic identity; Identity and national/ethnic belonging; Identity and nationalism; Identity and social inclusion/exclusion; Identity, xenophobia, genocide; Identity and group violence; Identity and national symbols; laws and regulations; identity and the existence/relevance of communal organizations/clubs/groups; Identity and tradition; Identity and religion; Sources of religious authority; Identity and theology; Identity and Memory: Narrative identities; Identity and autobiographies; Identity and cultural heritage; Identity and the museum; Identity and archives; Identity and politics of memory; Ethnography and cultural identity; Identity and rituals; Identity and cult; Identity and globalisation: Identity and migrations; Migrants and flexible identities; Identity and diaspora; Transnational identities; Diaspora and creation of subject; Identity and relationships with the homeland; Identity and cultural assimilation; Identity and cultural hybridization; Identity and multinationalism; Identity and cosmopolitanism, diversity and hybrids; Borders and the negotiation of identities; Challenges and perspective of the return; Narrative of imaginary vs. actual return; Identity and politics: Political identity and ethnic belonging; Nation branding; Identity and diplomacy; Political/state structures and their effect on identity; Political parties and identity; Political culture and factors on identity formation: remaking and re-inventing identities; Multiculturalism and minority rights; The European identity; Transnational identities; Identity and knowledge: Educational institutions and creation of identity; Identity and teaching; Education and identity conflicts; Identity and philosophy: Identity and critical theory; Marxist views of identity; Identity and post-colonial theory; "Ours" and "Theirs"; Prejudices; Identity and history: Historical background of current problems; Historical methodology and identity debate; History, legitimacy, identity; Identity and historical narrative; Identity, space, place: Space, place and discursive practices; Identity, cultural and ritual artefacts; Anchored identities; Meaning of geographic spaces in creation of identities; Identity and tourisms; Imagining the nation through the urban-rural distinction; Identity transformations and transformations of the city; Identity and linguistics: Language as identity formation; Language in multicultural societies; Linguistic imperialism and identity; Linguistic diversity; Identity and literature: The role of literature in the identity-formation; Narratives and weaving of identities; National images used in literature; The Other in literature; Traditions and cliches; Identity, art and architecture: Representations and identity-formation in arts: theatre, film, paining; Identity and (ethnic) music; Identity and architecture; Monuments and symbols in identity-formation; Identity and place brending Identity and media: Identity-formation in societies over-saturated with media; Identity, media, conflict; Identity, media, tolerance; Representations of culture and identity in the media; Identity and new technologies; Identity and virtual reality; Identity and cyber-culture; Identity and the Internet; Institutional and corporate identity; Identity, morals, ethics; Identity and popular culture: Identity and folk culture; Consumer identity and shopping behavior; Fashion and design in identity-formation; Food, culture and identity; Social media and popular culture; Subcultures and identity; Queer identity and popular culture; Identity and lifestyles; The 3rd Annual International Conference of CCCS 2015: “Identity and Culture” welcomes the participation of all researchers of culture, literature, history, philosophy, arts, religion, sociology, media, as well as those from the general public interested in the topic. We welcome reports and creative projects that study the questions related to the Conference's subject matter. Conference calendar February 15, 2015: Deadline for submission of abstracts First half of March 2015: Acceptance info August 15, 2015: Final programme of the Conference September 3-5, 2015: Conference dates September 6-8, 2015: Visit to Ohrid (optional post-conference event) December 15, 2015: Final paper submission deadline April 1, 2016: Results from the review of submitted papers Until the end of 2016: Publication of accepted and reviewed papers Propositions Papers proposals Submissions of abstracts (up to 250 words), short bios (up to 100 words) may be made online, by filling the form http://cultcenter.net/?wpgform_qv=2011 Or, you can send paper proposals offline. Please, download the form (MS WORD document), fill it in and send it by e-mail to conference(a)cultcenter.net <mailto:conference@cultcenter.net> . You can download the form from here: http://cultcenter.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Registration-form-Identity… The abstracts should not be longer than 250 words (1720 characters). Panel proposals We welcome proposals for panel discussions, especially panels organized by internationally recognized experts that aim to gather a group of researchers around one topic or subject. That will achieve interaction between the panelists and the other participants in the conference. The panels are an important segment of the Conference. Submissions of abstracts (up to 250 words), short bios (up to 100 words) may be made online, by filling the form http://cultcenter.net/?wpgform_qv=2011 Also, you can send panel proposals offline. Please, download the form (MS WORD document), fill it in and send it by e-mail to conference(a)cultcenter.net <mailto:conference@cultcenter.net> . You can download the form from here: http://cultcenter.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Registration-form-Identity… The abstracts should not be longer than 250 words (1720 characters). Abstracts can be submitted in English, Russian or Macedonian language, depending on the language of presentation of the paper. Selection and publishing of papers The participants shall have 15 minutes to present his/her report. Five minutes Q&A session shall be reserved for every presentation. The papers have to be original and to not have been published previously or presented at an earlier conference. The abstracts shall be reviewed by the organization committee of the Conference, in accordance with international standards for scientific publications. The papers that will receive positive reviews shall be published in the online peer-reviewed journal Investing Culture during 2016. Selected full text papers with high-impact shall be published in the international peer-reviewed journal Култура/Culture (in both the print and online editions). The paper selection will be carried out during the peer review process as well as at the conference presentation stage. The final decision for paper selection will be made based on peer review reports by the editorial board and conference board jointly. Participation Fees Early registration: till May 1st, 2015: €40 Registration: May 2nd – June 15, 2015: €60 Late registration: On‐site registration (or after June 15, 2015): €80 If presentations have multiple authors, participation fee is needed for each author, to cover the cost of materials. The conference fee include conference materials, use of presentation equipment, refreshments, the welcome party, online Book of Abstracts, the review of the submitted papers and the publication of accepted full text papers The participants are expected to cover their travel and accommodation costs. For additional information please contact Dr Mishel Pavlovski or Dr Loreta Georgievska – Jakovleva on email conference(a)cultcenter.net <mailto:conference@cultcenter.net> For more information, visit the website of the Centre for Culture and Cultural Studies http://www.cultcenter.net/ Best regards, Loreta Georgievska Jakovleva Dr. Loreta Georgievska - Jakovleva Full professor Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje Institute for Macedonian Literature <http://iml.edu.mk/> http://iml.edu.mk Centre for Culture and Cultural Studies <http://cultcenter.net/> http://cultcenter.net/

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More than 100 academics & activist endorse this statement against growing xenophobia...
by Sanaz Raji 01 Dec '14

01 Dec '14

In a letter published today in Ceasefire, *more than a hundred UK academics, activists, and students write* in to raise the alarm over Home Office policies towards non-EU colleagues and students, and warn that such policies are not only discriminatory but are causing irreparable damage to British higher education. To view the statement, please go to this link: http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/state-imposed-persecution-uks-international-… To *sign the petition via Change.org*, please click on this link: https://www.change.org/p/rt-hon-david-cameron-mp-stop-victimising-non-eu-sc… Many thanks to all those who signed the statement. Best wishes: Sanaz -- Sanaz Raji +44 (0) 780 7873 550 Web: http://leeds.academia.edu/SanazRaji

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New Issue of "Online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet"
by Simone Heidbrink 01 Dec '14

01 Dec '14

Dear all, The editors of "online - Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet" (http://online.uni-hd.de) are pleased to announce the publication of a new issue, featuring a broad range of articles on all different aspects of religion online such as digital media religiosity, online jihad on /Facebook/, Christianity in /Second Life/, religious topics in fan fiction, Kopimism, trans-European adaptions on Neo-Orthodox Tibetan Buddhism, Jainism online, Muslim Women on /YouTube/ and online religion in contemporary Georgia. In January a new special issue on "Religion in Digital Games - Reloaded" will follow. The journal is always keen to collect high quality scholarship on issues relating to religions on the Internet and welcomes submissions pertaining to all aspects of theses matters anytime to be published in one of our next issues. Submissions and queries should be send to the following address: online.religion(a)zegk.uni-heidelberg.de. Best regards on behalf of the editors Simone Heidbrink (secretary to the editorial board) -- Simone Heidbrink, M.A. Institut für Religionswissenschaft Zentrum für Europäische Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften (ZEGK) Universität Heidelberg Akademiestr. 4-8 D - 69117 Heidelberg fon: ++49-(0)6221-54 74 82 fax: ++49-(0)6221-54 76 24

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CFP - Extending Play: The Sequel
by Heewon Kim 01 Dec '14

01 Dec '14

Please consider submitting your work to our second Extending Play conference. Apologies for cross-posting! *** TITLE: Extending Play: The Sequel (Deadline extended to Dec 12) *Are we the species that plays—or are we better understood as the species that repeats?* Walter Benjamin suggests that, “For a child repetition is the soul of play.” Is playalways at its core a form of *re-*play, an iteration of an earlier moment that resists a complete recurrence, yet is found in a series or sequence? We accept replication as a matter of course: Successful games and films always already have a sequelin the works, fashion is fueled by a recycling of its past, and images are increasingly manipulated to mimic the earlier eras of photographic technique. But what is the impact of these repeats, echoes, and continuations? And how do we understand the experience of play as a chain of sequels in the age of digital surrogates, cybernetic archives and networks of distributed storage? *Extending Play: The Sequel* asks how conceptions of repetition, iteration, mimesis, chronography and sequence emerge through the dynamics and modalities of play in an increasingly repetitive, yet always playful world. We aim to continue the mission of the previous Extending Play conference, to entertain all approaches to the traditions, roles, and contexts of play that extend its definition and incorporation into far-flung and unexpected arenas. With The Sequel, we hope to focus on how play is culturally reproduced, repeated, continued, remixed, recycled, resequenced, and reimagined, and how play re-orders issues of power, affect, labor, identity, and privacy. *We invite scholars, students, tinkerers, artists, visionaries, and players* to the second iteration of the Rutgers Media Studies Conference: Extending Play, to be held April 17th and 18th, 2015 on the Rutgers University campus in New Brunswick, NJ. Submissions are welcomed from scholars working in media studies and related fields across the humanities and social sciences. Our keynote conversations will include a conversation between Miguel Sicart <http://miguelsicart.net/> (IT University of Copenhagen) and Anna Anthropy <http://auntiepixelante.com/> (Author, "Rise of the Video Game Zinesters"). Also, Marcus Boon <http://marcusboon.com/> (York University) will discuss the play of repetition with another guest who will be announced soon! *Potential topics* for paper, panel, roundtable, and workshop submissions include, but are not limited to: --Sequels, serials, remakes, covers, reprints, reissues, remixes, remasters, reprises, series, and sagas --Media industries, including the business of sequels, franchises, and brands --Social media and re-circulation, including memes, retweets, repins, and reblogs --Resequencing, repetition, and the news industry --Biomedia, genetic sequencing, and clones --Sequels and repetition in history and historical knowledge, including global conflict, archives, and dynasties --Mimicry, mimesis, and mirroring --Repetition, continuation, and sequencing in digital networks, databases, and big data approaches --Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Game Studies, Fan Studies, Critical Cultural Studies, Critical Media Studies, Critical Game Studies, and more! Rutgers Media Studies Conference Extending Play: The Sequel promises to offer a memorable meeting of ludic inquiry, and to that end, we are looking to play with standard conference conventions. One track throughout the conference will be a series of public workshop sessions in which scholars and practitioners will host roundtable discussions on contemporary issues that bring together an audience of experts and interested parties. In the academic panel track, each presenter will have a maximum of 15 minutes to offer his or her ideas as a presentation or interactive conversation, and will choose one of the following *methods of presentation:* --material accompaniment (hand out a zine, scrapbook, postcards, etc) --performance (spoken word, song, verse, dance, recording, etc) --limited visuals (a maximum of 3 slides and 25 total words) --game (create rules and incorporate audience play) For additional ideas on how to play with media, play with time, or play with space during your presentation, visit our website at mediacon.rutgers.edu. *The deadline for proposals is Friday, December 12, 2014.* We invite individual proposals, full panel proposals (of four members), and proposals for roundtable and workshop sessions. Please use the submission form on our website at http://mediacon.rutgers.edu/submit/ . If you would like to submit supplementary materials, or have trouble with the form, please send a 256 word abstract to extendingplay(a)gmail.com. Notifications of acceptance will be sent out byFebruary 1, 2015. -- ----------------------------------------------- Heewon Kim (ABD) Lecturer Department of Communication School of Communication & Information Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey -----------------------------------------------

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Re: [Air-L] Social Media data fraught with biases and distortion
by Jeff Hemsley 01 Dec '14

01 Dec '14

My reaction has been similar to yours Elijah. Yes. Social Media is fraught with bias, and yep, so are just about all other kinds of data. I do think it is somewhat unfortunate that the write up makes it sound like no one has thought about these data limitations. There are plenty AoIRers who have talked and even written critically about big data. Still, I think it's good that the paper came out. I do read plenty of 'big data' papers that gloss over or completely fail to mention any limitations. On Mon, Dec 1, 2014 at 11:32 AM, Elijah Wright <elijah.wright(a)gmail.com> wrote: > My reaction to that title is scorn and the impulse to point out that > all data has biases, and statistics is how you turn raw data into > insights about *the data*. > > After a little more consideration, I think the press release is much > more reasonable than the title makes it out to be. Yes, it's very > common that people want to make it implicit that social media is a > good representation of reality. It ain't necessarily so, folks! :) > And a great big "Yes! That!" to inbuilt sampling bias and "black box" > views of available data - these are very real problems that can come > along with complexity and huge rivers of data. :) > > (To reply to Peter Timusk's other reply to this post -- yes, lots of > people write bad papers. Not worth worrying about, really. It's a > shame, but... what can you do? Best thing is always to do our own, > superlative work, and just be model citizens of the ecosystem :) ) > > best, > > --e > > > > On Sun, Nov 30, 2014 at 1:35 PM, Katja Mayer <katja.mayer(a)univie.ac.at> wrote: >> FYI: >> http://www.sciencemag.org/content/346/6213/1063.summary >> >> From the press release: >> Using Social Media For Large Behavioral Studies Is Fast and Cheap, But >> Fraught With Biases and Distortion >> >> PITTSBURGH—The rise of social media has seemed like a bonanza for behavioral >> scientists, who have eagerly tapped the social nets to quickly and cheaply >> gather huge amounts of data about what people are thinking and doing. But >> computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University and McGill University warn >> that those massive datasets may be misleading. >> In a perspective article published in the Nov. 28 issue of the journal >> Science, Carnegie Mellon’s Juergen Pfeffer and McGill’s Derek Ruths contend >> that scientists need to find ways of correcting for the biases inherent in >> the information gathered from Twitter and other social media, or to at least >> acknowledge the shortcomings of that data. >> >> And it’s not an insignificant problem; Pfeffer, an assistant research >> professor in CMU’s Institute for Software Research, and Ruths, an assistant >> professor of computer science at McGill, note that thousands of research >> papers each year are now based on data gleaned from social media, a source >> of data that barely existed even five years ago. >> “Not everything that can be labeled as ‘Big Data’ is automatically great,” >> Pfeffer said. He noted that many researchers think — or hope — that if they >> gather a large enough dataset they can overcome any biases or distortion >> that might lurk there. “But the old adage of behavioral research still >> applies: Know Your Data,” he maintained. >> Still, social media is a source of data that is hard to resist. “People want >> to say something about what’s happening in the world and social media is a >> quick way to tap into that,” Pfeffer said. Following the Boston Marathon >> bombing in 2013, for instance, Pfeffer collected 25 million related tweets >> in just two weeks. “You get the behavior of millions of people — for free.” >> >> The type of questions that researchers can now tackle can be compelling. >> Want to know how people perceive e-cigarettes? How people communicate their >> anxieties about diabetes? Whether the Arab Spring protests could have been >> predicted? Social media is a ready source for information about those >> questions and more. >> But despite researchers’ attempts to generalize their study results to a >> broad population, social media sites often have substantial population >> biases; generating the random samples that give surveys their power to >> accurately reflect attitudes and behavior is problematic. Instagram, for >> instance, has special appeal to adults between the ages of 18 and 29, >> African-Americans, Latinos, women and urban dwellers, while Pinterest is >> dominated by women between the ages of 25 and 34 with average household >> incomes of $100,000. Yet Ruths and Pfeffer said researchers seldom >> acknowledge, much less correct, these built-in sampling biases. >> >> Other questions about data sampling may never be resolved because social >> media sites use proprietary algorithms to create or filter their data >> streams and those algorithms are subject to change without warning. Most >> researchers are left in the dark, though others with special relationships >> to the sites may get a look at the site’s inner workings. The rise of these >> “embedded researchers,” Ruths and Pfeffer said, in turn is creating a >> divided social media research community. >> As anyone who has used social media can attest, not all “people” on these >> sites are even people. Some are professional writers or public relations >> representatives, who post on behalf of celebrities or corporations, others >> are simply phantom accounts. Some “followers” can be bought. The social >> media sites try to hunt down and eliminate such bogus accounts — half of all >> Twitter accounts created in 2013 have already been deleted — but a lone >> researcher may have difficulty detecting those accounts within a dataset. >> >> “Most people doing real social science are aware of these issues,” said >> Pfeffer who noted that some solutions may come from applying existing >> techniques already developed in such fields as epidemiology, statistics and >> machine learning. In other cases, scientists will need to develop new >> techniques for managing analytic bias. >> _______________________________________________ >> The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list >> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org >> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: >> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org >> >> Join the Association of Internet Researchers: >> http://www.aoir.org/ > _______________________________________________ > The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list > is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org > Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org > > Join the Association of Internet Researchers: > http://www.aoir.org/ -- Jeff Hemsley Assistant Professor School of Information Studies Syracuse University

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2nd call: Show Me Your Dashboard - Digital Methods Winter School 2015 - Univ. of Amsterdam
by Liliana Bounegru 01 Dec '14

01 Dec '14

This is the second call for participation in the Digital Methods Winter School at the University of Amsterdam, 12-16 January 2015. The deadline for applications is 8 December 2014. Together with Nathaniel Tkacz on dashboard critique (Univ Warwick) and Carolin Gerlitz on social media metrics (Univ Amsterdam), new speakers have confirmed from SumOfUs, UNICEF, TckTckTck, Climate Action Network and the Dutch design agency Clever Franke. We are also joined by the Density Design Lab, Milan. SHOW ME YOUR DASHBOARD New Media Monitoring and Data Analytics as Critical PracticeDigital Methods Winter School, Data Sprint and Mini-Conference *12-16 January 2015 | Digital Methods Winter School * *Digital Methods Initiative | http://www.digitalmethods.net/ <http://www.digitalmethods.net/>**Media Studies | University of Amsterdam* *https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/WinterSchool2015* <https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/WinterSchool2015> The Digital Methods Initiative (DMI), Amsterdam, is pleased to announce its 7th annual Winter School, on New Media Monitoring and Data Analytics as Critical Practice. The format is that of a data sprint, with hands-on work on media monitoring with data analytics, and a Mini-conference, where PhD candidates, motivated scholars and advanced graduate students present short papers on digital methods and new media related topics, and receive feedback from the Amsterdam group of DMI researchers and international participants. Participants need not give a paper at the Mini-conference to attend the Winter School. The focus of this year's Winter School is on how online media monitoring is currently done by non-governmental (NGOs) such as treealerts.org, and it seeks to identify practices that could fill in the notion of critical data analytics. For the occasion we have invited academics to present on the state of the art of online media monitoring by focusing on three areas where there is both innovation as well as repurposing of techniques normally associated with marketing, business intelligence and the work of digital agencies: issue discovery and language placement (who's carrying the conversation), engagement and public fund-raising (when do images and other engagement formats ‘work’?) and crisis communication (who is making the calls when there is a breakdown?). At the Winter School social media analysts and communications specialists from NGOs will present on the state of the art of media monitoring, their current analytical needs and what the Internet can continue to add with respect to new data sources as well as monitoring techniques. We will also ask each of the organizations to show us their dashboards. The first day kicks off with Nathaniel Tkacz from the University of Warwick who will talk about Dashboards and Data Signals <http://blogs.cim.warwick.ac.uk/dashboard/about-2/>, and the desire to control the data deluge. The second keynote speaker is Carolin Gerlitz from the University of Amsterdam who will talk about new media metrics critique. Next a series of online media monitoring dashboards and methods will be presented. The Dutch design agency Clever Franke will show TrendViz <http://www.trendviz.com/#home>. Soenke Lorenzen of Greenpeace International, Eoin Dubsky of SumOfUs, Dounia Kchiere of UNICEF, and Christian Teriete of TckTckTck will be talking about media monitoring at their respective organisations. Next will be project pitches by Ria Voorhaar of the Climate Action Network, Danie Stockmann of Leiden University, Jonathan Gray of the Open Knowledge Foundation, and Alberto Abellan of Social Alto Analytics. After the the first day of talks as well as dashboard show and tell, the data sprint commences, whereupon the attendees, including analysts, designers and programmers, undertake empirical projects that address the state of the art in NGO online media data analysis. We work on projects that seek to meet the current analytical needs. The week closes with presentations of the outcomes as well as a festive celebration. During the week there is also an evening of talks and a debate with Jimmy Wales <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Wales>, co-founder of Wikipedia, at the nearby Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science <https://www.knaw.nl/en/>. The theme of the 2015 Winter School furthers the analytical collaboration between the Digital Methods Initiative and NGO media analysts, including Soenke Lorenzen of Greenpeace International <http://www.greenpeace.org>. Previously workshop facilitators and collaborators have included representatives from Human Rights Watch <http://www.hrw.org/>, Association for Progressive Communications <https://www.apc.org/>, Women on Waves <http://www.womenonwaves.org/>, Carbon Trade Watch <http://www.carbontradewatch.org/>, Corporate Observatory Europe <http://corporateeurope.org> and Fair Phone <http://www.fairphone.com/>. In preparation for the sprint we also have developed how-to worksheets on New Media Monitoring and Tooling that take as their case studies NGO issue mappings with digital methods. Upon conclusion we aim to compile the Sprint projects from the Winter School, and combine them with the how-to sheets to produce an open access publication on NGO media monitoring. All participants are invited to contribute. Digital Methods Winter School Data Sprint A data sprint is a workshop format for intensive, empirical project work, where analysts, programers, designers and subject matter experts collaborate to output research. This year's data sprint is devoted to new media monitoring with data analytics, and particularly its critical practice. Broadly speaking, media monitoring is understood as the process of reading, watching or listening to the editorial content of media sources on a continuing basis, and then identifying, analyzing and saving materials that contain specific themes, topics, keywords, names, forms or formats. Monitoring the editorial content of news sources including newspapers, magazines, trade journals, TV shows, radio programs and specific websites is by far the most common form of media monitoring, but most organizations increasingly monitor social media online, and its impact on the diffusion of news in all media or in online conversation (including the comment space) more generally. Most companies, government agencies, not-for-profit organizations utilize media monitoring as a tool to study the "meaning of mentions" of their organization, its campaigns and slogans, and gain some sense of the composition of their audiences, and what animates them (or keeps them quiet). During the first day of the data sprint academics studying online media monitoring will present the state of the art of the field, focusing on three areas: issue discovery and issue language placement (who is the carrying the conversation, and which voices are continually elided?), engagement and fundraising communication (how are audiences and funders reacting to so-called 'faces of need' and other formats and calls for engagement?) and crisis communication (when there is a breakdown, who makes the calls?). Representatives from leading NGOs will present to the attendees how they practice online media monitoring, the look of their dashboards and the analytical needs that drive them. What are these experts able to accomplish with the techniques available to them, and which questions remain unanswered? What are the critical media monitoring practices and questions that are specific to NGOs? How to conceptualize and operationalize issue discovery, engagement for fundraising and crisis monitoring? We will ask the NGO communications experts to address these questions. We also will ask them what they think digital methods and issue mapping may add to the outputs of media monitoring. The conversations with the experts will serve as starting points for winter school attendees - including analysts, designers and programmers - to develop into empirical projects that aim to answer research questions, and develop further techniques for media monitoring online.Digital Methods Mini-Conference at the Winter School The annual Digital Methods Mini-Conference at the Winter School, normally a one-day affair, provides the opportunity for digital methods and allied researchers to present short yet complete papers (5,000-7,500 words) and serve as respondents, providing feedback. Often the work presented follows from previous Digital Methods Summer Schools. The mini-conference accepts papers in the general digital methods and allied areas: the hyperlink and other natively digital objects, the website as archived object, web historiographies, search engine critique, Google as globalizing machine, cross-spherical analysis and other approaches to comparative media studies, device cultures, national web studies, Wikipedia as cultural reference, the technicity of (networked) content, post-demographics, platform studies, crawling and scraping, graphing and clouding, and similar. Key dates The deadline for application is 8 December 2014. To apply please send along a letter of motivation as well as your CV to winterschool [at] digitalmethods.net, with DMI Winter School in the subject header. Notifications will be sent on 9 December. If you are participating in the Mini-conference the deadline for submission of paper titles, abstracts and bios is also 8 December, with DMI Mini-conference & Winter School in the subject header. Please send your materials to winterschool [at] digitalmethods.net . To attend the Winter School, you need not participate in the Mini-conference. Deadline for submission of complete papers (5,000-7,500 words) is 6 January 2015. The program and schedule are available on 7 January. Fees & Logistics The fee for the Digital Methods Winter School 2015 is EUR 295. Bank transfer information will be sent along with the notification on 9 December 2014. 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 (airbnb and other short-stay sites are helpful). During the week there is an evening at the Royal Academy with Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia. The Winter School closes on Friday with a festive event, after the final presentations. Here is a guide to the Amsterdam new media scene <https://www.digitalmethods.net/MoM/NewMediaAmsterdam>. For further questions, please contact the organizers, Liliana Bounegru, Natalia Sanchez and Saskia Kok, at winterschool(a)digitalmethods.net. About DMI The Digital Methods Winter School is part of the Digital Methods Initiative, Amsterdam, dedicated to reworking method for Internet-related research. The Digital Methods Initiative holds the annual Digital Methods Summer Schools (eight to date), which are intensive and full time 2-week undertakings in the Summertime. The 2015 Summer School will take place 29 June - 10 July 2015. The coordinators of the Digital Methods Initiative are Sabine Niederer and Esther Weltevrede (PhD candidates in New Media & Digital Culture, University of Amsterdam), and the director is Richard Rogers, Professor of New Media & Digital Culture, University of Amsterdam. Liliana Bounegru is the managing director. Digital methods are online at http://www.digitalmethods.net/. The DMI about page includes a substantive introduction, and also a list of Digital Methods people, with bios. DMI holds occasional Autumn and Spring workshops, such as recent ones on mapping climate change and vulnerability indexes <https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/ClimateConflicts> as well as on studying right-wing extremism and populism <https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/RightWingPopulismStudy> online. There is also a Digital Methods book <http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/digital-methods> (MIT Press, 2013), papers and articles <https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/PapersPublications> by DMI researchers as well as Digital Methods tools <https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/ToolDatabase>. See you in the winter time in Amsterdam! Image credit: Online resonance of the international climate change issue agenda <https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/014Project3aOnlineResonanceOfTheInterna…>, EMAPS data sprint, Amsterdam, April 2014.

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Emerging research on Facebook-Native Politicians - Live Hangout Q+A Dec 3/4
by Steven Clift 01 Dec '14

01 Dec '14

Presentation video, slides, blog posts, live Hangout event RSVPs for Dec 3/4 virtual Q and A: http://bit.ly/facebookpoliticians I have a completely fresh case study to share on what I am calling "Facebook-Native Politicians." Imagine if the new majority elected to your city council were on Facebook from their teen or college days - a decade of engaging socially online before becoming an elected representative. This is the new wired Minneapolis story. Seven new council members, elected at an average age of 33. This is a Facebook story and NOT a Twitter story. My 30 minute presentation starts just 5 minutes in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PPLTMXPQ1 RSVP for the Q+A Hangouts: Dec 3 Europe/Americas: https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/cfs2ijq9gb3e2e5ug8cruelvcqg Dec 3 Americas Evening/Dec 4 Asia Pacific https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/c2kvr2vm6b22pemu4s6qcaeribo Discuss/share on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/opengovgroup/permalink/1559727457592178/ Huge thanks to Involve and the Centre for the Study of Democracy at the University of Westminster for hosting this event in London last month. The UK local councillors and Dan Jellinek provide some great context and contrasting views in the full webcast (which is nicely edited). If you want to see further research and lesson sharing on this topic, please get in touch: clift(a)e-democracy.org - I'd like to build this out further and build a bridge across practitioner and academic worlds. Finally, if you know of other "Facebook Native Politicians" who engage constituents online, please introduce them to me so I can invite them to connect with their peers around the world: clift(a)e-democracy.org Sincerely, Steven Clift E-Democracy.org P.S. I view these Facebook engaged mostly local elected representatives as a crucial bridge for the open government movement. Most of them haven't heard much about "open government data" etc., but they have a digital openness and engagement instinct. My thought is that we should aggressively seek to connect with them "where they are" online in order to introduce them to the wider world of open government. This is why ironically, an engagement space on a closed system like Facebook Groups is needed: https://www.facebook.com/groups/opengovgroup Steven Clift - http://stevenclift.com Executive Director - http://E-Democracy.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/democracy Tel/Text: +1.612.234.7072 ᐧ

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LAST CALL: ABSTRACT SUBMISSION WILL BE CLOSED ON DECEMBER THE 7th (ICCSS Helsinki)
by news＠iccss2015.eu 01 Dec '14

01 Dec '14

***APOLOGIES FOR MULTIPLE POSTINGS*** CALL FOR ABSTRACTS International Conference on Computational Social Science Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Finland, 8-11 June 2015 WEBSITE http://www.iccss2015.eu/ IMPORTANT DATES Deadline for abstract submission: 7 December 2014, 23:59 GMT Opening of registration: 15 January 2015 Conference dates: 8-11 June 2015 CONFERENCE FEE We are seeking continuously funds for the conference, but we can anticipate that the conference fee for early registration will be of about 350 euro for regular participants and around 200 euro for students. EVENT OVERVIEW The conference will bring together scientists from different areas to meet and discuss problems on social systems and dynamics, as well as research questions motivated by large datasets, either extracted from real applications (e.g. social media, communication systems), or created via controlled experiments. PROGRAM CHAIRS Karen Cook (Stanford) Santo Fortunato (Aalto University) Michael Macy (Cornell) KEYNOTE SPEAKERS Opening talk by Michael Macy (Cornell) Lada Adamic (Facebook) Sinan Aral (MIT) Albert-Laszlo Barabasi (Northeastern University and CEU) Nicholas Christakis (Yale) Robin Dunbar (Oxford) Andreas Flache (University of Groeningen) Dirk Helbing (ETH Zurich) Matthew Jackson (Stanford) David Lazer (Northeastern University) Jure Leskovec (Stanford) Alex Pentland (MIT) Alessandro Vespignani (Northeastern University) Duncan Watts (Microsoft) ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Santo Fortunato (Aalto University) Aristides Gionis (Aalto) Heikki Hämmäinen (Aalto) Kimmo Kaski (Aalto) Walter Quattrociocchi (IMT Lucca) Jari Saramäki (Aalto) Juuso Valimäki (Aalto) TOPICS OF INTEREST INCLUDE (but are not limited to) Social networks Social contagion Communication dynamics Information diffusion and other spreading phenomena Social influence Crowd-sourcing Popularity dynamics Smart cities Attention economics Social design and user behavior Group formation, evolution and group behavior analysis Human mobility Mobility and context-awareness Economics of trust SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Contributions to the conference have to be submitted via Easychair (https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ic2s2) the name of the event there is IC2S2. Each submission consists of an extended abstract of max 2 pages. Please give a sufficiently detailed description of your work, put at least one figure, otherwise it will be difficult for the PC to assess its relevance. Short, paper-like abstracts will not be considered. Abstracts do not need to refer to unpublished work. If the work is published or under submission elsewhere it is fine. We want to give to everyone the opportunity to present the most relevant work to the topics of the conference. There will be no proceedings, but we are going to have a special issue in EPJ Data Science (http://www.epjdatascience.com/) where selected contributions will be published. Authors of those contributions would be invited to submit full papers after the conference. Each extended abstract will be reviewed by two PC members. Abstracts can be submitted from September the 15th till December 7th, 2014. We will do out best to have mostly oral presentations of the selected contributions, both plenary and in parallel sessions. However, we are probably going to have a poster session as well. During the submission process, you will be asked to specify whether your contribution is intended for a) Plenary session presentation, b) Parallel session presentation or c) Poster session presentation. The final allocation of each contribution will be decided by the Program Committee. CONTACT For any question you might have please contact Prof. Santo Fortunato (santo.fortunato(a)aalto.fi)

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ICTs and the Right to Life - Suggestions re Case Studies?
by R.A. Larsen 01 Dec '14

01 Dec '14

Hello all, I'm part of a research committee at Cambridge, working to produce a report on the effects of ICTs on the right to life for UN special rapporteur Christof Heyns. Below is a link to the project: https://www.cghr.polis.cam.ac.uk/research-themes/right_to_life/ICTs_right_t… We will be building up case studies on instances where ICTs can be used to prevent infringement on the right to life, provide better forms of accountability, and allow for more effective advocacy. So I'm searching for apps, organizations, and/or platforms in these arenas to profile. (Some examples: Amnesty's Panic Button app and Citizen Evidence Lab, various social media platforms and other communication platforms (Skype, Tor), Witness' model of video advocacy, predictive escalation projects re big data, crowdmapping/crowdsourcing efforts, Thunderclap, Access' Digital Security Helpline...) Does anyone have any general suggestions or can anyone point towards standouts or up-and-coming projects in this arena? At this stage, we're still trying to thoroughly suss out the landscape and make contacts. Thanks in advance! Rebekah Larsen

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two generously funded PhD positions on Mediating (Semi-)Authoritarianism at Free University Berlin
by Leurs, K.H.A. (Koen) 01 Dec '14

01 Dec '14

CfA: Two generously funded PhD positions at Free University Berlin IMPORTANT NOTE: This is only an unofficial, informal, translated call for applications. The legally binding, official German job announcement is available at: http://www.fu-berlin.de/service/stellen/st_2014/st_20141117.html The Emmy Noether research group on Mediating (Semi-)Authoritarianism – The Power of the Internet in the Post-Soviet World invites applications for two fully funded PhD positions (of up to four years), starting in early or mid-2015. The research group will be based at the Institute for Media and Communications Studies at the Free University Berlin. It is being funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) from October 2014 to September 2019. The five-year project investigates the interrelations of internet-mediated communication and politics in the post-Soviet region, with a strong comparative focus on three countries: Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. It draws primarily on qualitative methods of communication research, but also employs quantitative approaches. Comparisons are structured around a series of key theoretical concepts, including the decoding of news items, counterpublics, critical news literacy, and political representation. Additional information about the project can be found at www.mediating-authoritarianism.net<http://www.mediating-authoritarianism.net>. Job Description / Duties and Responsibilities · Pursuing independent research: Applicants will be expected to develop, design, and accomplish independent research that will qualify them for the award of a PhD degree. The topic of the candidate’s independent doctoral research should be closely related to the central topic of the research group. Thus, ideally, their independent research will strongly benefit from synergies with research carried out in the framework of the research group. · Contributing to the success of the research group: PhD students will play an important role as members of the Emmy Noether group. They will make strong, creative, and independent contributions to the project by helping to refine the overall research design, as well as by collecting, analysing, and interpreting data. They will contribute as (co-)authors to publications of the research group. One of the two PhD positions announced here will focus on data collection and analysis with regard to Belarus, the other with regard to Ukraine. · Administration, outreach & teaching: The project group will organize a small number of public events (approximately one event per year), seek to host visiting scholars from across the globe, and maintain a website that includes a blog. It will also be involved in teaching at the Institute of Media and Communications Studies at Free University Berlin (one course in each semester). Although routine tasks in these areas will be carried out by a student assistant, PhD candidates will be expected to take on management responsibilities and other leading roles in this work. Person Specification / Selection Criteria · A Masters degree or equivalent in Media and Communications or a related discipline such as Sociology, Political Science, or Psychology (essential). Highly- motivated candidates with or without prior work experience are strongly encouraged to apply. · Experience in qualitative and/or quantitative social science research methods. · Evidence of in-depth knowledge and understanding of the candidate’s own field of study, which will ideally be related to political communication (essential). · Fluency in English (essential), either Ukrainian or Belarusian (essential), and Russian (desirable). Willingness to acquire practical knowledge of German in the course of the project (essential). · Evidence of ability and willingness to work as part of a team (essential). · Evidence of strong self-management skills, as required to successfully complete a four-year PhD project (essential). · Evidence of flexibility, autonomy, and creativity (essential). · Evidence of strong communication skills (desirable). · Evidence of strong analytical and critical skills and clear academic writing (desirable). Salary and Working Conditions · The two PhD positions in the Emmy Noether research group come with an internationally highly competitive salary, which will be stipulated in accordance with the German collective agreement for the public sector (TV-L E 13 at a 0.65 full time equivalent). Depending on the candidate’s work experience, the initial annual salary will thus be at least 26,814 Euros (increase pending). From this gross salary, contributions to the German pension scheme, health assurance, and other social insurances will be automatically deducted. Depending on the family situation, the PhD candidate’s initial net salary will thus amount to at least 1,600 Euros a month (approximately 2,150 USD). · The Emmy Noether group will offer PhD candidates a vibrant and international academic environment with flat hierarchies. In the course of the project, they will receive hands-on training in pursuing internationally competitive communication research. At the same time, they will be intensely supervised and supported by the leader of the research group, members of academic staff at the Free University Berlin, and international scholars affiliated with the project in pursuing their independent PhD research. PhD candidates will be encouraged to pursue their own ideas, make strong individual contributions to the success of the research project, and develop an emerging track record of independent academic publications that will qualify them to pursue a subsequent academic career. · The two PhD positions will have access to generous subsidies for conference travel, fieldwork, and external academic training. How to Apply Additional information about the project can be found at www.mediating-authoritarianism.net<http://www.mediating-authoritarianism.net>. To apply, we recommend providing the following documents: · CV. · Letter of motivation (maximum two pages) stating why you would like to pursue a PhD within the research group, potential topic of your PhD, type of research you could imagine pursuing, and how you think you could contribute to the success of the project. Please also provide evidence with regard to selection criteria listed above. · One to three samples of academic writing (course work, your BA or MA thesis, etc.) · Relevant school certificates and university diplomas (certificate of qualification for university matriculation, BA and MA diplomas, or equivalents). · Contact details and phone numbers of two or three referees (at least one academic). Please send your applications to the group leader Dr Florian Toepfl at f.toepfl(a)fu-berlin.de. The application deadline is 15.12.2014. Ideally, the two PhD candidates will be employed in early or mid-2015. We very much look forward to receiving your applications! Koen Leurs, PhD | Marie Curie Postdoctoral Researcher, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) | | Affiliated researcher Graduate Gender Studies Institute for Cultural Enquiry (ICON) Utrecht University | www.koenleurs.net <https://mail.lse.ac.uk/ecp/Customize/www.koenleurs.net> <www.koenleurs.net>

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