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[CfP] - Call for Workshops and Tutorials at SEMANTiCS 2025
by Beyza Yaman 29 Jan '25

29 Jan '25

SEMANTiCS 2025 - Call for Workshops and Tutorials 21st International Conference on Semantic Systems Vienna, Austria September 03-05, 2025 Important Dates for Workshops: - *Proposals WS Deadline: March 22, 2025 (11:59 pm, AoE)* - *Notification of Acceptance: 29, 2025 (11:59 pm, AoE)* Important Dates for Tutorials (and other meetings, e.g. seminars, show-cases, etc., without call for papers): - *Proposals Tutorial Deadline: June 11, 2025 (11:59 pm, AoE)* - *Notification of Acceptance: June 18, 2025 (11:59 pm, AoE)* *Submission via Easychair on https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=semantics2025 <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=semantics2025>* *SEMANTiCS Workshops and Tutorials* SEMANTiCS 2025 is a major venue for research and industrial innovation and features a workshop and tutorial program addressing the diverse practical interests of its audience. This program is intended to offer a rich diversity of topics to conference attendees and local participants seeking to pick up new skills and stay up-to-date regarding the latest developments in the community. We encourage submissions of proposals on all topics in the general areas of SEMANTiCS 2025 and proposals bridging or introducing new perspectives and/or challenges in these areas. Workshops and tutorials may incorporate panel discussions, lightning talks, meetings, networking or hands-on sessions, hackathons and other practical formats where applicable. Rooms for business or project meetings are available upon request as well. *Scope and Goals* Workshops and tutorials at SEMANTiCS 2025 allow your organization or project to advance and promote your topics and gain increased visibility. The workshops and tutorials will be announced on the SEMANTiCS website, and they will be seen by all participants. SEMANTiCS 2025 workshops and tutorials can be incubators for industrial and scientific communities that form and share a particular research and development agenda, and they will provide a forum for presenting contributions and findings to a diverse and knowledgeable community. Furthermore, the event can be used as a dissemination activity in the scope of large research projects or as a closed format for research/commercial project consortia meetings. *Proceedings* Workshop papers will be published in the SEMANTiCS side event proceedings through CEUR. Side events proceedings will include posters & demos and contributions from workshops. *Setup and Requirements* SEMANTiCS 2025 workshops and tutorials may be either half or full-day long. Workshops and tutorials take place on the days before and/or after the main SEMANTiCS 2025 EU conference (03th of September 2025). Further details will be communicated in due time. Organizers of workshops and tutorials will be granted three free tickets (only for the workshop & tutorial day) for organization purposes or keynotes. Participants of workshops and tutorials will only be charged a reduced fee to cover the basic costs. Workshop and tutorial proposals must include the following information: - outline of the *themes and goals of the event*, including a title and a brief abstract (less than 200 words) intended for the SEMANTiCS 2025 website. - a statement addressing *why the event is important*, *why the event is timely*, and how it is relevant to SEMANTiCS 2025 and the field of Semantic Web. For the tutorials, why the presenters are qualified for a high-quality introduction to the topic. - *related workshops and conferences*, i.e., specifying if this is a continuation of a workshop series or a new workshop. Please provide information about past versions (in any) and other related workshops (including URLs and submission/acceptance counts, if available). - a statement addressing the *quality assurance criteria* that will be used by the event organizers to select the papers for the workshops and the presenters for the tutorials (e.g., peer review or review/evaluation by event organizers). If a peer review process is chosen as a quality assurance criterion for the workshops, the organizers will be responsible for their own reviewing process. Workshop organizers will be responsible also for their own publicity (e.g., website, timelines and call for papers) and proceedings production. - *structure of the event* and plans for generating and stimulating discussion; how will the interaction be organized in case of a hybrid event. - expected *number of event participants* and (in case of previously held events) number of registered attendees and website for previous editions of the event - a description of the intended *audience* and the expected learning *outcomes.* - desired *prerequisite* knowledge of the audience. - proposed *duration of the event* (i.e., half or full day), different sessions if applicable (final time slot will be assigned in accordance with the SEMANTiCS program). - any *equipment*, room capacity, or other logistic constraints. - full *contact information* of all organizers of the event and main contact person; a brief description of each *organizer's background*, including relevant past experience in organizing events. Proposals for workshop and tutorial proposals must be submitted via Easychair: *https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=semantics2025* <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=semantics2025> (max 4 pages) *Important Dates* Important Dates for Workshops: - *Proposals WS Deadline: 22, 2025 (11:59 pm, AoE)* - *Notification of Acceptance: March 29, 2025 (11:59 pm, AoE)* - *Workshop website is online: April 15th, 2025* *Suggested* dates for Workshop organizers (with Call for Papers) - *Submission WS papers Deadline: June 14, 2025 (11:59 pm, AoE)* - *Notification of Acceptance: July 05, 2025 (11:59 pm, AoE)* Important Dates for Tutorials (and other meetings, e.g. seminars, show-cases, etc., without call for papers): - *Proposals Tutorial Deadline: June 11, 2025 (11:59 pm, AoE)* - *Notification of Acceptance: June 18, 2025 (11:59 pm, AoE)* *Review and Evaluation Criteria* Workshop and tutorial proposals will be reviewed by the SEMANTiCS 2025 Workshop Chairs, as well as by the SEMANTiCS 2025 organizing committee, according to the following criteria: - The potential to advance the state of Semantic Web research and practice - The quality assurance criteria proposed by the organizers to select high-quality papers for workshops and presenters for tutorials - The organizers' experience and ability to lead a successful event - Timeliness and expected interest in the event topics - The balance and synergy between all SEMANTiCS 2025 events *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) - Interplay between Large Language Models, generative AI and Knowledge Graphs (e.g., Retrieval Augmented Generation) - Knowledge Management (e.g. acquisition, capture, extraction, authoring, integration, publication) - Terminology, Thesaurus & Ontology Management, Ontology engineering - Reasoning, Rules, and Policies - 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 Foundation of Knowledge-aware AI - Multimodal Knowledge Graphs - Semantics in Data Science - Semantics in Blockchain environments - Trust, Data Privacy, and Security with Semantic Technologies - IoT, Stream Processing, dealing with temporal data - Conversational AI and Dialogue Systems - Provenance and Data Change Tracking - Semantic Interoperability (via mapping, crosswalks, standards, etc.) - Linked Data storage, triple stores, graph databases - Robust and scalable management, querying and analysis of semantics and data - User interfaces for the Semantic Web & its management - Explainable and Interoperable AI - Decentralised and Federated Knowledge Graphs (e.g., Federated querying, link traversal) - Application of Semantically-Enriched and AI-based Approaches, such as, but not limited to: - Knowledge Graphs in Bioinformatics, Medical AI and Preventive Healthcare - Clinical Use Case of semantic-enabled AI-based Approaches - AI for Environmental Challenges - Semantics in Scholarly Communication and Scientific Knowledge Graphs - AI and LOD within GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) institutions - Knowledge Graphs & hybrid AI for predictive maintenance and Industry 4.0/5.0 - Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage - LegalTech, AI Safety, EU AI Act - Economics of Data, Data Services, and Data Ecosystems We especially invite contributions that illustrate the applicability of the topics mentioned above for industrial purposes and/or illustrate the business relevance of their contribution for specific industries. Workshop proposals on *emerging themes* and *open challenges* for the topics listed above are encouraged. In case you have additional questions concerning the submission process, please do not hesitate to contact us via Easychair. We are looking forward to your contribution! *Workshop & Tutorial Chairs:* - Daniel Garijo, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain (email: daniel.garijo(a)upm.es) - David Chaves-Fraga, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela Spain (email: david.chaves(a)usc.es) Kind Regards, On behalf of the organising committee. ========================= Dr. Beyza Yaman ADAPT Centre, Trinity College Dublin

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CfA 2025 Conference of the Italian Association of Political Communication (AssoComPol)
by Antonio Martella 29 Jan '25

29 Jan '25

*** 2025 Conference of the Italian Association of Political Communication (AssoComPol) *** Theme: *Media and politics: Reconfiguring authority and trust.* 3-5 July 2025, University of Milan, Italy https://www.compol.it/eventi/convegno/convegno-2025/ In recent years, political communication has undergone a profound transformation, shaped by the interplay of media innovation, evolving public expectations, and shifting socio-political dynamics (Humprecht et al. 2022; Štětka & Mihelj, 2024). Traditional authority structures are being reconfigured as new actors and platforms redefine who holds influence and credibility in the public sphere (Bartsch et al. 2022; Carlson, 2017). Trust – essential for democratic processes and discourse – has become a central focus, as audiences increasingly navigate a fragmented and contested information ecosystem. Simultaneously, political trust faces significant challenges, with growing polarization and skepticism toward institutional actors. These developments compel us to interrogate the evolving dynamics of trust and authority: who is trusted, how trust is built and maintained, and how authority is conferred and legitimized in mediated political contexts. By exploring these questions, we can better understand the mechanisms underpinning a functioning public sphere and identify pathways for fostering democratic resilience in an era of rapid change. Media trust represents a pivotal dimension of political communication, encompassing the audience's confidence in the accuracy, fairness, and reliability of news media. As articulated by Strömbäck et al. (2020), media trust significantly shapes how individuals engage with and interpret media content, influencing broader patterns of media consumption and public opinion formation. Tsfati et al. (2022) argue, research must move beyond general notions of media trust to explore topical media trust—how trust varies across specific issues and contexts. This approach not only reveals the complexity of audience perceptions but also provides a richer framework for analyzing trust’s role in mitigating issue-based misperceptions and fostering informed public discourse. Recent work by Garusi and Leonhardt (2024) advocates for a processual understanding of trust, highlighting trust-building as a dynamic and iterative procedure rather than a static condition (see also the related Eyal 2024). This perspective underscores the importance of examining how trust is cultivated through ongoing interactions between media organizations and their audiences, particularly in contexts emphasizing transparency and constructive journalism. The legitimacy and stability of democratic systems does not depend only on media trust, but also on more generalized levels of political trust, broadly defined as citizens’ confidence in political institutions and actors. In an era of increasing polarization and institutional skepticism, understanding the factors that influence political trust has become paramount and media trust emerges as a key determinant in this equation, as the media serves as the primary conduit through which citizens encounter political information. As Hanitzsch, Van Dalen, and Steindl (2018) highlight, public trust in the media and political trust are deeply intertwined, often reinforcing or undermining one another. A decline in media trust can erode confidence in political actors, while skepticism toward politics can amplify doubts about the media’s credibility. This nexus underscores the importance of examining trust as a multidimensional phenomenon, where the interplay between media and politics shapes the broader contours of public opinion and democratic engagement. Authority is a foundational concept in understanding the structure and dynamics of public discourse. As explored by Carlson (2017), authority represents the capacity to be recognized as a legitimate source of knowledge or power in a given context, often contingent on social norms, institutional structures, and cultural expectations. In the digital era, journalistic authority—historically rooted in professional norms and organizational prestige—faces significant challenges. The democratization of information production and dissemination has disrupted traditional hierarchies, forcing journalists to continually renegotiate their legitimacy amidst increasing competition from non-traditional actors and platforms. Carlson's work highlights the importance of viewing authority not as a static property but as a dynamic process shaped by interactions between journalists, audiences, and the broader information ecosystem. Building on this perspective, Bartsch et al. (2024) introduce the concept of epistemic authority in the digital public sphere, emphasizing the role of credibility in the negotiation of truth claims. Their integrative framework underscores the complexity of authority in a fragmented media landscape, where trustworthiness must be earned and sustained across diverse and sometimes polarized audiences. Wahl Jorgensen (2024) further advances this discussion by exploring how entrepreneurial journalism leverages local knowledge to assert epistemic authority, demonstrating the evolving strategies employed by media actors to legitimize their claims. Finally, Vos and Thomas (2018) emphasize the discursive nature of journalistic authority in the "post-truth" age, where the traditional boundaries of expertise are increasingly contested. Together, these perspectives highlight the pressing need to analyze authority as a relational and contextual phenomenon, particularly in its implications for public trust and the functioning of democratic discourse. However, despite their centrality, the concept of media and political trust, and their interconnections with conferred authority remain underexplored in key areas. Current research often overlooks the dynamic and relational nature of trust, failing to adequately account for how it evolves over time and across different media ecosystems. Moreover, studies have yet to fully integrate the impact of digital and algorithmically driven platforms, which have redefined the boundaries of journalistic authority and credibility. To advance the field, it is crucial to develop innovative frameworks that address these gaps, emphasizing the interplay between structural factors—such as ownership models and regulatory environments—and individual-level perceptions shaped by identity, ideology, and lived experience. Starting from this framework, or also beyond this framework, we encourage the submission of papers investigating the trends linked to media trust, political trust, and authority as well as their interactions in the field of political communication. We are interested in both theoretical essays and empirical studies, and we welcome different methodological approaches and research designs (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods). Issues of interest include (but are not limited to): - Changes and trends linked to media trust, political trust, institutional trust and authority as well as in their interactions. - How the artificial intelligence environment, the role of data, platforms, algorithms, shape and change trust in the new political communications environment. - Relationships between media and political trust from one side and trust in platforms from the other side. - Trust and public opinion dynamics, voting behavior, electoral campaigns in democracies facing a crisis of trust. - Electoral abstention: trust as precondition for electoral participation and democratic processes. - How trust and authority is conferred according to new (digital) political communication actors (such as digital parties, social digital movements as well as “social journalism”). - Which strategy apply political actors to increase trust. - Epistemic authority in digital political communication: How authority is constructed, contested, and legitimized in the digital public sphere, with a focus on journalistic, political, and algorithmic actors. Distrust and communication strategies for gaining consensus from parties and movements of the radical sovereignist Right-Wing in Europe, especially from a Comparative Perspective (e.g., RN in France, AfD in Germany, FPÖ in Austria, Vox in Spain). - Comparative approaches to media and political trust: Examining how trust and authority vary across cultural, national, or institutional contexts and their implications for global political communication. - Actors and issues of the EU - supranational and national - political debate, with a particular focus on EU institutions, especially, though not exclusively, in electoral contexts. - The role of misinformation, disinformation, polarization as well as incivility in trust dynamics: How affect trust in media, political actors, and institutions, and strategies to mitigate these effects. - Public perception of journalistic authority: How audiences evaluate the credibility and legitimacy of journalistic actors in a fragmented and polarized media environment. - Trust-building strategies in mediated political campaigns: Exploring innovative methods used by political actors to build and maintain trust through traditional and digital media. - Trust and authority in times of crisis: Investigating how trust in media and political institutions fluctuates during crises (e.g., pandemics, natural disasters, or political instability). - The role of influencers and alternative media in shaping authority: How non-traditional communicators (e.g., influencers, citizen journalists) redefine authority in the public sphere. - The emergence of innovative forms and practices of political participation and the empowerment of digital citizenship as a product of online trust networks. - Intersectionality in trust dynamics: How factors such as gender, race, class, and ideology interact to influence trust in media and politics. - Ethical challenges in fostering trust: Analysing ethical dilemmas for journalists, political actors, and platforms in building or maintaining public trust and authority. - Future-oriented perspectives on trust and authority: Conceptual and methodological innovations for studying trust and authority in rapidly evolving media and political environments. *Useful information* Paper proposals should include name, affiliation, and email address, a title, an extended abstract (600/800 words excluding references), and bibliographical references. Authors should also explicitly indicate whether they request the paper to be considered for publication (after the conference) in “ComPol - Comunicazione Politica”, the flagship journal of the Italian Association of Political Communication *at the end of the abstract*. In the case of ex aequo in the evaluations provided by referees, priority will be given to authors who have expressed interest for publication on ComPol - Comunicazione Politica. *Useful information on how to write an abstract for AssoComPol conferences can be found in the section “Abstract instructions”: * https://www.compol.it/eventi/convegno/convegno-2025/ - Deaddline for submission of proposals: *March 21 * - Notification of acceptance: *April 15* - Full papers must be submitted by *June 16 *in the conference paper room (accessible by login) *Scientific Committee: *Roberta Bracciale, Patrizia Catellani, Cristopher Cepernich, Gianpietro Mazzoleni, Marco Mazzoni, Rossella Rega, Cristian Ruggiero, Sergio Splendore, Augusto Valeriani. *Local organizers: *Giorgia Aiello, C.W. Anderson, Mauro Barisione, Federico Boni, Diego Ceccobelli, Giulia Giorgi, Paolo Natale, Milan School of Media and Communication (MSMC). *Secretary: *Junio Aglioti Colombini, Alice Fubini, Antonio Martella, Melissa Mongiardo, Celeste Satta. --

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Call for Papers: Deceptive narratives and epistemic justice in technologies of care, 4S 2025
by Powell,A 29 Jan '25

29 Jan '25

Hello! I'm sharing a call for papers for the 4S conference - abstracts due Jan 31. Please share widely. Call for Papers: Deceptive narratives and epistemic justice in technologies of care, 4S 2025, Seattle 3-7 September Abstract due date: 31 January 2025 To submit, please go to the 4S submission page and select Open Panel #47 https://www.4sonline.org/accepted_open_panels_seattle.php Alison Powell and Philipp Seuferling invite you to join us in questioning the value placed on data, computational capacity or objectivity in health and care, broadly interpreted. Technologizing care can invoke deceptive, unhelpful stories of innovation: obsessions with efficiency have led to projects of “blitzscaling” the UK’s National Health Service, privatising genomic data in digital databases that go bankrupt (e.g. 23andMe), or datafying the provision of humanitarian care. The recasting of care into computational and algorithmic routines is often justified with stories of increased access, fairness or lower cost. These benefits tend to be deceptively narrated in opposition to epistemic threats such as the erosion of clinical authority or the dismissal of lived experience in favour of objective evidence (Powell, 2024) – causing amnesia (Schneider, 2024). Such amnesia reverberates: historical capacities and knowledges are dismissed, leading to epistemic conflicts, commonly held knowledge appropriated, and principles of solidarity in care provision undermined. We wonder: * How do deceptive narratives around sociotechnical systems lead to epistemic injustices? * How are designs of technologised care enmeshed with epistemic struggles – potentially unequal and unjust? * How can care be thought and built otherwise – against, mindful of, or even embracing amnesia, and reclaiming solidarity? This panel welcomes interventions on reverberations between information infrastructures, epistemic struggles, labour, care, materiality, history and liberation, such as: * Sociomaterial studies of technologized infrastructures of care (such as automation of care work, electronic health records, AI diagnostics) * Investigations of the consequences of infrastructural design for care data systems (such as private genomics databases or AI training data) * Theorizations of legitimacy and epistemic justice in relation to technology and care Submit 300 word abstracts by Jan 31 at: https://www.4sonline.org/accepted_open_panels_seattle.php Any questions get in touch with Alison or Philipp Alison Powell: a.powell(a)lse.ac.uk<mailto:a.powell@lse.ac.uk> Philipp Seuferling: p.seuferling(a)lse.ac.uk<mailto:p.seuferling@lse.ac.uk> Dr Alison Powell Associate Professor and Director of MSc in Data & Society Department of Media and Communications London School of Economics and Political Science RECENT ARTICLES: Alison Powell (2024) AI is Expensive<https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/2024/06/05/ai-is-expensive/>. LSE Blog. Alison Powell and Alex Taylor (2024) How can anyone be more than one thing? Dialogues on more-than-humanity in the smart city. In: Designing More-than-Human Smart Cities: Beyond Sustainability, Towards Cohabitation. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 223 - 238. ISBN 9780192884169 Alison B. Powell (2024) Objectivity vs affect: how competing forms of legitimacy can polarize public debate in data-driven public consultation, Information, Communication & Society, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2024.2329623

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ECPR Digital Authoritarianism RN Online Lecture, 4 Feb: Prof. Oliver Schlumberger
by Ülker Sözen 29 Jan '25

29 Jan '25

ECPR Digital Authoritarianism Research Network <https://ecpr.eu/group/digital-authoritarianism> launches the online lecture series "The Many Faces of Digital Authoritarianism". We cordially invite you for the first lecture by Professor Oliver Schlumberger with the title "The Digital Transformation of Authoritarianism". You can find below the abstract and bio of Prof. Schlumberger. The lecture will be held online via Zoom on *February 4, Tuesday between 15:00 - 16:30 CET. * Topic: ECPR Digital Authoritarianism RN Lecture Series- Prof. Oliver Schlumberger Time: Feb 4, 2025 03:00 PM Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna Join Zoom Meeting https://uni-leipzig.zoom-x.de/j/68151846834?pwd=Htw9oEeZ2u9ivsddMfX2vZO64RS… Meeting ID: 681 5184 6834 Passcode: 411770 Kind regards, ECPR Digital Authoritarianism RN Steering Committee https://x.com/digitalaut_ECPR https://bsky.app/profile/digitalaut-ecpr.bsky.social -------------------------------------- "The Digital Transformation of Authoritarianism" This talk provides an overview of various dimensions in which digitization causes, has caused, or will cause politically significant transformations of the mode of governance in authoritarian regimes. Such dimensions include the regimes themselves and the elites who run them; state-society relations that we see changing profoundly, including the chances of anti-systemic (i.e. democratic) oppositional actors; state-business relations in both the domestic and global realm; as well as an international dimension in which many of the domestic transformative aspects find their counterpart beyond the borders of the respective country. Maybe most importantly, however - and not restricted to authoritarian regimes, but much more pronounced than in democracies - we should pay attention to the immaterial, cognitive dimension where we see a contemporaneousness of multiple aspects coincide that together amount to a crisis of what is known, of what is believed, and of what is believed to be known. The overall purpose of the intervention is thus not a presentation of empirical research results, but rather to inspire future research in a relatively new, but potentially vast, field of research.“ Bio: Oliver Schlumberger is professor of Comparative Politics at Eberhard-Karls University of Tübingen. Having studied at Tübingen, Geneva and Damascus, his main research interests are authoritarianism; systemic political change (autocratization and democratization) and, lately, the transformations of politics through digitization. His latest publications on the relationship between digitization and politics are: „How authoritarianism transforms: A Framework for the Study of Digital Dictatorship“ (McMeehan-Prize for the best article; jointly with M. Edel; A. Maati; and K. Saglam, 2024, in* Government & Opposition*) and „Information, Doubt and Democracy: How Digitization Spurs Democratic Decay“ (jointly with A. Maati; K. Saglam; Ch. Sirikupt; and M. Edel, 2023, in *Democratization*).

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Online policy panel - Digital infrastructures and platforms: Sovereignty in an age of information disorder | 7 Feb 2025
by Orsolya Gulyás 28 Jan '25

28 Jan '25

Dear colleagues, The Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation (CD2I) at the Brussels School of Governance is organising an online panel discussion about infrastructure and platform sovereignty in an age of information disorder. Our panel of academic experts will discuss the increasingly pressing tensions around platform power and control over critical digital infrastructures, reflecting on whether the recently passed EU policies can help protect the European and global information space. The panel discussion will take place on 7 February at 15.00 (CET) on Zoom, please register to receive the meeting link. Registration: https://www.brussels-school.be/output/events/online-policy-panel-digital-in… Speakers: * * Daniel Fiott, Head of the Defence and Statecraft Programme, Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS), Brussels School of Governance (BSoG-VUB) * Trisha Meyer, Director of the Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation, Brussels School of Governance * Francesca Musiani, Research Professor & Director, Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) * Jamal Shahin, Associate Professor, Brussels School of Governance (BSoG-VUB); Professorial Fellow, UNU-CRIS Best wishes, ORSOLYA GULYÁS PhD Researcher orsolya.gulyas(a)vub.be<mailto:orsolya.gulyas@vub.be> Brussels School of Governance<https://brussels-school.be/> Pleinlaan 5 - 1050 Brussels

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Call for Abstracts: International anniversary conference: "20 Years into the Future: What is our vision of media, data, and society?"
by ZeMKI 28 Jan '25

28 Jan '25

ZeMKI’s 20th Anniversary International Conference 20 Years into the Future: What is our vision of media, data, and society? Confirmed Keynote Speakers: José van Dijck (Utrecht U, NL), Nick Couldry (LSE, UK) (more to follow) Date: 23.-24. October 2025 Street: Sandstraße 4/5, Bremen, Germany Location: House of Science Bremen Host: ZeMKI, Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research, University of Bremen Call for Abstracts: Media and communication research has traditionally focused on the present, often asking: What are the consequences of each “new” medium? How do digital media and their infrastructures impact contemporary cultures and societies? With this conference, however, we aim to shift the perspective—from analyzing present-day impacts to envisioning future possibilities. What can we learn from the current mediatization and datafication of society to imagine possible futures? What roles might media discourses, technologies, and practices play in ongoing and future societal transformations? In raising these foundational questions, the conference is broadly situated within the fields of media, communication and information research. Topics may include: the role of media discourses, technologies, and practices in narrating and shaping the future; the importance of media policy and governance in building better futures; recent technological developments such as communicative AI and their potential role for future media environments; ways in which our narratives of the past, media history, and archeology shape our imaginaries of the future; digital gaming and emerging forms of entertainment; future media-related challenges for future sustainability and quality of life; and methodologies in media and communication research that address emerging media-related developments from a forward-looking perspective. With discussion topics like these, the ZeMKI’s 20th anniversary conference is not about speculative forecasting but is grounded in media and communication research. We aim to explore long-term trends emerging from today’s media-related transformations and reflect on our visions of the future. We invite those who have previously engaged with us—our cooperation partners, ZeMKI fellows, guests, and friends—and those interested in starting new conversations. Presentations may cover any area of media and communication research, provided they also address the question of where a mediatized and datafied society might be heading. Abstracts of up to 500 words can be submitted by March 15th, 2025 via this online submission form: https://nc.uni-bremen.de/index.php/apps/forms/s/EP6cLH2Y3eLxbaaC6cLMCNsA Participation is free of charge. Download the call as a PDF file: https://zemki.uni-bremen.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Call_20-years-into-t… Conference website: https://zemki.uni-bremen.de/futures

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CfP: 4S open panel on stuckness in science and technology
by Michelle Venetucci 28 Jan '25

28 Jan '25

Hi everyone, Just a few days left to send in abstracts for 4S open panels! I'm writing to invite you to apply for an open panel on theorizing stuckness in science and technology. Full description below. The full list of panels is here <https://www.4sonline.org/accepted_open_panels_seattle.php>, submission instructions here <https://www.4sonline.org/call_for_submissions_seattle.php>. 4S will be in Seattle, September 3 - 6, 2025, and the deadline for 250 word abstracts is January 31. *Session Title:*Theorizing Stuckness in Science and Technology *Abstract:*What might we learn by studying science and technology through the lens of stuckness as opposed to progress? While critical conversations in STS have deconstructed progress narratives in science and technology, actors on the ground are well aware that their everyday work is far from smooth. Scientists are constantly frustrated with unexpected obstacles to their research plans (e.g., Messeri & Vertesi, 2015). Technologists who aspire to change the world often end up reproducing current structures of power (e.g., Rider, 2021). These experiences show up in empirical research, and yet are rarely theorized. In this panel, we propose foregrounding contexts of stuckness, inertia, and stagnation as a way to examine the production of scientific knowledge and technological projects and their societal impacts. Stuckness can be material, affective, discursive, and subjective; it can describe particular moments or extend into chronic conditions. On the one hand, moments of stuckness highlight how seemingly powerful experts are situated within material and structural constraints. On the other hand, experts often *feel* stuck, revealing the aspirations and expectations that experts might have about their work precisely as they fail to materialize. Stuckness enables us to bring together the material and discursive forces that shape the work of experts, moving towards an expansive understanding of how scientific and technological practices are produced. We invite scholars from a variety of fields and topic areas to explore stuckness, using the concept as a jumping off point for opening up new conversations about science, technology, and society: When do actors get stuck, and what responses does that elicit? How do different people experience stuckness? What might experiences of stuckness reveal about structural conditions, chronic issues, or routinized crises? We welcome papers that consider the theoretical and methodological possibilities that emerge from centering stuckness in the study of science and technology. Organizers: Shoko Yamada (shoko.yamada(a)yale.edu) Michelle Venetucci (michelle.venetucci(a)yale.edu) Yale University

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CFP: 4S Panel on sovereign tech cities
by Rider, Karina (gxy9fq) 28 Jan '25

28 Jan '25

Hello all, I’d love to invite you to submit for my 4S panel on tech entrepreneurs trying to build new sovereign cities and states! The panel is titled “Silicon Valley Sovereignty: The Tech Billionaires Building New Cities and the Locals Fighting Back.” See below for a panel description. Get in touch if you have any questions! All the best, Karina -- Dr. Karina Rider Assistant Professor @ University of Virginia Lead Organizer @ Labor Tech Research Network @kaareeenah.bsky.social // karinarider.com ---- In 2022, Balaji Srinivasan--angel investor and tech entrepreneur--published The Network State: How to Start a New Country. In it, he described what he saw as the successor to the nation-state: "highly aligned online communit[ies] with a capacity for collective action that crowdfunds territory around the world and eventually gains diplomatic recognition from pre-existing states." Famous examples of network states include initiatives backed by tech oligarchs: the Seasteading Institute which is building "startup communities that float on the ocean"; and Praxis, an online community attempting to build a 10,000-person city in "the Mediterranean." Although these proposals may seem fantastical, their grandiose ideals reverberate across time and space, inspiring similar projects on smaller scales. Tech entrepreneurs in California, for example, are investing in building several new cities where they provide the social and material infrastructure for residents. City Campus aims to build a one square-mile miniature city within San Francisco where residents can raise their kids, work, and "engage in local civic and social life." California Forever plans to build a new city twice the size of San Francisco in the middle of farmland. How do these initiatives fit into the network state framework? What do they mean for local displacement, democratic governance, and public services? The goal of this panel is to bring together scholars interested in exploring how network states are being built and how they impact local residents. Proposals might address questions such as: What exactly are network states, in practice? How are they built, and how do they overcome (or fail to overcome) local resistance? If network states exist along a sliding scale, what elements do they have in common? How do network states engage with local energy sources and how do they impact the environment?

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9th Workshop on Online Abuse and Harms (WOAH) @ACL: 2nd CFP
by Agostina Calabrese 27 Jan '25

27 Jan '25

*** Second Call for Papers *** We invite paper submissions to the 9th Workshop on Online Abuse and Harms (WOAH), which will take place on July 31/August 1 at ACL 2025. Website: https://www.workshopononlineabuse.com/cfp.html Important Dates * Submission due: March 7, 2025 * ARR reviewed submission due: April 10, 2025 * Notification of acceptance: April 17, 2025 * Camera-ready papers due: May 16, 2025 * Workshop: July 31st - August 1st, 2025 Overview Digital technologies have brought significant benefits to society, transforming how people connect, communicate, and interact. However, these same technologies have also enabled the widespread dissemination and amplification of abusive and harmful content, such as hate speech, harassment, and misinformation. Given the sheer volume of content shared online, addressing abuse and harm at scale requires the use of computational tools. Yet, detecting and moderating online abuse remains a complex task, fraught with technical, social, legal, and ethical challenges. The 9th Workshop on Online Abuse and Harms (WOAH) invites paper submissions from a diverse range of fields, including but not limited to natural language processing, machine learning, computational social science, law, political science, psychology, sociology, and cultural studies. We explicitly encourage interdisciplinary research, technical and non-technical contributions, and submissions that focus on under-resourced languages. Non-archival papers and civil society reports are also welcome. Topics covered by WOAH include, but are not limited to: * New models or methods for detecting abusive and harmful online content, including misinformation; * Biases and limitations in existing detection models or datasets for abusive and harmful content, especially those in commercial use; * Development of new datasets and taxonomies for online abuse and harms; * Novel evaluation metrics and procedures for detecting harmful content; * Analyses of the dynamics of online abuse, its propagation, and its impact on different communities; * Social, legal, and ethical considerations in detecting, monitoring, and moderating online abuse. Special Theme: Harms Beyond Hate Speech In its 9th edition, WOAH highlights the theme Harms Beyond Hate Speech. We aim to expand the conversation beyond conventional definitions of harmful content by exploring the nuanced ways online harms manifest—such as technologically mediated inauthentic behavior, the power of technologies to reshape perceptions and opinions, and their potential to incite discrimination, hostility, violence, or even genocide. Additionally, we emphasize the diverse targets affected by such harms and the unique considerations computational interventions demand. To facilitate this exploration, we invite NLP researchers, social scientists, cultural scholars, and practitioners to engage with key issues, including child sexual abuse material, radicalization, misinformation, platform policies, security, and the politics of computational approaches. By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, our goal is to deepen understanding of these complex phenomena and advance effective, ethical solutions Submission Submission is electronic, using the Softconf START conference management system. Submission link: TBA The workshop will accept three types of papers: 1) Academic Papers (long and short): Long papers of up to 8 pages, excluding references, and short papers of up to 4 pages, excluding references. Unlimited pages for references and appendices. Accepted papers will be given an additional page of content to address reviewer comments. Previously published papers cannot be accepted. 2) Non-Archival Submissions: Up to 2 pages, excluding references, to summarise and showcase in-progress work and work published elsewhere. 3) Civil Society Reports: Non-archival submissions, with a minimum of 2 pages and no upper limit. Can include work published elsewhere. All submissions must use the official ACL style files<https://github.com/acl-org/acl-style-files>. Submissions that do not conform to the required styles, including paper size, margin width, and font size restrictions, will be rejected without review. All submissions should adhere to the workshop policies https://www.workshopononlineabuse.com/policies.html. WOAH Community We are excited to share the WOAH community Slack channel — a workspace for researchers interested in or working on understanding and addressing online abuse and harms! Join us here: https://join.slack.com/t/hatespeechdet-47d7560/shared_invite/zt-2a8d96j4z-g… Contact Info Please send any questions about the workshop to organizers(a)workshopononlineabuse.com<mailto:organizers@workshopononlineabuse.com> Organisers Agostina Calabrese, University of Edinburgh Christine de Kock, University of Melbourne Debora Nozza, Bocconi University Flor Miriam Plaza-del-Arco, Bocconi University Zeerak Talat, University of Edinburgh Francielle Vargas, University of São Paulo The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th’ ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336.

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Tenure-Track Position: Assistant Professor of Game Studies at the University of Oregon
by Maxwell Foxman 27 Jan '25

27 Jan '25

Hello Everyone, With apologies for cross-posting, we are hiring a professor in game studies. Feel free to email me with questions. First round of applications close Feb. 28. Link to post can be found here: https://careers.uoregon.edu/en-us/job/534875/assistant-professor-of-game-st… We hope for a Fall 2025 start date. Reproducing the full call below: Assistant Professor of Game Studies Work type: Faculty - Tenure Track Location: Eugene, OR Categories: Journalism/Communication, Philosophy/Religion, Research/Scientific/Grants, Social Science, Instruction Department: School of Journalism and Communication Rank: Assistant Professor Annual Basis: 9 Month Application Deadline February 28, 2025; position open until filled Required Application Materials To ensure consideration, please upload the following with your online application: • A letter of interest outlining how your knowledge, skills, and experience meet the minimum and/or preferred qualifications of the position. • Current CV or resume including dates of employment. • Name and contact information for three professional references. The candidate will be notified prior to references being contacted. • A diversity statement (see below). As part of the application process, applicants seeking faculty positions at the University of Oregon are asked to submit a statement about their past, present, and future contributions to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in their professional careers. For example, you may have worked with members of communities or local governments in politics, or university constituents such as students, staff, or faculty to further the goals of equity and inclusion. In evaluating statements of contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion, search committees often consider the applicants: • Awareness of inequities and challenges faced by underrepresented minority students and faculty. • Track record (commensurate to career stage) of activities that reduce barriers in education or research for underrepresented minority students and faculty. • Vision and plans for how their work will continue to contribute to UO's mission to serve the needs of our diverse state and student population and create an inclusive campus. We particularly welcome applications from scholars who are from populations historically underrepresented in the academy, and/or who have experience working with diverse populations. Applicants are encouraged to highlight their experience and philosophy with regard to diversity, equity, and inclusion and to address how they integrate these values in research, teaching, engagement, and/or service. Any application missing the above documents/information may be considered incomplete. Position Announcement The University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication seeks a tenure-track Assistant Professor with a research and teaching emphasis in the area of Game Studies. We seek to hire colleagues who will conduct research on and teach about games (both analog and digital), game communities and affiliated technologies and platforms (e.g., Discord, Twitch, Esports, Virtual Reality) through the lenses of media studies, strategic communication, design, marketing, or their impacts and effects on users and culture. As one of the largest media and entertainment industries, games sit at the intersection of a variety of interactive and immersive interactive communication technologies, ranging from artificial intelligence to live streaming, that require rethinking the professional and social boundaries of media practitioners and consumers. At the same time, the ideological, economic and social norms fostered by gamers and game studios profoundly impact how everyday players and media users approach life, their sense of self, and create and maintain their own communities. From content creators, influencers and political pundits using streaming services like Twitch to the ways Artificial Intelligence is being deployed and adopted any number of professions, the impact of games and gaming is undeniable to the future of media. Hires would bring the following key contributions to our faculty: 1. Expertise in theories and concepts pertinent to game studies in regard to fields of media studies, communication, design, marketing, human-computer interaction, journalism, or affiliated fields. 2. A related specialty, such as the study of esports, fan studies, digital asset and game production, content creation, gaming identity, digital cultures, emerging media industries and economics, environmental studies, human-machine communication, strategic communication, and media psychology. 3. A capacity to teach required coursework in our new Game Studies minor at the SOJC such as media ethics, gender, media and diversity, and introduction to media studies, and potentially contribute to our online Immersive Media Communication Master’s program. This hire will join our growing body of scholars studying and teaching game studies and Immersive Media, including the new Game Studies minor launched in Fall 2024, which focuses on training media professionals in the culture and communication of games. Faculty members would also ideally strengthen SOJC’s ties to other units on campus, such as existing collaborations with the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) (e.g., the annual Data|Media|Digital Graduate Symposium), the campus-wide New Media and Culture Certificate program for graduate students, the ethics minor in philosophy, and UO’s Data Sciences Initiative. They could also work with the variety of extracurricular activities and programs associated with gaming on campus, including the varsity esports team, board game club, and the Art & Technology program in the School of Design. Games also are a significant component in the SOJC’s Immersive Media Communications program in collaboration with the Oregon Reality (OR) Lab, which focuses on experiential learning and research regarding the ethical use of immersive media and their social, cultural and professional impacts. Finally, ideal candidates will have strong potential to mentor undergraduate and graduate students as well as strong potential for and commitment to contributing to a culture of inclusive teaching and evidence of valuing diversity, equity, and inclusion. Equally important, candidates would be encouraged to take advantage of the university's existing partnerships to bring the industry and storytellers both in Portland’s “Silicon Forest” and Oregon’s thriving gaming community into the classroom while driving thought leadership as gaming and immersive technologies evolve. Positions will be based in Eugene on UO’s main campus. Department or Program Summary The School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC) is an accredited research and professional school serving approximately 2,450 undergraduates and 150 graduate students both on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene and at the George S. Turnbull Center in Portland. Degrees offered are the B.A., B.S., M.A., M.S., and Ph.D., as well as minors in Media Studies and Science Communication. The School also includes an interdisciplinary major in Cinema Studies and interdisciplinary minors in Multimedia and Native Studies. The SOJC employs approximately 125 individuals as faculty and staff, more than 50 graduate employees, and approximately 50 student employees. Founded in 1916, the SOJC is one of the oldest journalism programs in the nation. With deep roots in industry history and rich traditions, the SOJC is also home to state-of-the-art technology facilities such as the Oregon Reality (OR) Lab in Portland, the Experience Hub which focuses on media production (e.g., podcasting, social media) and a variety of immersive and interactive spaces for the creation, interaction and display of games on campus. The University of Oregon values and seeks diversity as a source of enrichment for our university community. The School of Journalism and Communication is deeply committed to building an inclusive community and particularly invites and welcomes applications from scholars who are from populations historically underrepresented or underserved in the academy. We encourage applications from candidates who, through their research, teaching, service, and community engagement demonstrably promote and contribute to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning and working environment for our students, staff, and faculty. Applicants are encouraged to highlight their experience and philosophy with regard to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Minimum Requirements • Ph.D. in communication, media studies, journalism, advertising, strategic communication, science and technology studies, information science/studies, philosophy, or another related field, or all but dissertation (ABD) with expected completion by the time of appointment. Please note your anticipated PhD completion. • Ability to execute independent and/or collaborative research that advances theory and bridges knowledge and practice. • A record or promise of scholarly accomplishment that includes publication in high-quality academic journals in communication, media studies, journalism, information studies, media psychology, computer science and design, and/or related fields. Preferred Qualifications • Strong commitment to contributing to a culture of inclusive teaching; and evidence of valuing diversity, equity, and inclusion. • Ability to teach across the required undergraduate curriculum including courses like “Making Sense of Media” and “How Stories Work,” as well as core media studies course (e.g., “Media Ethics,” “Communication Law). • Ability to teach across game studies minor courses such as “Introduction to Studying Games,” “Making the Virtual a Reality,” “Understanding Esports” and “Analog games.” • Ability to teach in at least one graduate program including: Master’s in Strategic Communication, Master’s in Advertising and Brand Responsibility, Master’s in Immersive Media Communication, Communication and Media Studies Master’s and Ph.D. • An interest in Master’s and doctoral student mentorship. • Demonstrated potential for teaching excellence. About the University The University of Oregon is an Association of American Universities member and Tier-One research institution that is ranked “highest research activity” by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Located 110 miles south of Portland, in Kalapuya Ilihi, the homelands of the Kalapuyan people. The Eugene metro area (pop. 375,000) is in a region noted for its dynamic quality of life and progressive cultural environment. We are about an hour’s drive from the Pacific coast and the Cascade Mountains. The University of Oregon has an enrollment of over 20,000 undergraduate and 3,600 graduate students. Of these, 34% are students of color. The university makes institutional commitments to diversity and actively supports its goal with resources such as the Center for Multicultural Academic Excellence, the Black Cultural Center, the Many Nations Longhouse, the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies, the Multicultural Center, and the Division of Equity and Inclusion, among other initiatives. The University of Oregon is proud to offer a robust benefits package to eligible employees, including health insurance, retirement plans and paid time off. For more information about benefits, visit http://hr.uoregon.edu/careers/about-benefits. Thanks! Maxwell Foxman Assistant Professor of Media Studies and Game Studies Game Studies Minor Director Co-Director of the EGR Lab SOJC | University of Oregon Book a meeting (virtual or in-person) with me here: https://bit.ly/foxmanmeeting

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