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VIDEO – Naveed Haq Keynote at IEEE CTU Summit 2024 – Everest Community Network
by Joly MacFie 15 Jan '25

15 Jan '25

It's been a bit of a wait for this, but well worth it. A classic! Sorry no captions or transcript, but I did do a summary. ISOC's Michuki Mwangi also participated in the CTUS, on the panel 'Accessible and Sustainable Digital Connectivity for All" https://ieeetv.ieee.org/channels/ieee-future-networks/panel-ieee-ctu-summit… [image: isoc live] <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=093edbe7280a6f4b8a72dcdb…>On *October 14, 2024*, Internet Society Regional Infrastructure and Connectivity Director *Naveed Haq <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=666576edb58d99dc196c938f…>* delivered a keynote speech at the* IEEE Connecting The Unconnected (CTU) Summit 2024 <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=453b6bdb055833af41792d55…>* in Dubai. His presentation, lavishly augmented with photos and video, centered on the deployment of the *Everest Community Network , <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=800f212a2f83ca3b6ccaaf34…>* in partnership the *Nepal Internet Foundation. <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=7a3d8c9a17a84429c3c33969…>* At 3,800 meters above sea level this is the the highest such network in the world, bringing high speed Internet to the remote Sherpa villages of Khunde and Khumjung, whose nearest road access is a two-week hike away. Built with participation of village residents, and sustained by trained local engineers, a school lab, a hospital, and local lodges are all now successfully connected, enhancing education, healthcare, and economic opportunities. *VIEW https://ieeetv.ieee.org/channels/ieee-future-networks/keynote-naveed-haq-ie… <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=5a6fe03d4c0ae0e893788c87…>* *SUMMARY https://isoc.live/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/naveed_haq_iee_ctu_2024.pdf <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=a227c3079023918d0c29bff0…>* *MORE IEEE CTU 2024 VIDEOS https://ieeetv.ieee.org/event/ieee-connecting-the-unconnected-summit-2024 <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=f95be7495047d99d6d077051…>* *PERMALINK * https://isoc.live/18736 *** ISOC.LIVE is a free webcasting support service for the Internet Society Community - ISOC LIVE is currently unfunded - if you would like to become a monthly sponsor - contact support(a)isoc.live ***

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CfP for Panel at Nordic STS - Flipping the Tables: Or an STS of humanities and social sciences
by Debarun Sarkar 15 Jan '25

15 Jan '25

Dear all, We look forward to your submissions in the following panel: "Flipping the Tables: Or an STS of humanities and social sciences" at the 7th Nordic STS Conference, 11-13 June 2025 in Stockholm. The submission is open till 1st March 2025. Title of the panel: Flipping the Tables: Or an STS of humanities and social sciences Organisers Cheshta Arora, Western Norway Research Institute, car(a)vestforsk.no<mailto:car@vestforsk.no> Debarun Sarkar, University of Bergen, debarun.sarkar(a)uib.no<mailto:debarun.sarkar@uib.no> A description of the issues and themes that the panel will address: Though the field of science and technology studies (STS) has been able to interrogate the messy contours of technoscience, the panel seeks to flip the tables, to re-deploy and re-think the methods and sensibilities that have been developed in relationship to the natural science and technological domains and turn the gaze towards humanities and social sciences. Even though humanities and social sciences, in particular the allied disciplines of anthropology/sociology, celebrate and defend self-referentiality, relationality and perspectivism as key sensibilities, there has been a reluctance to turn the gaze towards the labour one does (Arora and Sarkar 2022), the flow of capital that enables these disciplines in the contemporary, and the nitty-gritty of how knowledge is produced in these disciplines. Following Rabinow (1986) and echoing Sangren (2007), Hey notes the hesitancy of anthropologists/sociologists “in addressing the significance of ‘corridor talks’” (Hey 2001, 67) and how they appear or disappear in the “documents” (Smith 1974), or “inscriptions” (Latour and Woolgar 1986) emerging from these disciplinary practices. Similar to the ability of science and technology studies “to document and ask questions surrounding the practice of scientific knowledge-making in the lab and outside”, the panel calls for interrogating “knowledge-making practices in the fields of social science” and humanities (Sarkar 2022, 115). The mandate for interdisciplinarity has been a long-standing one (Apostel et al. 1972) and has been formalised in the European Union due to the Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development. However, this long-standing call and formalisation has not meant smooth integration, a strong tradition of cross-disciplinary collaboration or non-hierarchical collaborations (Bruce et al. 2004; Clark and Wallace 2015; Arora and Prabhakar 2023). Differences between trans-disciplinarity, inter-disciplinarity, and multi-disciplinarity are often noted to articulate the spectrum of collaboration between disciplines. The changes in modes of knowledge production (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff 2000) have also echoed in debates in the scientific method as complexity has emerged over the decades as the key problematic (Prigogine and Stengers 1997; Kitchin 2014). These changes have affected the everyday lives of social sciences and humanities as much as the natural sciences and engineering disciplines in terms of materials, interfaces, and infrastructures. However, an adequate global account of these changes within academic labour and knowledge production in the humanities and social sciences is lacking. The panel seeks papers and provocations that can think through the conditions of knowledge production, the process of hiring, grant-making, research-funding, tenure-track hiring, etc” (Arora and Sarkar 2022) and how knowledge is “assembled, accumulated, compiled and curated” (Jaton 2020) or practised and performed in these disciplines. The list is non-exhaustive, and we welcome concerns that echo or resonate with the following list: * How has the funding regime reshaped the contours of humanities and social science in recent decades in Europe and beyond? * How has labour relations reshaped the contours of humanities and social sciences in recent decades in Europe and beyond? * How has STS as a field been shaped by funding mandates in Europe and outside? * How is knowledge generated, codified and evaluated in humanities and social sciences in Europe and beyond? * How have mandates of interdisciplinarity shaped humanities and social sciences in recent years in Europe and beyond? * How does knowledge production differ in non-governmental organisations, research institutes, universities and for-profit organisations in Europe and beyond? * How can STS method and sensibilities be redeployed for unpacking knowledge production in humanities and social sciences? We encourage writings from diverse geographical sites and particularly encourage comparative perspectives across different regimes of scientific knowledge production. We welcome texts that wish to experiment with varied forms of writing and sense-making. Bibliography Apostel, Léo, Guy Berger, Asa Briggs, and Guy Michaud. 1972. ‘Interdisciplinarity: Problems of Teaching and Research in Universities’. Paris: OECD Publications Center, Suite 1207, 1750 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED061895. Arora, Cheshta, and Tarunima Prabhakar. 2023. ‘To Think of Interdisciplinarity as Intercurrence: Or, Working as an Interdisciplinary Team to Develop an ML Tool to Tackle Online Gender-Based Violence and Hate Speech’. Journal of Interdisciplinary Methodologies and Issues in Sciences Vol 11-Thinking interdisciplinarity in practice (Subject Area 1: Interdisciplinarity as a field of research). https://doi.org/10.46298/jimis.8915. Arora, Cheshta, and Debarun Sarkar. 2022. ‘No Publication, No Degree: Of Knowledge Production in Anthropology/Sociology in India’. Swiss Journal of Sociocultural Anthropology 28:84–104. https://doi.org/10.36950/sjsca.2022.28.8003. Bruce, Ann, Catherine Lyall, Joyce Tait, and Robin Williams. 2004. ‘Interdisciplinary Integration in Europe: The Case of the Fifth Framework Programme’. Futures, Transdisciplinarity, 36 (4): 457–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2003.10.003. Clark, Susan G., and Richard L. Wallace. 2015. ‘Integration and Interdisciplinarity: Concepts, Frameworks, and Education’. Policy Sciences 48 (2): 233–55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-015-9210-4. Etzkowitz, Henry, and Loet Leydesdorff. 2000. ‘The Dynamics of Innovation: From National Systems and “Mode 2” to a Triple Helix of University–Industry–Government Relations’. Research Policy 29 (2): 109–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(99)00055-4. Hey, Valerie. 2001. ‘The Construction of Academic Time: Sub/Contracting Academic Labour in Research’. Journal of Education Policy 16 (1): 67–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680930010009831. Jaton, Florian. 2020. The Constitution of Algorithms: Ground-Truthing, Programming, Formulating. Inside Technology. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. Kitchin, Rob. 2014. The Data Revolution: Big Data, Open Data, Data Infrastructures & Their Consequences. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781473909472. Latour, Bruno, and Steve Woolgar. 1986. Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts. Princeton University Press. Prigogine, Ilya, and Isabelle Stengers. 1997. The End of Certainty. Simon and Schuster. Rabinow, Paul. 1986. ‘Representations Are Social Facts: Modernity and Post-Modernity in Anthropology’. In Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, edited by James Clifford and George E. Marcus, 234–61. University of California Press. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1525/9780520946286-012/html. Sangren, P. Steven. 2007. ‘Anthropology of Anthropology?’ Anthropology Today 23 (4): 13–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8322.2007.00523.x. Sarkar, Debarun. 2022. ‘Toward a Feminism Without Scaffoldings: Mapping a Research Project, a Narrative from the Field, and a Draft Bill’. Journal of International Women’s Studies 23 (2): 103-118–103. https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol23/iss2/8. Smith, Dorothy. 1974. ‘The Social Construction of Documentary Reality’. Sociological Inquiry 44 (4): 257–67. https://www.academia.edu/49243314/The_Social_Construction_of_Documentary_Re….

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CFP: Videogame theory MT special issue
by Benjamin Nicoll 14 Jan '25

14 Jan '25

Hi all Aleena Chia, Braxton Soderman, and I are editing a special issue of Media Theory on videogame theory. We’re looking for submissions that go beyond simply applying theory to videogames. Instead, we’re after articles that explore how and to what extent videogames challenge us to theorize anew. Abstracts by 1 February, more details in the CFP: https://mediatheoryjournal.org/cfp-videogame-theory/ Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with any queries! Dr Benjamin Nicoll Senior Lecturer | School of Communication Queensland University of Technology b2.nicoll(a)qut.edu.au

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Convite: CFA: Postdoctoral Fellowship - Center for Advance... - sáb. 1 fev. 2025 20:30 - 21:30 (GMT) (air-l@listserv.aoir.org)
by Camilla Machuy 14 Jan '25

14 Jan '25

[Air-L] CFA: Postdoctoral Fellowship - Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication sábado 1 fev. 2025 ⋅ 20:30 – 21:30 Horário Reino Unido Entrar com o Google Meet https://meet.google.com/jmj-nrbh-ihg?hs=224 Dear colleagues, Please see below for information about our call for postdoctoral fellowship applicants. Applications are due February 1, 2025. Best wishes, Eszter INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR APPLICATIONS Postdoctoral Fellowship Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania The Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania invites applications for a “CARGC Postdoctoral Fellowship.” This is a one-year position renewable for a second year based on successful performance. Overview The Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication (CARGC) produces and promotes scholarly research on global media, communication, and public life. Our work brings together regional and area studies scholarsh... Organizador Camilla Machuy camillamachuy(a)gmail.com Convidados Camilla Machuy- organizador air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org Ver todas as informações do convidado https://calendar.google.com/calendar/event?action=VIEW&eid=NHE4Mmx2dXM3MGg3… Responda para air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org e veja mais detalhes https://calendar.google.com/calendar/event?action=VIEW&eid=NHE4Mmx2dXM3MGg3… Sua participação é opcional. ~~//~~ Convite do Google Agenda: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ Você recebeu este e-mail porque está na lista de convidados do evento. Se você encaminhar este convite, a pessoa que recebê-lo poderá modificar sua resposta de RSVP, responder ao organizador, ser adicionada à lista de convidados ou convidar alguém, qualquer que seja o status do convite. Saiba mais https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/37135#forwarding

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CFA: Postdoctoral Fellowship - Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication
by Zimanyi, Eszter 14 Jan '25

14 Jan '25

Dear colleagues, Please see below for information about our call for postdoctoral fellowship applicants. Applications are due February 1, 2025. Best wishes, Eszter INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR APPLICATIONS Postdoctoral Fellowship Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania The Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania invites applications for a “CARGC Postdoctoral Fellowship.” This is a one-year position renewable for a second year based on successful performance. Overview The Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication (CARGC)<https://www.asc.upenn.edu/research/centers/center-for-advanced-research-in-…> produces and promotes scholarly research on global media, communication, and public life. Our work brings together regional and area studies scholarship with theory and methodology in the humanities and social sciences to understand how local, lived experiences of people and communities are profoundly shaped by global media and communication technologies and industries. This synthesis of deep regional expertise and interdisciplinary inquiry stimulates critical conversations about entrenched and emerging media and communicative structures, practices, flows, and struggles. We explore new ways of understanding and explaining the world, including through public scholarship, the arts, multi-modal scholarship, and digital archives. With a core commitment to the development of early career scholars worldwide, CARGC hosts postdoctoral, doctoral, undergraduate, and faculty fellows who collaborate in research groups, produce peer-reviewed scholarship, contribute to CARGC’s Global Media & Communication Podcast, and organize talks, lectures, symposia, conferences, and summer institutes. Ongoing research groups focus on media, migration, and diasporas; media environments and the climate crisis; media industries and cultural politics; and media history and theory. We recommend that applicants familiarize themselves with CARGC’s mission and research activities<https://www.asc.upenn.edu/research/centers/center-for-advanced-research-in-…> listed on our website. We are particularly interested in candidates whose work focuses on media and creative industries, media entertainment and popular culture, and novel expressions of belonging and citizenship. Fellowship Details CARGC postdoctoral fellows work on their own research while also participating in and leading ongoing research projects within CARGC. During the fellowship, they present their work as part of a postdoctoral colloquium and work closely with the Senior Research Manager on a plan for publishing their research. There are limited opportunities for teaching that are decided in consultation with the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies. Fellows will receive a minimum stipend of $66,300, commensurate with previous postdoctoral experience. CARGC will also provide a research fund of $3,000, individual health insurance and dependent coverage, a workspace and a computer in CARGC’s office, and library access. In addition, CARGC will cover $1,000 in domestic relocation expenses and $2,000 if moving internationally. Please note all postdoctoral fellows must submit documentation to demonstrate eligibility to work in the United States. Non-US citizens selected for this position will be required to apply for an appropriate US visa. This is a residential fellowship. CARGC strives to be an inclusive community of scholars driven by intellectual curiosity and exchange rooted in the life of the Annenberg School, the University of Pennsylvania, and the city of Philadelphia. To foster mentoring and collaboration at all levels, we expect fellows to be fully engaged in the life of the center. Postdocs are therefore expected to work at our beautiful sixth-floor premises on the Penn campus. Eligibility We welcome applications from early career scholars with Ph.D. awarded by an institution other than the University of Pennsylvania. The chosen applicant must have successfully defended their dissertation by the fellowship start date. The appointment typically begins on August 1. Submitting Your Application A complete application consists of: Cover Letter – Please include a section explaining how your research aligns with CARGC’s mission, fits with one or more CARGC research themes<https://www.asc.upenn.edu/research/centers/center-for-advanced-research-in-…>, and contributes to the field of global media and communication studies. Research Statement - In no more than three double-spaced pages, please explain your core research interests and how you plan to build on your dissertation research. Include research questions, topic significance, theoretical framework and methods, a clear description of primary sources and necessary language skills, and a tentative publishing plan. CV (not to exceed three pages) – Please list degrees, peer-reviewed publications, academic non-peer-reviewed publications, public scholarship, invited talks, conference papers, other relevant qualifications, and specific research and language skills. References – Please provide names and contact information for three references (including that of your dissertation supervisor). If your application is shortlisted, we will get in touch with your referees in mid-February 2025. Please make sure your advisors/supervisors are aware of this timeline. One peer-reviewed publication – Please include a published peer-reviewed journal article or a chapter published in an anthology/edited collection. An article/chapter accepted for publication and forthcoming is acceptable (but not work that is under review). Timeline All materials must be sent as a single PDF document to cargc(a)asc.upenn.edu<mailto:cargc@asc.upenn.edu> by February 1, 2025. Because of the volume of applications, we are unable to read drafts of submissions. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. We expect to contact finalists for Zoom interviews by the end of February and make final decisions shortly thereafter. Additional Information If you have additional questions, please email us at cargc(a)asc.upenn.edu<mailto:%20%22cargc@asc.upenn.edu%22>. Kindly do not contact CARGC staff or the CARGC director individually. The University of Pennsylvania values diversity and seeks talented students, faculty and staff with diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. The University of Pennsylvania does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected class status in the administration of its admissions, financial aid, educational or athletic programs, or other University-administered programs or in its employment practices. Questions or complaints regarding this policy should be directed to: The Executive Director of the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Programs<https://oaaeop.upenn.edu/about>, Franklin Building, Suite 421, 3451 Walnut Street,  Philadelphia, PA 19104-6205, (215) 898-6993. ------------------------------------------------------------ Eszter Zimanyi, Ph.D. Senior Research Manager Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania Pronouns: she/her http://www.eszterzimanyi.com Recent Publications Interrogating the Limits of Humanitarian Art: The Uncomfortable Invitations of Ai Weiwei<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/25785273.2022.2094613?journalCo…> Virtually Wandering the Migration Trail<http://10.1353/cj.2022.0032> Humanitarian Immersions<https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/47754> Discarded Visions - virtual exhibit<https://www.spectatorjournal.org/>

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CFM: Symbolic Interaction and Donald Trump
by Sarina Chen 14 Jan '25

14 Jan '25

CFM: *Symbolic Interaction and Donald Trump* Donald Trump, an American politician, businessman, and media personality, is undoubtedly one of the most polarizing persons in the 20th and 21st centuries. Once the 45th President of the United States, he is about to take the Oath of Office (on January 20, 2025) that will affirm his stature as the inaugurated 47th President. Critics describe Trump as "an abrasive leader" who, in the words of *The Guardian's* Archie Bland, "has taken his party from the conventional right to the (radical) populist flank." His comments depict a dark vision of this country and, as many critics have noted, are often accompanied by racially charged assertions and misogynistic characterizations. He frequently and ardently insults his political opponents, claims that "only he" can institute measures that will "control of the border," and has become the object of Elon Musk's love. Notably, as seen in his performance during the Presidential Debate, and in his nocturnal postings on his *Truth Social *platform, Trump has promoted conspiracy theories, making false and misleading statements that, seemingly, have contributed to his popularity. For instance, when he lost the 2020 presidential election, he not only refused to concede, but claimed electoral fraud. Concomitantly, he attempted to overturn the results through his involvement in the January 6 Capitol attack. Trump has also been involved in several civil and criminal prosecutions. In 2023 civil proceedings, Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and in 2024, for financial fraud. Further, in May 2024, Trump was found guilty of falsifying business records. Recently, on January 10, 2025, Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump to an unconditional discharge, both affirming that Trump is the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime and a convicted criminal who will serve no time in prison (with no strings attached). Due to the significance and controversies surrounding Trump, current events related to him seem worthy of sociological (and especially, interactionist) analysis. It is our belief that studying the social activities surrounding Trump will aid in the development and enrichment of a comprehensive theory of social behavior in contemporary society. With this understanding, *Studies in Symbolic Interaction*, Vol. 63, *Symbolic Interaction and Donald Trump*, is devoted to the interactionist analyses of Donald Trump, on topics which include, but not limited to: Donald Trump and charismatic relationships Donald Trump and U.S. politics Donald Trump and political movement Donald Trump and right-wing narratives Donald Trump and Christian Trumpism Donald Trump and political campaigns Donald Trump and persuasion Donald Trump and falsehoods Donald Trump and immigration Donald Trump and journalism Donald Trump and media Donald Trump and social media Donald Trump and women Donald Trump and minorities For all interested, please send an abstract of no more than 750 words to Shing-Ling Sarina Chen (sarina.chen(a)uni.edu) by *March, 1, 2025*. If an abstract is selected for inclusion, the deadline of completing the manuscript is *September 30, 2025*. Thank you very much for your consideration. Looking forward to hearing from you. Shing-Ling Sarina Chen Editor, *Studies in Symbolic Interaction* ************************************************

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[Call for Papers] Network Imaginaries: Past, Present, and Future (4S 2025 Seattle)
by Charles CORVAL 14 Jan '25

14 Jan '25

Dear colleagues, We are seeking presenters for the panel, Network Imaginaries: Past, Present, and Future, at the next 4S conference (September 3-7, 2025, Seattle, WA, USA). We welcome papers of varying approaches that consider the origins, mobilizations, endurances, and evolutions of the network imaginaries underlying technologies and systems from the 19th Century through to contemporary transformations and promises. (See below for the full call and submission details.) Proposals consisting of a short abstract (up to 250 words) will be accepted until January 31 via the official website of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S). Charles Corval Sciences Po Paris / Institut d'études politiques de Paris - CEVIP — 4S Open Panel 239: Network Imaginaries: Past, Present, and Future Decades after the introduction of the consumer internet, society now anticipates profound transformations in computing and networking driven by innovations like artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, the internet-of-things (IoT), robotics, data mining, and cloud computing. As these developments promise—or threaten—to reshape public and private networks and technologies, it is vital to investigate the network imaginaries that motivate, constrain, and enable their development, adoption, regulation, and exploitation. Network imaginaries have long been central to modernity, from their origins in symbolic practices like weaving to their influence on technical and organizational thought. In fact, as Pierre Musso (2003) has argued, the concept of the network is foundational to our collective imaginations, even shaping both the philosophies and social sciences that critique them. Information and communication technologies, in particular, have become unimaginable without the language and imagery of networks, and they remain effective and powerful as innovations periodically promise to repair, reinforce, and reconfigure existing systems, practices, and economies (De Filippi, 2019). According to Castoriadis (1975), social imaginaries are the shared meanings, symbols, and institutions a society creates and sustains to define itself, guide its practices, and provide coherence to its social order. Similarly, sociotechnical imaginaries, as articulated by Jasanoff and Kim (2015), offer a critical framework for understanding the cultural and ideological contexts of technological adoption and innovation. This panel on network imaginaries, then, seeks to explore these inspirations, contexts, and intersections while reexamining -- or preexamining -- the utopias, anxieties, and ideologies embedded in contemporary networks and networked technologies, as well as their intended and unintended consequences. We welcome proposals representing a variety of perspectives and approaches to addressing the enduring network imaginaries of existing and emerging technologies and techniques. Potential topics include but are not limited to historic networks, information economics, artificial intelligence, cybernetics, decentralization narratives, surveillance regimes, digital sovereignty, IoT, blockchain, and the future role of new technologies toward repairing or reinforcing preexisting network functions and goals. Open Panel: Network Imaginaries: Past, Present, and Future (Panel 239) Proposal Format: Short Abstract (250 words max) Proposal Deadline: January 31, 2025 Notice of Acceptance: March 15, 2025 Proposal Submission: https://www.4sonline.org/accepted_open_panels_seattle.php Panel Organizers: Charles Corval, charles.corval(a)sciencespo.fr Daniel Kim, ddaniel.kim(a)utoronto.ca

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Call for abstracts (4S 2025) - Thinking with skin: surface, depth, and porous media
by Newmark, Rebecca 13 Jan '25

13 Jan '25

Please consider submitting an abstract to our open panel for the 2025 4S Conference (Society for Social Studies of Science), which will take place in Seattle on September 3-7. Thinking with skin: surface, depth, and porous media Scholars in Science and Technology Studies have productively interrogated the gut, using concepts such as porosity, metabolism, and excretion to explore the fluid boundaries between inside and outside and their scientific and medical management (Cohen 2013, Landecker 2013, Solomon 2016, Wilson 2015). The skin shares many properties with the gut, including its troubling permeability, its boundary function, and the many ways in which it has the potential to become dysfunctional, letting “too much” or “too little” pass within. Yet the skin also reverses prevailing ontologies of surface/depth, brings attention to visual regimes linked to new and old media, foregrounds questions of race, and brings in questions of intimacy, pleasure, and pain through touch. In Experiments in Skin, Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu challenges us to see skin “as a connective tissue...not as the final boundary between self and other, but rather the record of our collective imbrication” (2021:9). We see media as integral to the process through which skin becomes a connective tissue, not only in the ways the skin as an object is refracted through digital and print media, but also the ways that skin acts as a medium for racialized regimes of bodily (self-)management and a mediator of competing forms of expertise. This panel seeks to bring together and inspire many-layered theorizations of skin in both historic and contemporary perspective. We are particularly excited about papers that explore skin in relation to concepts of porousness, surface, and depth, as well as explorations of media and skin (including notions of skin-as-media(tor)). What theoretical horizons might be offered by a sustained engagement with the body’s surface? What role do media play in shaping understandings and experiences of skin? How might skin embody and make visible contemporary and/or historic anxieties about changing social and built environments? Deadline of the call for abstracts: January 31, 2025 Notification of acceptance: March 15, 2025 4S 2025 in-person conference: September 3-7, 2025 Abstracts (250 words max) should be submitted on the 4S website: https://bit.ly/3BtgXPh<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/bit.ly/3BtgXPh__;!!LQC6Cpwp!oGUxOVMc6pnR…> Title: Thinking with skin: surface, depth, and porous media Organizers: Molly Hales, Northwestern University - molly.hales(a)northwestern.edu<mailto:molly.hales@northwestern.edu> Rebecca Newmark, UCSF/UC Berkeley - rebecca.newmark(a)ucsf.edu<mailto:rebecca.newmark@ucsf.edu> -- Rebecca Newmark (she/her) MD-PhD Candidate Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) University of California, San Francisco 847-644-5248 (mobile)

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4S Open Panel: The Problem with Privacy
by Samuel DiBella 13 Jan '25

13 Jan '25

Dear colleagues, We invite any submissions to our open panel at 4S 2025, September 3-7, 2025, Seattle WA: /Open panel /The Problem with Privacy /Abstract/ Within the United States, privacy remains a contested and polysemous term. To some, privacy is an amorphous social good; to others, it is a threatened right that must be preserved against intrusion by information technology; to still others, privacy is out-dated or incoherent, an inadequate heuristic for present and future socio-technical realities. Whether privacy should be revitalized or discarded, the concept still holds together a set of affective attachments — we can analyze how instances of ‘privacy’ signify admixtures of belief around the adequacy of U.S. judicial law, the promise of certain tech-led futures, one’s trust in more proximate public and private data actors, and so on. Within the academy, the concept generally iterates heuristics that test novel socio-technical conduct against (more or less conservative) articulations of liberal democratic theory (Nissenbaum 2004, Cohen 2013). In contrast, other work describes the extensive privacy preservation behaviors that individuals or communities practice to protect themselves or how privacy has socially changed over time (Nippert-Eng 2010, Marwick 2023, Igo 2018). In short, ‘privacy’ indexes live tensions — how is the concept made useful, and for who? How do debates around privacy link with broader contestations of technologicalized futures? What relations do privacy practices enact between individuals, communities, tech firms, and the state? This panel invites submissions from scholars who approach privacy through this lens of contestation. We are especially interested in community-engaged research that reflects on the uses (and limitations) of privacy, at a time when the tenets of liberal democracy are increasingly difficult to locate within technology governance. We welcome panelists across a range of fields, such as: urban surveillance and policing, social media and online platforms, healthcare and patient populations, labor. Conveners: Samuel DiBella, Lian Song Abstract submission deadline: January 31, 2025 To submit, please go to the 4S submission page <https://www.4sonline.org/call_for_submissions_seattle.php> and select panel #56. Best wishes, —Sam

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Consistencies/Coexistences: Weaving Critical Perspectives on Technology and Society - University of Naples "Federico II"
by Sara C. Santoriello 13 Jan '25

13 Jan '25

Dear collegues, Game of Tech (www.gameoftech.eu) is a PhD students and post-docs collective at the Department of Social Sciences, University of Naples "Federico II" (Italy). Our seminar series “Consistencies/Coexistences: Weaving Critical Perspectives on Technology and Society” will take place from February to June 2025. Over the course of five sessions, we will explore the sociotechnical dimensions of digitalization by challenging some deeply rooted yet arbitrary dichotomies, such as the divide between hard and soft sciences, the separation of nature and culture, and the equation of the digital with the immaterial. These meetings will serve as generative opportunities for dialogue among researchers, professionals, artists, technical figures, and sector experts, with a strong emphasis on transdisciplinarity and the blending of experiences and viewpoints. Registrations (due Feb 5, 2025): https://bit.ly/GoT2025 For information and inquiries: gameoftech(a)proton.me Most of the sessions will be held in Italian. Program February 12: Digital Commons. (Re)thinking technological distributions and cooperation. March 19: Unboxing AI. Artificial intelligence beyond the black box. April 9: Digital Labour. Work, technologies, conflicts. May 14: AI Ethics. (In)organic practices and policies of care. May 21: AI Warfare. Wars, technologies, algorithms. All sessions will take place from 3 PM to 6 PM in Room G3, San Marcellino. Any update here: https://www.gameoftech.eu/eventi/consistenze-coesistenze-2025 In June, the seminar series will conclude with a two-day event featuring discussion sessions among participants, workshops, and keynote speaker presentations. Scientific Committee: Francesco Amato, Giuseppe Borriello, Marica Castaldi, Dario Chianese, Alberto De Mascellis, Roberto Graziano, Vincenzo Laezza, Jessica Parola, Sara Pastore, Arianna Petrosino, Luca Recano, Sara C. Santoriello, Camilla Volpe

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