- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

suggested readings or syllabi
by Seth Lewis 10 May '12

10 May '12

Hi all, I'm preparing to teach two new courses: - an undergraduate course, "Internet and Global Society" (which can be as broad as the title suggests, covering key concepts such as cyberactivism and key cases such as SMS in Africa) - a grad seminar, "Changing Media Environment" (likewise fairly broad, covering key theories and concepts for understanding digital media) Just curious to see if anyone has some recommended readings for either course, or a related syllabus they might be willing to share. All suggestions appreciated. And, of course, I'd be happy to compile and share back what I find, if anyone's interested. You can reach me directly at sclewis(a)umn.edu. Thanks! -Seth -- Seth C. Lewis, Ph.D. // Assistant Professor School of Journalism & Mass Communication University of Minnesota–Twin Cities @sethclewis <http://twitter.com/#!/sethclewis> // Papers<http://umn.academia.edu/SethLewis> // Faculty profile <http://bit.ly/sclewis>

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slow art
by Seda Guerses 09 May '12

09 May '12

dear airs, following up on previous postings on "slow science", this time a call for "slow art" within the "open house" event in brussels. best, s. Open House Brussels: For the first time in Brussels 24 artistic laboratories and alternative management offices have joined together to show their practices and research in an Open House event dedicated to both public and professionals. Focusing rather on artistic research processes than on final products, these structures provide national and international artists with time, space and tools to develop their works. With Open House these multi-disciplinary organisations take the opportunity to strengthen their bonds and show once again that Brussels is more than ever a creative and dynamic artists’ city. Open House will propose three morning debates: one focusing on Slow Art; one on the position of the artist within the contemporary artistic sector and Brussels in particular; and one as a first-aid session for artists. It will be completed with afternoon guided tours and artistic parcours offering the public a chance to get introduced to the structures’ working process and the artists who bind them together. http://www.openhousebrussels.be/

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Self-naming on websites for sexual and gender minorities: literature recommendations?
by Szulc Lukasz 09 May '12

09 May '12

Dear all, I'm writing a paper for IR13 on the importance of self-naming on Polish and Turkish websites for sexual and gender minorities. I'd like to kindly ask you for the recommendation of any literature on this topic. That could be general studies on self-naming on LGBTQ websites, though I mainly look for papers analysing the content generated by webmasters and websites' authors. For the current paper, I'm less interested in self-(re)presentation of websites' users in their personal profiles, comments posted on websites and so on. I'd especially welcome any papers which discuss Polish or Turkish cases. All the best, Lukasz Szulc PhD Candidate University of Antwerp Department of communication Studies www.ua.ac.be/lukasz.szulc<http://www.ua.ac.be/lukasz.szulc>

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|| ACADEMIC MINDTREK || 13th May DEADLINE || CfP || * HCI * Social Media * Digital Games * Open Source * Media Management * Ambient Media *
by artur.lugmayr＠tut.fi 09 May '12

09 May '12

============================================================================================ Academic MindTrek Conference 2012: Call for Papers, Extended Abstracts, Posters, Demonstrations, Workshops, Tutorials 3rd-5th October, 2012 Tampere, Finland http://www.academicmindtrek.org, http://www.mindtrek.org * SOCIAL MEDIA * AMBIENT MEDIA * MEDIA MANAGEMENT * HCI * OPEN SOURCE * DIGITAL GAMES * Long and short papers, posters, demonstrations, and extended abstracts due on: 13th May 2012 Tutorials and Workshops due on: 1st June 2012 in cooperation with ACM, ACM SIGMM, and ACM SIGCHI contributions will be published in the ACM digital library and a selected set of high-level work will be published as book chapters or in journals ============================================================================================ CALL FOR PAPERS, EXTENDED ABSTRACTS, POSTERS, DEMONSTRATIONS, WORKSHOPS & TUTORIALS We are pleased to invite you to the Academic MindTrek conference, 3rd ? 5th October 2012, which brings together a cross-disciplinary crowd of people to investigate current and emerging topics of media in the ubiquitous arena. The conference explores academically the emerging and frontier-breaking applications of new media in everyday contexts of leisure, business and organizational life. October 3rd is the main Academic MindTrek day. Due increasing popularity of the conference, we are extending the scope of Academic MindTrek 2012! The academic conference features six major themes: * Social Media * Ambient & Ubiquitous Media * Business & Media * Human-Computer Interaction (new track!) * Open Source * Digital Games SOCIAL MEDIA ?Get social!? Social media and Web 2.0 technologies are applied in ever diverse practices both in private and public communities. Totally new business models are emerging, traditional communication and expression modalities are challenged, and new practices are constructed in the collaborative, interactive media space. AMBIENT AND UBIQUITOUS MEDIA ?The medium is the message!? ? This conference track focuses on the definition of ambient and ubiquitous media with a cross-disciplinary viewpoint: ambient media between technology, art, and content. The focus of this track is on applications, location based services, ubiquitous computation, augmented reality, theory, art-works, mixed reality concepts, the Web 3.0, and user experiences that make ubiquitous and ambient media tick. MEDIA BUSINESS, MEDIA PRODUCTION AND MEDIA MANAGEMENT Media business and media management face the challenges of the emergence of new forms of digital media. This theme focuses on business studies, policies, practices, and organizational structure of media firms. It discusses competition, patterns of media usage, advertising models, and how traditional media can cope with the challenges coming from digital media focusing on media business and media management issues. HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION (HCI) The wide field of HCI is to discuss issues around human computer interaction modalities, consumer experience, design of computer systems, human aspects, universal media access, ergonomics, communication, novel interaction modalities, privacy, trusted systems, interaction theories, and sociological and psychological factors. This theme of devotes to several of these aspects, and is targeted to the scientific community dealing with several applied and theoretical aspects of HCI and user experience. OPEN SOURCE The last decade has seen a significant increase in open source initiatives such as open source software, open standards, open content, open media, or even open source hardware. On the one hand, the open movement has created new kinds of opportunities such as new business models and development approaches. On the other hand, it has introduced new kinds of technical and non-technical challenges. DIGITAL GAMES The culture and business of digital games is becoming increasingly varied. The current trends range from novel interface innovations and digital distribution channels to social game dynamics and player-generated content. The games track is open for theoretical works, empirical case studies and constructive projects. DEMONSTRATIONS The aim is to gather demonstrations from researchers and professionals from the communities related to the topics of MindTrek. The objective for the demonstrations is to provide a forum for exchanging experiences, practical projects, or media demonstrators. The target audience includes members of the academic community, industry, or laboratories who can demonstrate the results of their research projects with a practical implementation. ACADEMIC MINDTREK AS A CONFERENCE In addition, special academic sessions (e.g. tutorials, demonstrations, workshops, and multidisciplinary sessions) will be held parallel to the MindTrek business conference. Academic speakers and authors are warmly welcome to register for the business conference tracks as part of the academic conference with our special registration rate. The Academic MindTrek registration includes full service such as coffees, lunches, and social gatherings. The MindTrek Association hosts MindTrek as a yearly conference, where the Academic MindTrek conference has been a part of this unique set of events comprising competitions, world famous keynote speakers, plenary sessions, media festivals, and workshops since 1997. It is a meeting place where experts and thinkers present results from their latest work regarding the development of Internet, interactive media, and the information society. MindTrek brings together researchers and practitioners from diverse disciplines that are involved in the development of media in various fields, ranging from sociology and the economy, to technology. The organizing committee invites you to submit original high quality full papers, long or short, addressing the special theme and the topics, for presentation at the conference and inclusion in the proceedings. CONFERENCE PUBLICATIONS The scientific part of the conference is organized in cooperation with ACM SIGMM, and ACM SIGCHI. Conference proceedings will be published in the ACM Digital Library, which includes short and long papers, workshop proposals, demonstration proposals, and tutorial proposals. Extended abstracts will be published in the adjunct conference proceedings; however, they will not be published within the ACM Digital Library. Selected high quality papers will be published in international journals, as book chapters, edited books, or via open access journals. There will also be a reward for the overall best paper from the academic conference. Several papers should follow the style guidelines of the conference. SHORT AND LONG PAPER PROPOSALS All submissions will be peer-reviewed double blinded, therefore please remove any information that could give an indication of the authorship. Short papers should be between 2-4 pages long and the paper presentation will be 15 minutes plus 5 minutes discussion within a session; long papers should be 6-8 pages and will be presented in 20 minutes slots, plus 5 minutes discussion. WORKSHOP PROPOSALS Feel free to suggest workshops which are co-organized with the Academic MindTrek. Workshop proposals should include the organizing committee, a 2 page description of the theme of the workshop, a short CV of organizers, duration, the proceedings publisher, and the schedule. Workshop organizers also have the possibility to add publications to the main conference proceedings. Depending on the attracted number of papers for each workshop, we provide space for either half-day or full-day workshops. DEMONSTRATIONS PROPOSALS Demonstration proposals shall be 2-3 pages and include: a) a description and motivation of the demonstration; b) general architecture of the demonstration; c) description of the main features; d) a brief comparison with other existing related demonstrations; e) audio-visual materials to illustrate the demonstration (if applicable); f) the type of license, and g) the Internet address of the demonstration (if applicable). It is strongly recommended that the authors make the demonstration (or a suitable version or movie) on the Internet during the evaluation. TUTORIAL PROPOSALS Tutorial proposals should include a 2-page description of the tutorial, intended audience, a short CV, timetable, required equipment, references, and a track record of previous tutorials. The target length of tutorials is 2-4 hours. EXTENDED ABSTRACTS Extended abstracts should be between 1-2 pages long and contain 500-800 words. They should describe the research problem, background, research questions, and the contribution to the conference. Extended abstracts will not be published within the ACM digital library. POSTER PRESENTATIONS Posters should be between 2-3 pages long and a poster should be presented during the conference. Attendees have the possibility to exhibit their posters on a A0 poster wall during the conference. SUBMISSION DEADLINES - 13th May 2012: deadline for long papers (6-8 pages), short papers (3-4 pages), extended abstracts (1-2 pages), posters (1-2 pages) and demonstrations (2-3 pages) - 1st June 2012: deadline for tutorial proposals and workshop proposals - 20 July: camera ready papers and copyright forms KEY-DATES - 30th June 2012: notification of acceptance/rejection for papers, extended abstracts, posters, and demos, tutorials - 5th August 2012: submission of camera ready papers - 3rd-5th October 2012: Academic MindTrek and MindTrek Business Conference Suggested key-dates for workshop organizers - 15th August 2012: deadline for workshop papers - 10th September 2012: deadline for camera-ready papers CONFERENCE THEMES 1. Social Media - business models, service models, and policies - social media in innovation and business - intra- and interorganizational use of social media - questions related to identity, motivation and values - blogs, wikis, collaboration and social platform designs in practice - knowledge management and learning with social media - experience management with social media - crowdsourcing, user-created content and social networks - enterprise 2.0 and social computing in work organizations - evaluation and research methods of social media - social media and community design - benefits and limitations of social media applications 2. Ambient and Ubiquitous Media - between Technology, Services, and Users - applications and services utilizing ubiquitous and pervasive technology - ubicom in eLearning, leisure, storytelling, art works, advertising, and mixed reality contexts - next generation user interfaces, ergonomics, multimodality, and human-computer interaction - art works for smart public or indoor spaces, mobile phones, museums, or cultural applications - context awareness, sensor perception, context sensitive Internet, and smart daily objects - personalization, multimodal interaction, smart user interfaces, and ergonomics - ambient human computer interaction, experience design, usability, and audience research - software, hardware, middleware, and technologies for pervasive and ubiquitous - theoretical methods and algorithms in ubiquitous and ambient systems - business models, service models, media economics, regulations, x-commerce, and policies - user positioning, location awareness - augmented reality in ubiquitous applications - device interoperability, remote user interfaces, inter-device connections 3. Media Business, Media Studies, and Media Management - media policy, politics, practices, conception, and media regulation - organizational structures, practices, and strategies - production technology, processes, and optimization - business models, service models, public funding, and media economics - patterns of media use, engagement, and consumer experiences - advertising, media consumption, new audience models, and media user models - competition analysis, media governing, assessment, performance indicators - business and media management: gaming, social media, Internet, digital cinema, iTV - traditional media business and management: broadcasting, publishing, journalism, and movie industry - innovative service designs, strategies, and ideas - teaching & training of media management and media business 4. Human-Computer Interaction - user experience and experience design - interaction design techniques and methods - user interaction and HCI design - creativity, practices and innovation in HCI - analysis, theories, and procedures in interaction design - methods, systems, and toolkits supporting HCI - human centered computing and understanding interaction - interactivity methods - designing for experience and interactivity - design, evaluation, and implementation of interactive systems - phenomena surrounding interactivity 5. Open Source - forms of openness: open source software, open standards, open content, open media, open source hardware, and open access - establishment of an open source community - practices on developing open source systems - practices for maintaining a successful project - open source processes and techniques - differences on open source and closed source systems - using open source in commercial context - challenges of open source development - teaching open source in academia and industry 6. Digital Games - theoretical and analytical approaches on games and play - analysis of player experience - game design research - economy and business models in the game industry - innovation in and around games - digital distribution of games - online gaming - social and casual gaming - player-created content - pervasive and ubiquitous gaming - mobile and cross-media gaming - gamification, funware and playful designs PAPER SUBMISSION - Please follow the style guidelines on http://www.acm.org/sigs/publications/proceedings-templates for formatting your paper - Note that since the papers will be published by the ACM digital library all authors need to sign an ACM copyright form. (For further guidelines see: http://www.acm.org/pubs/copyright_form.html) - Submit papers here http://webhotel2.tut.fi/emmi/Conferences/2012mindtrek/ ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Artur Lugmayr, Tampere Univ. of Technology (TUT), FIN Helj? Franssila, Tampere Univ. (UTA), FIN Karsten Wolf, Univ. Bremen, GER Hannu K?rkk?inen, Tampere Univ. of Technology (TUT), FIN Janne Paavilainen, University of Tampere (UTA), FIN Theresa Champel, Univ. of Lisbon, PT Yuan Fu, Tampere Univ. of Technology (TUT), FIN Moyen Mustaquim, Uppsala University, SE Dominik Strohmeier, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin), GER CONTACT Questions concerning academic content, papers, tutorials, workshops, scientific contributions: Email:academic-mindtrek-chairs@listmail.tut.fi General questions concerning payments, administration, copyright forms, local arrangements, and the venue: Email: academic-mindtrek-info(a)listmail.tut.fi PAPER SUBMISSIONS http://webhotel2.tut.fi/emmi/Conferences/2012mindtrek/ FURTHER INFORMATION http://www.academicmindtrek.org SUPPORTED BY MindTrek Association, City of Tampere, Tampere University of Technology (TUT), Tampere University (UTA), Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK), Ambient Media Association (AMEA).

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Call for Book Chapters: The Ubiquitous Internet
by Anja Bechmann 09 May '12

09 May '12

CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS ***Please distribute widely — apologies for cross-postings*** The ubiquitous internet This edited collection of work by international scholars analyses aspects of the mobile, platform-independent and interoperable character of the internet and the associated cultural practices. How do users communicate under these circumstances? How do companies orient to political, commercial and regulatory frameworks in order to stay in – and expand – business? What are the key privacy concerns and regulatory practices on the ubiquitous internet, and what are the standards when operating in ubiquitous settings? The user convenience of internet at your fingertips from any device near you and information that floats ‘freely’ and follows you around on the internet through interoperable cloud services potentially set new standards for user behaviour and strategies on the internet in terms of sharing and data connecting that we know very little about (Taddicken, 2012). From a user perspective, Baron (2008) has pointed to the notion of being ‘always on’ as a central experiential quality of mobile media, but we lack a nuanced understanding of how being always on maps onto the practices through which users move seamlessly across services and media platforms in everyday life? From a business perspective, the data generated and shared by users on the ubiquitous internet create new opportunities for revenue, through monitoring, data mining and profiling techniques. However, despite a frequently voiced concern for user ‘exploitation’ and commodification (e.g. van Dijck, 2009; Fuchs et al., 2012), we still know quite little about how exactly companies like Facebook, Google, Amazon and Twitter aggregate and mine user data to generate value. Such knowledge is particularly critical, because the ubiquitous internet challenges institutional and societal concepts of privacy, law and economics of the internet. More and more information on the internet flows only within industry-owned domains such as Facebook and Google and across platforms that have their own internet standards (e.g. apps and browsers for mobile platforms). Business analysts have called this fenced-off internet the ‘splinternet’ (Bernoff & VanBoskirk, 2010; Thomson, 2010) to describe the movement from open shared standards such as w3 to different competitive clusters of standards and internet control. The ubiquitous, seamlessly integrated internet, and the associated data that are produced by user engagement, present significant opportunities and challenges for theoretical as well as empirical research. This book presents state of the art research on the ubiquitous internet, its economic stakeholders and its everyday users. The chapters of this book will focus on companies, regulation and users from different parts of the world. We particularly encourage contributions from Asia-Pacific and South America. Comparative chapters are also very welcome. We welcome chapters that focus on: • Policy, standards and regulation • Strategy and practices in search or social media companies • User studies of ubiquitous internet practices (with emphasis on smartphones, network and/or sensor-based communication) We invite you to submit via email to Anja Bechmann (anjabechmann(a)gmail.com) or Stine Lomborg (slomborg(a)hum.ku.dk) by 1 June 2012: - a 500 word abstract of a proposed chapter; and - a preliminary outline of the proposed chapter. The successful abstracts will form part of a book proposal to be offered to academic publishers. -- Anja Bechmann Assistant Professor, PhD The Centre for Internet Research Aarhus University Denmark The university profile: http://person.au.dk/en/abp@hum.au.dk The Centre for Internet Research: http://cfi.au.dk/en/frontpage/ The Council for Greater IT Security: http://rfsits.dk/l/english/<http://www.rfsits.dk/mxcms.aspx?itemId=65> Linkedin: http://dk.linkedin.com/in/anjabechmann Wordpress: http://medianetworks.wordpress.com

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Event at ICA in Phoenix
by Greg Wise 09 May '12

09 May '12

Apologies for cross-posting. For those who will be attending ICA in Phoenix at the end of the month, I wanted to let you know about an event ASU's New College is sponsoring Saturday morning. We're just calling it "A Place for Conversation and Community" and are trying to create an informal space for dialogues about any number of issues like advocacy, dissent, forgiveness, emotion, technology, biopolitics, and more. We seek to create a space for open and interdisciplinary conversation, a space to imagine futures. Please join us for coffee and conversation. Drop in when you get the chance. Saturday, 26 May, 2012, from 9am to 11:45am in The District off the Lobby in the Sheraton. Cheers, Greg Dr. J. Macgregor Wise Associate Dean New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Arizona State University 4701 West Thunderbird Road Glendale, AZ 85306-4908 (602) 543 6646; (602) 543 4565 (fax) http://newcollege.asu.edu

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Call For Papers: Platform Politics, a special issue of Culture Machine
by Hands, Joss 08 May '12

08 May '12

CALL FOR PAPERS Platform Politics Special issue of Culture Machine, vol. 14; http://www.culturemachine.net<http://www.culturemachine.net/> edited by Joss Hands (Anglia Ruskin University) Greg Elmer (Ryerson University) Ganaele Langlois (University of Ontario Institute of Technology) This special issue of the peer-reviewed, open access journal Culture Machine on the concept of ‘Platform Politics’ will explore how digital platforms can be understood, leveraged and contested in an age when the ‘platform’ is coming to supplant the open Web as the default digital environment. Platforms can be characterized as resting on already existing networked communication systems, but also as developing discreet spaces and affordances, often using ‘apps’ to circumvent any need to access them via the Internet or Web. For this issue of Culture Machine we are seeking papers that explore the nature and distinctive aspects of the ‘platform’: as something that can be positioned as more than just a neutral space of communication; and as a complex technology with distinct affordances that have powerful political, economic and social interests at stake. In this respect the platform constitutes a zone of contestation between, for example, different formations and configurations of capital; social movements; new kinds of activist networks; open source and proprietary software design. Platforms also constitute spaces of struggle between mass movements and governments, users and the extractors of value, visibility and invisibility: witness the various debates over the role of ‘social media’ in the Arab Spring, anti-austerity, student and occupy movements. Such struggles entail a compelling intersection between technology and design, capital, multitude, the democratization of technology and ‘subversive rationalization’. The platform represents not just a question of software and control, then; it also connects to wider social struggles in the sense that ‘platform’ can refer to a ‘political platform’, and can thus take on the agenda setting or framing role of political discourse more generally. Accordingly, this special issue will look to understand ‘platform politics’ as a broad social assemblage, complex or form of life. Linking particular platforms across the molecular and molar, it will think about platform politics as a distinct new context of power operating at the intersection of technological development, software design, cognitive/communicative capitalism, new forms of social movement and resistance, and the attempts to contain them by the exiting democracies. As such, platform politics requires a distinct mode of engagement, which this special issue of Culture Machine will endeavour to encourage and provide. We invite contributions on topics such as: * Protocols as machinery of the platform – its common language, including ideas of control and/or the possibilities and limitations of open, non-proprietorial platforms. * The specific relationship between networks and platforms (including the discussion of whether the former are being subsumed by the latter), and distribution vs centralization/aggregation -- not least in terms of user created content and content management systems (code politics of algorithms, and the use of APIs). * The question as to whether a process of enclosure is taking place via the struggle over the creation and expropriation of 'network value', or whether it entails a more parasitical engagement with, and enhancement of, the existing network architectures. * Visibility/invisibility: platforms as political spaces to be seen/heard, or indeed tactically escaped and eluded. * Resistance: how the above described issues relate to the potential for cultural, political, social and economic praxis, which in turns opens up a space from which to address recent global events. (See, for example, RIMs (Blackberry Messaging’s) enclosure, which ironically creates spaces of resistance as well as disturbance and securitization.) * New software possibilities: for example, Drupal’s opening up and democratization of content management, which perhaps creates a kind of ‘platform commons’? The potential of ‘Diaspora’, the open source social network, to offer a viable alternative to proprietary social media. * The role of intrinsic network tendencies, as opposed to political and economic decision-making, taking in explorations of the relevance of graph theory, the role of power laws and the network-specific characteristics of ‘communication power’. Deadline for submissions of complete articles: 1st November 2012 Please submit your contributions including contact details by email to Joss Hands: < joss.hands(a)networkpolitics.org<mailto:joss.hands@networkpolitics.org>> Culture Machine’s Guidelines for Authors: http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/about/submissions#authorGuidelin… All contributions will be peer-reviewed. **************************************************** Established in 1999, CULTURE MACHINE http://www.culturemachine.net<http://www.culturemachine.net/> is a fully refereed, open-access journal of cultural studies and cultural theory. It has published work by established figures such as Mark Amerika, Alain Badiou, Simon Critchley, Jacques Derrida, Henry Giroux, Mark Hansen, N. Katherine Hayles, Ernesto Laclau, J. Hillis Miller, Bernard Stiegler, Cathryn Vasseleu and Samuel Weber, but it is also open to publications by up-and-coming writers, from a variety of geopolitical locations. !!! New 2012 issue on attention economy coming out soon!!! **************************************************** --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- EMERGING EXCELLENCE: In the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2008, more than 30% of our submissions were rated as 'Internationally Excellent' or 'World-leading'. Among the academic disciplines now rated 'World-leading' are Allied Health Professions & Studies; Art & Design; English Language & Literature; Geography & Environmental Studies; History; Music; Psychology; and Social Work & Social Policy & Administration. Visit www.anglia.ac.uk/rae for more information. This e-mail and any attachments are intended for the above named recipient(s)only and may be privileged. If they have come to you in error you must take no action based on them, nor must you copy or show them to anyone please reply to this e-mail to highlight the error and then immediately delete the e-mail from your system. Any opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Anglia Ruskin University. Although measures have been taken to ensure that this e-mail and attachments are free from any virus we advise that, in keeping with good computing practice, the recipient should ensure they are actually virus free. Please note that this message has been sent over public networks which may not be a 100% secure communications Email has been scanned for viruses by Altman Technologies' email management service - www.altman.co.uk/emailsystems

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Job Openings at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
by Christian Katzenbach 08 May '12

08 May '12

Hi all, in addition to our previously announced doctoral positions (http://www.hiig.de/en/doctoral-programme/) we are now seeking applications from researchers and students for our Policy & Governance Section. Backgrounds in STS, Political Science, Sociology or Media and Communication Studies are especially welcome. See the full announcement at our website and below: Research Position http://www.hiig.de/en/job-announcement-research-position/ Student Assistant http://www.hiig.de/en/job-announcement-student-assistant/ ## Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society Internet Policy & Governance Job Announcement Research Position (65% TVL 13, plus children, literature and travel allowances, one year, extension possible) The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) seeks applications from researchers interested in working on projects within the research area of Internet Policy & Governance. Expected starting date is June 1, 2012. The research area Internet Policy & Governance looks at public and private forms of ordering processes. We are especially interested in the interplay of socio-cultural, technical and legal norms shaping the development of the Internet. The research program aims to extend the debates about Internet regulation by a genuine social science approach, embedding the analysis of modes of coordination, emergent public and networks into socio-technical contexts by means of science and technology studies (STS). For more specific information about the Institute and the research area, please visit our website http://www.hiig.de/en/research/internet-policy-governance/. *Responsibilities & Duties* The successful applicant will develop, design, and implement research projects within our research fields “Coordinating the Allocation of Information Goods” and “Information Infrastructures”. *Qualifications* • >> A postgraduate degree in social sciences or cultural studies (especially political science, communication studies, sociology). • >> A strong interest in current developments regarding online communication, regulation and network infrastructure. • >> Proficient in using online platforms, and experience with research tools and databases. • >> Knowledgeable about relevant scientific literature and concepts (e.g. Internet governance, regulation of information goods, science and technology studies, sociology, online communities) as well as policy debates. • >> Experience with empirical studies and relevant methods. • >> Fluent in both English and German. The research activities of the new and growing Institute for Internet and Society in Berlin provide excellent conditions to develop your own research ideas and and to contribute to the emerging research agenda of the Institute. Our projects are transdisciplinary, and planned as well as implemented in small teams working in an office located in the heart of Berlin. The Institute has a strong international focus, hence, international applicants are especially welcome. The position is open to extension. Please direct your application to application(a)hiig.de. The application should contain your CV and any relevant publications, blog posts, or a web site you may have. Application review will begin May 15, 2012 and the search will remain open until the position is filled. You are welcome to direct your questions to Christian Katzenbach.

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Full program, DiGRA Nordic 2012
by Frans Mäyrä 08 May '12

08 May '12

Dear all, The full program for DiGRA Nordic 2012 is now available online: http://digra-nordic2012.org/program/ The registration deadline for non-speaker participants has been extended until 30th of May: http://digra-nordic2012.org/registration/ Note that some of our hotel discounts have now already expired, so we recommend you book your accommodation asap: http://digra-nordic2012.org/venue/ Welcome to Tampere, - Frans > -----Original Message----- > From: Frans Mäyrä [mailto:frans.mayra@uta.fi] > Sent: 19. huhtikuuta 2012 10:28 > To: 'Games Research Network'; 'aoir list'; finland(a)digra.org > Subject: Call for Participation, DiGRA Nordic 2012 > > Dear all, > > DiGRA Nordic 2012 is now open for registrations: > > http://digra-nordic2012.org/registration/ > > You can access the draft program (with timetables and keynote titles) from > here: > > http://digra-nordic2012.org/program/ > > The full program will be made available as soon as all speakers and sessions have > been confirmed. Note that the deadline for speakers' registrations is Monday, 23 > April, 2012. The deadline for participants registration is Monday, 14 May, 2o12. > > There is information about hotels, travel arrangements and the venue available at > the conference website: > > http://digra-nordic2012.org/venue/ > > Welcome to Tampere! > > - Frans > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Frans Mäyrä [mailto:frans.mayra@uta.fi] > > Sent: 23. tammikuuta 2012 15:33 > > To: 'Games Research Network'; aoir list; finland(a)digra.org > > Subject: DiGRA Nordic 2012 Call for Papers (updates) > > > > DiGRA Nordic 2012 Local and Global: Games in Culture and Society > > 6-8 June 2012, Tampere, Finland > > > > - Updates! We can now announce all four conference keynote names > > note > also > > the updates to submission and registration information (below): > > > > * Nick Montfort is associate professor of digital media at MIT and > president of the > > Electronic Literature Organization. He develops text generators and > interactive > > fiction and has participated in dozens of literary and academic > collaborations. > > Montfort co-edited The New Media Reader and The Electronic Literature > > Collection Volume 1 and wrote Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to > Interactive > > Fiction, Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System (with Ian > Bogost), > > and Riddle & Bind. His next book, 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO > > 10, > is > > a collaboration with nine other authors about a one-line Commodore 64 > BASIC > > program. > > * Kristine Jørgensen is associate professor in media studies at the > University of > > Bergen. She has published articles on game sound, the user interface > > in > games, > > the player role, games research methods, the Norwegian game industry, > > and > game > > narratives. She is the author of A Comprehensive Study of Sound in > Computer > > Games, and is currently writing a book on game user interfaces. > > * Espen Aarseth is principal researcher at the Center for Computer > > Games Research, IT University of Copenhagen, and adjunct professor at > > the > Department > > of Media and Communication, University of Oslo. He is also co-founding > Editor- > > in-Chief of the journal Game Studies, founder of the Digital Arts and > Culture > > conference series, and co-founder of the Philosophy of Computer Games > > conference series, and author of Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic > Literature > > (Johns Hopkins UP 1997), a comparative media theory of games and other > > aesthetic forms. > > * Minna Ruckenstein is a Senior Researcher at the Finnish National > Consumer > > Research Centre in Helsinki and the President of the Finnish > Anthropological > > Society. Her ethnographic research has focused on childrens uses of > virtual pets > > and virtual worlds. Recent articles contribute to the study of > > childhood > from the > > perspectives of money, value creation and innovation. > > Published books include co-edited Rahan kulttuuri [The Culture of > > Money] > > (2009) and co-written Forget Innovation (2011). In 2011 she received > > the ITRA/BTHA and Brio prizes. > > * Also: the updated conference submission template is based on the > > DiGRA > > 2011 format you can download the paper template from here: > > http://digra-nordic2012.org/submission/ > > * Registration information is available from here: > > http://digra-nordic2012.org/registration/ > > > > - Overview: The study of games, players and related phenomena has > > expanded strongly both in its academic as well as in geographical > > range during the > last > > decade. The DiGRA Nordic 2012 conference aims bring together Nordic > > and > non- > > Nordic games researchers to discuss the cultural and social context of > games and > > play from multiple perspectives, including reflections of local and > > global > in game > > cultures. Year 2012 is the tenth anniversary of the Tampere Computer > > Games > and > > Digital Cultures (CGDC 2002) conference, providing also an opportunity > > to > reflect > > on the last decade of developments in Nordic game studies, as well as > > its > wider > > international scope. The conference will be open to themes related to > non-digital, > > as well as digital games and their different forms of play. > > > > - Review process: the conference accepts full paper submissions, which > will be > > handled in anonymous peer review. There are Theme Chairs who oversee > > the reviews in specific paper categories. There will be online > > publication of > accepted > > papers in the DiGRA Digital Library. > > > > - Venue: The conference will take place in Tampere, Finland, and will > > be > jointly > > hosted by Universities of Tampere, Jyväskylä and Turku. The modern > facilities of > > the new Technopolis building and the University of Tampere campus > > provide > the > > venue for plenary keynote sessions and paper sessions in parallel rooms. > There > > will be also social and other program available during the event. > > > > - Suggested themes and Theme Chairs: the conference has dedicated > > Theme Chairs who head the selection submissions as the meta-reviewers > > for the > key > > themes in the conference: > > > > * local/global in game cultures (Chair: Thorsten Quandt) > > * historical perspectives into digital gaming (Chair: Melanie > > Swalwell) > > * social player studies (Chair: Torill Mortensen) > > * games industry (Chair: Mirva Peltoniemi) > > * design of games (Chair: Annika Waern) > > * gamification and gameful design (Chair: Sebastian Deterling) > > * gambling vs. gaming studies (Chair: Pauliina Raento) see also the > special > > workshop program > > (http://digra-nordic2012.org/seminars-and-workshops/) > > * games as art (Chair: Simon Niedenthal) > > * critical approaches to game studies (Chair: Jonas Linderoth) > > * games as media and communication (Chair: Marko Siitonen) > > * other (the conference submissions are not limited to the above > > themes) > > > > - Organisers: The conference will be hosted jointly by the Finnish > > DiGRA > chapter, > > coordinated by Dr Olli Sotamaa and the Creation of Game Cultures > > research project, coordinated by professor Frans Mäyrä. Assisted by > > the review > board and > > local organising team, the main organisers are: > > > > * Review Chair: professor Raine Koskimaa > > * Program Chair: professor Jaakko Suominen > > * Local Chair: professor Frans Mäyrä > > > > - Dates: > > > > * deadline for full papers, panels and alternative forms: 13 February > > 2012 > > * authors are informed of review: 2 April 2012 > > * final paper submission deadline: 7 May 2012 > > * conference dates: 6-8 June 2012 > > > > - Contact details: You can find more, up-to-date information in > http://digra- > > nordic2012.org. The email contact address for the organising team is: > > digranordic2012 [at] gmail.com. For more information about other > > Nordic > DiGRA > > activities, go to: http://www.nordic-digra.org/ > > > > Welcome to Tampere! > > > > - Frans > > > > -- > > Frans Mäyrä, Professor, Digital Culture & Game Studies > > ** Information Studies and Interactive Media INFIM/TRIM > > ** School of Information Sciences SIS ** > > ** 33014 University of Tampere, Finland ** > > frans.mayra(a)uta.fi / fransmayra(a)gmail.com / frans(a)unet.fi > > ** gms 050 3367650 / fax 03 3551 7503 www.uta.fi/sis/ > > www.fransmayra.fi www.unet.fi www.uta.fi/~frans.mayra > > > >

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Final call: Carl J. Couch Internet Research Award 2012
by Mark D. Johns 07 May '12

07 May '12

CALL FOR AWARD APPLICATIONS Carl J. Couch Internet Research Award 2012 Sponsored by the Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research http://www.cccsir.com/ *Application deadline is EXTENDED to May 20, 2012* The Carl Couch Center issues an international call for student-authored papers to be considered for Carl J. Couch Internet Research Award. The Couch Center welcomes both theoretical and empirical papers that (1) apply symbolic interactionist approaches to internet studies, (2) demonstrate interactive relationships between social interaction and communication technologies, and/or (3) develop symbolic interactionist concepts in new directions. Papers will be evaluated based on the quality of (1) mastery of symbolic interactionist approaches and concepts, (2) originality, (3) organization, (4) presentation, and (5) advancement of knowledge. Those contemplating entering should note that an interactionist approach demands thoughtful analysis, and not mere description, of human interactions. Evaluation will be administered by a Review Committee of four: Mark D. Johns, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa Lori Kendall, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Annette Markham, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Lois Ann Scheidt, Indiana University, Bloomington Competition is open to graduate or undergraduate students of all disciplines. Works that are published or accepted for publication are not eligible for award consideration. Entries should be in English and not exceed 30 pages (approximately 7500 words) in length, including references and appendices. Limit of one entry per student per year. The top paper will receive Couch Award to be presented at the 2012 meeting of the Association of Internet Researchers (aoir.org) at the University of Salford, (near Manchester) UK. The top paper will be awarded a certificate and a cash prize of $300 US and the author will be invited to present their work at a session of the AoIR conference, October 18-21, 2012 in Salford. Candidates should send a copy of their paper, with a 100-word abstract, electronically to Mark D. Johns at mjohns(a)luther.edu Application deadline is EXTENDED to May 20, 2012. Notification of award will be sent by June 15. Those with questions or comments about Couch Award application, please contact: Mark D. Johns Luther College Study Centre Nottingham, UK UK phone: (44) 115-929-2721 US phone: 563-387-1347 E-mail: mjohns(a)luther.ed

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