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The DML2012 Schedule is Now Live
by Jon Barilone 20 Jan '12

20 Jan '12

The full schedule for the 2012 DML Conference (DML2012) in San Francisco, March 1-3, is live at http://dml2012.dmlcentral.net/schedule/overview. The theme for DML2012 is "Beyond Educational Technology: Learning Innovations in a Connected World" and this year's Opening Keynote speaker is John Seely Brown. Registration for DML2012 will remain open through February 9. The conference is meant to be an inclusive, international and annual gathering of scholars and practitioners in the field, focused on fostering interdisciplinary and participatory dialog and linking theory, empirical study, policy, and practice. We are also extending our CFP deadline for Ignite Talks: short, high-energy talks that will close out the conference on March 3. The revised deadline is Friday, Jan. 27 and you can learn more at http://bit.ly/dml2012ignite. If you have any questions about DML2012, please feel free to contact us at dmlhub(a)hri.uci.edu. You can stay connected to DML2012 news by following @dmlhub and #DML2012 on Twitter. Thank you, Jon Barilone, Community Manager UC Humanities Research Institute Digital Media & Learning Hub

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CFP: Designing Badge Systems
by Sheryl Grant 19 Jan '12

19 Jan '12

Greetings all, Yes, it's another CFP for the Badges for Lifelong Learning Competition. This time, the call is for Stage Two of the Teacher Mastery and Feedback Badge Competition. If you learn well by watching what others have done, take a look at the proposals that were recently submitted for Stage Two of the Badges Competition<http://dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-projects.php?group=dmlc-4b2>. Keep in mind that these are submissions, not winners -- but perhaps these examples will help get your creative problem-solving processes going. Who might be interested in applying? Folks from learning sciences, information science, information systems, computer science, iSchools, education, human-computer interaction, new media artistis, game designers, people who like to code or build things, people who want to shake things up, hackers, tinkerers, thinkers, makers, doers. People who want to change things, and don't mind creating a whole new area of research for the rest of us to explore. *What it will take:* 1500 words or less, submitted by February 3, 2012. You'll be designing badge systems for the 16 Stage One winners from the Teacher Mastery and Feedback Badges Competition<http://www.dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/winning-projects.php?group=dmlc…>. See details below. CALL FOR PROPOSALS: Stage Two (Badge Design & Tech) of the Teacher Mastery & Feedback Competition Please note: Applicants who applied to Stage Two of the Badges for Lifelong Learning Competition may submit proposals for Stage Two of the Teacher Mastery & Feedback Badge Competition. ** Stage Two <http://dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/teachers-stage-2.php>applicants for the Teacher Mastery and Feedback Badge Competition<http://www.dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/teachers.php>are invited to propose badging systems for the teacher learning and feedback content of Stage One winners<http://www.dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/winning-projects.php?group=dmlc…>. Competitive submissions proposing badge systems that track and promote feedback regarding the competencies and skills as well as the programs and subjects over which teachers acquire expertise are a central part of the Stage One and Stage Two processes of the Competition. Deadline: Submissions for Stage Two are due no later than February 3, 2012 at 8pm EST / 5pm PST. ** Full details below and at http://dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/teachers-stage-2.php To view Stage Two applications submitted to the Badges for Lifelong Competition, visit: http://dmlcompetition.net/Competition/4/badges-projects.php?group=dmlc-4b2 Cheers, Sheryl Sheryl Grant Director, Social Networking HASTAC/MacArthur Foundation Digital Media & Learning Competition <http://www.dmlcompetition.net/> Duke University Box 90403 114. S. Buchanan Blvd., Bay 5 Durham, NC 27708-0403 <http://www.youtube.com/user/video4hastac#g/p>

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2nd call for papers and panels -- I AMPRA/V ICUP
by Pilar Garces 19 Jan '12

19 Jan '12

Dear all, Please find attached I AMPRA & V ICUP's second call for papers and panels. The deadline for submissions is April 15, 2012. The UNC Charlotte team and I look forward to welcoming all of you in North Carolina next fall. Best, Pilar

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CFP: 4S/EASST Panel “Feminist Theory, Values & ICT Design” (Copenhagen, October 17-20, 2012)
by Judith Simon 19 Jan '12

19 Jan '12

CALL FOR PAPERS Panel *“Feminist Theory, Values & ICT Design”*at the Joint EASST/4S Conference 2012 on "*Design and Displacement – Social Studies of Science and Technology*" Copenhagen Business School, Denmark October 17-20, 2012 http://www.easst.net/conferences/easst2012.shtml http://www.4sonline.org/meeting ** PANEL CHAIRS Corinna Bath, Technical University Berlin, Germany Judith Simon, University of Vienna, Austria & Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany TOPIC STS researchers have pointed out that ICT as much as other design products have politics, since they produce inclusions and exclusion. Different social and political values in ICT artifacts can result from the designer’s assumption that it would be possible to copy or imitate “the world as it is”. This view often goes hand in hand with the so called “I-methodology” (Akrich, Rommes) by which designers unconsciously assume themselves as representatives of users. The results frequently are products biased towards young white male well-educated users. Besides such implicit values entangled in ICT artifacts, designers can have explicit values that they aim to implement in technologies (e.g. the goal to counter capitalist logics in parts of the open source community). Hence, it seems that both hegemonic as well as critically intended emancipatory values can implicitly as well as explicitly get inscribed into ICT design. Yet, as feminist STS researchers such as Barad, Haraway or Suchman have shown, such simple inscription concepts cannot adequately model the complex relationships of reality and knowledge, artifact design, use and impact. Rather, they introduce terms such as /entanglement, intra-action, diffraction /and/accountable cuts/ to describe these complexities and to denote the requirements they pose for designers, researchers and users. That is, they stress the ethical challenges different agents are facing and demand political engagement in that "cat's cradle" (Haraway). At the core of our panel lies the observation that the relationship between design and critical feminist theory appears to be characterized by an inherent tension: while feminist theory aims at multiplication, diversification and transgression, deconstructing and unmaking, design requires designers to make decisions, to fix things, to make cuts. We consider this tension between making and unmaking, between constructing and deconstructing to be the most difficult but also the most important task for feminist ICT design. The panel therefore wishes to address this tension by asking questions such as the following: -How can feminist theory be operationalized in ICT design? -What are practical and methodological strategies for dealing with the tension between construction and deconstruction? -What happens to feminist theory through this process of translation, application and operationalization in design? -In which ways do STS and feminist theory need to be modified, transformed and extended, in order to become useful tools for design processes? -How is it possible to avoid certain values in ICT design (e.g. the perpetuation of the existing structural-symbolic gender order) and implement others (e.g. allowing for multiple gender experiences) while taking the performativity of ICT design and usage serious? By asking not only what feminist STS theory can offer for the design of ICT, but also what ICT design can offer for feminist theory and STS, we aim to take interdisciplinarity seriously. We welcome theoretical as well as empirical contributions, case studies or examples addressing these and related issues. We adopt a broad notion of ICT arguing that feminist theory is needed to assess a diversity of different areas in ICT design: From infrastructures, protocols and database design to e-government/e-democracy tools, from semantic web technologyto robotics and ICT in health care or various work contexts, from social software to smartphone applications, from ubiquitous and organic computing to ontology design. -------------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT DATES March 11, 2012: Deadline for abstract submissions May 1, 2012: Acceptance notification -------------------------------------------------------------- PAPER SUBMISSION Authors should consult the instructions on the 4S website for submittingtheir papers electronically through the official submission system. For further inquiries please contact Corinna Bath (corinna.bath(a)tu-berlin.de <mailto:corinna.bath@tu-berlin.de>) and/or Judith Simon (judith.simon(a)univie.ac.at <mailto:judith.simon@univie.ac.at>). -- Judith Simon Department of Philosophy <http://philosophie.univie.ac.at/> - University of Vienna (PI: Epistemic Trust in Socio-Technical Epistemic Systems <http://www.fwf.ac.at/en/abstracts/abstract.asp?L=E&PROJ=P23770>) ITAS - Karlsruhe Institute of Technology <http://www.itas.kit.edu/english/index.php> (Senior Researcher) Institut Jean Nicod <http://www.institutnicod.org/notices.php?user=Simon> - Ecole normale supérieure - Paris (Associate Post-doctoral fellow)

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Game and Internet Studies: degree programme, University of Tampere
by Frans Mäyrä 19 Jan '12

19 Jan '12

Hi all, Hoping you could help spreading information about this new option for any prospective students: Master Degree Programme in Information Studies and Interactive media, Specialization in Internet and Game Studies (120 ECTS) University of Tampere, Finland Degree Programme in Information Studies and Interactive Media aims to provide an overview of contemporary information and media environments, with a focus on the fundamental character and application opportunities of information and interactive media systems, and the consequences from their adoption at individual and societal level. The Specialization in Internet and Game Studies is targeted at the questions of analysis, design and application of online services and digital games from user- and culturally focused perspectives. We have plans to start a new Master's Degree Programme in Internet and Game Studies in September 2013. However, as many programme course units are offered in English already from September 2012, it is possible to admit some international students in 2012. The total student intake in 2012 is 12. If you are interested in this this degree, please consult the web page to see more details on the structure of studies, eligibility criteria, financing of studies and other issues: http://www.uta.fi/sis/en/studies/disciplines/infim/studies/game.html The application period runs 1-29 February in 2012. You can forward this announcement to those with potential interest. Best regards, - 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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iCS/SATSU Call For Papers - 3 day symposium 18-20 July 2012 (fwd)
by Barry Wellman 19 Jan '12

19 Jan '12

fyi Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________ 'The co-production of knowledge: Social Media, STS and .' Three-Day Symposium to be held at University of York, UK July 18-20 2012 Call for Papers The ubiquitous social and cultural adoption of social media, such as Twitter, Google, Wikipedia, YouTube and Facebook can be seen to present a significant example of scientific and technological innovation in many contemporary societies. While some studies of social media and, more specifically, Web 2.0 platforms built around user-generated content, have made reference to the importance of the field of science and technology studies (STS) for understanding their development and diffusion, scholars working within this academic framework have yet to fully turn their focus on this area. This three-day symposium is intended to explore the intersection between STS and social media inquiry, with a specific focus on how Web 2.0 is both generative and challenging of different forms of knowledge (co-)production and the authority it commands. . The user-centred and mass-collaboration characteristics of social media platforms have a clear affinity with recent STS models of the co-construction of technologies. Notions such as 'prosumerism' have been used to describe this blurring of the relationship between the consumer and producer. However, we need to ask whether this is to be seen as co-construction or primarily a re-engineering of labour relations and the locus of production? We also need to ask whether the ubiquity extends across all social media for all types of content. In other words, are new forms of expertise being inscribed, or are old knowledge hierarchies being reinforced? . STS challenges the traditional perception of scientific 'discovery' and technological advancement, to demonstrate the co-production of claims to knowledge and the different forms and assemblages of knowledge this involves: how does this map onto commentaries on the importance of lay knowledge and 'citizen science' found in Web 2.0 as individuals and groups distribute ideas and information across their social networks? Could this provide a new impetus for 'public interest science'? . How do the same issues relate to the social sciences themselves: how might Web 2.0 provide opportunities for new forms of data and data analytics (for example, as 'virtual knowledge' via crowdsourcing, real-time data streaming, by-product data etc) and in what ways do these challenge conventional social science by opening up questions about what data itself constitutes and what order of being it represents? . How might lay, amateur knowledge be mobilised as 'citizen science' and what warrant, authorisation and location in established science might it secure? How might the contribution of Web 2.0 science platforms differ from the amateur societies of the 19th and 20th centuries? . It has been claimed that algorithms and code play an increasingly powerful part in shaping and constituting everyday life, it has even been claimed that algorithms are creating new rules and power structures that unknowingly come to restructure social hierarchies and divisions. How, for example, do algorithms make decisions for us? How do algorithms bypass or re-craft human agency? What are the implications of this? Exactly how do algorithms, code and metrics shape everyday life and access to knowledge? . Do the open source platforms and social media tools of Web 2.0 come into tension with the international standardisation and codification of global ICT infrastructures and local and global knowledge infrastructures? . Finally, the more celebratory characterisations of social media emanating from the marketing world typically lack a critical focus: can social media and STS analyses build a political economy of Web 2.0 to provide such a focus, by explicitly addressing issues of participatory surveillance, exclusion and control? Papers are invited that explore these broad questions around a number of possible themes, including: . The boundaries and future of social media as a medium of knowledge creation, dissemination, and regulation . The co-production of knowledge via Web 2.0 platforms . Knowledge, expertise and disruptive/disrupted authority . Capturing social media: the commercial/political exploitation by or empowering of Web 2.0 . Ownership, dissemination and use of scientific knowledge . E-governance and the regulation of knowledge within social media . National practices and global opportunities . Novel forms of knowledge creation through group processes, archiving, digitization etc. . Public and visible science . Scientific controversies online Confirmed plenary speakers include: Geof Bowker, University of Pittsburgh Leah Lievrouw, UCLA Adrian MacKenzie, Cesagen, University of Lancaster Rob Proctor, e-Research Centre, University of Manchester Robin Williams, ISSTI, Edinburgh Sally Wyatt, e-Humanities Programme, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences This conference is intended to bring together some of the leading scholars in the fields of STS, Communication and Social Media analysis, and the history and philosophy of science to critically explore these issues. Please send abstracts of proposed papers to sarah-shrive-morriosn(a)york.ac.uk by 29 February 2012. Registration information is available on the SATSU site: www.york.ac.uk/satsu/news-events/ics Conference organising committee: David Beer, Darren Reed, Mike Hardey, Brian Loader, Sarah Shrive-Morrison, Andrew Webster, Robin Williams, Sally Wyatt The deadline for this call for papers is 29 February 2012. If you are interested to submit an individual paper or panel including 3 papers please go to web-link or contact email satsu(a)york.ac.uk Conference Fees See www.york.ac.uk/satsu/news-events/ics -----Original Message----- From: Barry Wellman [mailto:wellman@chass.utoronto.ca] Sent: 19 January 2012 14:16 To: Sarah Shrive-Morrison Subject: Re: iCS/SATSU Call For Papers - 3 day symposium 18-20 July 2012 my lists don't handle attachments, which is how it came. Barry Wellman _______________________________________________________________________ S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php _______________________________________________________________________ On Thu, 19 Jan 2012, Sarah Shrive-Morrison wrote: > Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:11:14 +0000 > From: Sarah Shrive-Morrison <sarah.shrive-morrison(a)york.ac.uk> > To: Barry Wellman <wellman(a)chass.utoronto.ca> > Subject: Re: iCS/SATSU Call For Papers - 3 day symposium 18-20 July 2012 > > I don't understand the email was sent in plain courier text so how it's come out like this I don't know. > > Science and Technology Studies Unit - here at York. > > > Sarah > > > > On 19 Jan 2012, at 14:09, Barry Wellman wrote: > >> if you write a para in plain ASCII, I will put it on some listservs. What's SATSU >> >> >> Barry Wellman >> _______________________________________________________________________ >> >> S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC NetLab Director >> Department of Sociology 725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388 >> University of Toronto Toronto Canada M5S 2J4 twitter:barrywellman >> http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman fax:+1-416-978-3963 >> Updating history: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php >> _______________________________________________________________________ >> >> >> On Thu, 19 Jan 2012, Sarah Shrive-Morrison wrote: >> >>> Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:45:56 -0000 >>> From: Sarah Shrive-Morrison <sarah.shrive-morrison(a)york.ac.uk> >>> To: Sarah Shrive-Morrison <sarah.shrive-morrison(a)york.ac.uk> >>> Subject: iCS/SATSU Call For Papers - 3 day symposium 18-20 July 2012 >>> Dear All >>> >>> >>> >>> Please find attached a CFP, for the Annual iCS Conference which will jointly >>> be held with SATSU here at York this year. >>> >>> >>> >>> Regards >>> >>> Sarah >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Sarah Shrive-Morrison >>> Administrator >>> School of SPS & SATSU >>> Room W/232 >>> University of York >>> Heslington >>> York >>> YO10 5DD >>> >>> ... < ^.".^ >... >>> >>> t: +44(0)1904 323050 >>> f: +44(0)1904 323043 >>> e: sarah.shrive-morrison(a)york.ac.uk >>> >>> logo uni 2011 >>> >>> >>> SPS (School of Social and Political Sciences) >>> <http://www.york.ac.uk/sps> www.york.ac.uk/sps >>> >>> iCS (Information, Communication & Society) >>> Thomson Reuters Social Science Citation IndexR >>> <http://www.informaworld.com/ics> www.informaworld.com/ics >>> >>> SATSU (Science and Technology Studies Unit) >>> <http://www.york.ac.uk/res/satsu> www.york.ac.uk/satsu >>> >>> >>> >>> > > Sarah Shrive-Morrison > Administrator > School of SPS & SATSU > Room W/232 > University of York > Heslington > York > YO10 5DD > > ... < ^.".^ >... > > t: +44(0)1904 323050 > f: +44(0)1904 323043 > e: sarah.shrive-morrison(a)york.ac.uk > > > > > > > > > > http://www.york.ac.uk/communications/publications/writing/email/ > > SPS (School of Social & Political Studies) > Thomson Reuters Social Science Citation IndexR > > www.york.ac.uk/sps > > iCS (Information, Communication & Society) > www.informaworld.com/ics > > SATSU > www.york.ac.uk/satsu > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >

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CFP - The Politics of Green IT
by Abbe Forman 19 Jan '12

19 Jan '12

Hi All, Here is a CFP for "The Politics of Green IT" Look about halfway down the page. Submissions due by March 15 http://www.igi-global.com/calls-for-papers-special/ international-journal-politics-ijep/1147 *Objective* This special issue will explore the emerging topic of Green IT. “Greening” is a hot button issue that has recently been embedded in a multitude of platforms. As global environmental concerns have grown, many people and organizations have started to make changes to lower their carbon footprint in an effort to slow further decay. As society has become aware of the negative impact that computers and computing have on the environment, Green IT has taken a front seat as a way to lessen that impact. This issue will explore the ways that people, organizations, and governments are changing the way they use and dispose of computers. *Recommended Topics* Topics to be discussed in this special issue include (but are not limited to) the following: - Adding or increasing Green IT curriculum - Algorithmic efficiency - Computer recycling - Green IT policies and regulation - Greening data centers - Power management - Storage (i.e., cloud storage) - Telecommuting - Toxic computer dumping - Virtualization Hope everyone is off to a great start to the new year. Thanks! Abbe E. Forman, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Temple University abbe.forman(a)temple.edu

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Help: hot web forums in your country
by Hai Liang 18 Jan '12

18 Jan '12

Dear all, I am a PhD student at City University of Hong Kong. Now, I am working on a project to investigate the lurking behavior in online political discussions. One of the purposes is to compare it among countries. However, it is difficult for me to find many web forums due to the language problem. What I hope you can help is to list one or two popular web-based political discussion forum <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_forum> s in your country. I really appreciate your help!^n Some Sampled Countries: Asia: China Taiwan Japan Korea Australia Europe: UK France Germany Norway Spain Italy America: USA Canada Brazil Argentina Africa: Nigeria Egypt Morocco South Africa Kenya Best wishes, ________________________________ Liang, Hai <http://weblab.com.cityu.edu.hk/lianghai/> Ph.D. student Department of Media & Communication City University of Hong Kong

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Sustainable Consumer Electronics and Growth
by Robert Rattle 18 Jan '12

18 Jan '12

Apologies for cross posts and if this is slightly off topic... Upcoming event in the European Knowledge Brokerage project RESPONDER on “Sustainable ICT and Economic Growth”. The event will bring together representatives from science and policy and address questions raised within the fields of ICT in general, and sustainable consumer electronics in particular, with regards to their contribution to economic growth and sustainable consumption. The aim of the international consortium of researchers is to connect scientific evidence on sustainable production and consumption (SCP) with policy makers’ needs in decision making on SCP issues. All relevant information can be found under this link: http://www.scp-responder.eu/pdf/events/RESPONDER_ICT_event_info.pdf Deadline for registration: January 20, 2012 In case of any questions, please contact Karin Dobernig (ict(a)scp-responder.eu)

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ESA RN18 Conference 2012: Communication, Crisis, and Critique in Contemporary Capitalism
by Christian Fuchs 18 Jan '12

18 Jan '12

Communication, Crisis, and Critique in Contemporary Capitalism. Conference of the European Sociological Association’s Research Network 18 - Sociology of Communications and Media Research October 18-20, 2012. University of the Basque Country, Bilbao http://fuchs.uti.at/wp-content/uploads/ESA_RN18_CfP2012.pdf Keynote Talk: Prof. Peter Golding (Northumbria University, UK) – Why a Sociologist should take Communications and Media Seriously Abstract In the presentation of this paper, Peter Golding will reflect on why the study of communications and media demands the insights and methods of sociology, and why RN18 therefore is an appropriate network within the European Sociological Association. He will present reflections on how such key sociological concerns as inequality, identity, power, and change are at the heart of the questions we should be posing in addressing the nature and role of the media as institutions and communications as a social process. The paper will also address how far changes in the technologies of media and communications alter, or should alter, our approach to generating research and insight in this field. Peter Golding is pro-vice chancellor of research & innovation at Northumbria University, founder and honorary chair of ESA RN18. Call for Submissions and Participation We are living in times of global capitalist crisis that require rethinking the ways we organize society, communication, the media, and our lives. The current crisis seems to a certain degree be different compared to previous ones, among other reasons due to the role of mediated communication and information in establishing/changing economic, political, and social relations as well as the crisis itself. The crisis can also be seen as crisis of what has been called consumer capitalism or informational capitalism. More precisely it has resulted on the one hand in a hyperneoliberal intensification of neo-conservative policies and on the other hand in the emergence of new popular movements that are critical of the commodification of everything and demand the strengthening of society’s commons. The second movement has in the social sciences been accompanied by a renewed interest in critical studies, the critique and analysis of class and capitalism, and critical political economy. The overall goal of this conference is to foster scholarly presentations, networking, and exchange on the question of which transitions media and communication and media sociology are undergoing in contemporary society. The conference particularly welcomes contributions that are inspired by sociological theories, critical studies, and various strands and traditions of the critical study of media & society. Questions that can be covered by presentations include, but are not limited to: * What is a crisis? What forms of crisis are there? How do they relate to capitalism and communication? * How have the media presented the crisis? Which similarities and differences in crisis reporting are there between different media (television, press, and new media) or between media in different countries? * How has the crisis affected various media and cultural industries? What is the role of changing media technology in the economic crisis? How has the media economy changed since the start of the crisis in 2008? How have advertising investments, profits, market values, etc developed in the media economy since the start of the crisis? How has the global expansion of media industries been reshaped by the crisis and what is the future of global media and news agencies? What changes can be traced in the production of news and other media content? Are there changes in the nature of media products? * What is the role of media and communication technologies in the financialization, acceleration, and globalization of the capitalist economy? How can a post-crisis media economy look like? How has advertising favoured a climate of private consumer debt? * What are the ideological implications of the crisis for mediascapes? Which ideological discourses do companies, CEOs, managers, or neoliberal politicians use for justifying their interests, lay-offs, high bonuses, inequalities, etc and how are these discourses represented by the media or in strategic company reports? How are hyper-neoliberal crisis policy responses (“socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor” in the form of bank bail outs and budget cuts in areas like welfare, education, social security, health care, etc) ideologically justified and how do the media represent such ideologies? What is the role of finance capital in the media and cultural industries? Which hegemonic, alternative, or contradictory interpretations and reception practices of media content that relates to the crisis are there? Which ideologies and myths underlie the capitalist crisis? * What is the role of media, communication, critical journalism, and alternative media in contemporary uproars, riots, rebellions, social movements, protests, demonstrations, and revolutions? * How do identities and mediated identities change in times of crisis? How should one think about the relationship of economy and culture in light of the capitalist crisis? What is the relationship of class and identities and of politics of redistribution and recognition today? How do we have to rethink and reshape the relation between political economy and cultural studies in the light of capitalist crisis in order to adequately study the media and communication? * How is the public sphere changing in the light of the global crisis? What are perspectives for politics, participation, and democracy today and how do these perspectives relate to the media and communication? Is the role of media in democracy changing? If so, how? Are media a distinct player in politics? If the established media form an estate of power in democracy, do we today new a new estate of power? If so, how could it look like? * What are the causes, realities, and consequences of the commodification of the communication commons? What are alternatives to the commodification of the communication commons? How can one strengthen and create public media and commons-based forms of communication? What are the relationships and differences between the commodity logic, the gift logic, and the logic of public goods and how do these logics shape the media? * How do contemporary societal trends, such as integration, diversity and conflicts in Europe and the world, transnationalism and networking, digitization, informatization, globalization, glocalization, prosumption, neoliberalism, privatization and commodification, migration, racism, changing gender relations, consumer and advertising culture, warfare, terrorism, the new imperialism, surveillance, social movement protests, global societal risks, the strengthening of right-wing extremist and fascist movements, or the anti-corporate movement and other movements, shape media and communication and how do media and communication in turn shape society in times of crisis and transition? * What are the tasks, roles, responsibilities, and identities of the sociology of media and communication in a society that is facing deep crisis? What is the actual or potential role of critique, ethics, struggles, counter-power, resistance, protest, civil society, and social movements in contemporary societies and contemporary communications? * What are the major trends that shape contemporary society and how are these trends related to mediated communication and knowledge production? In what society do we live? What society do we desire to have? What forms of media and communication do we find in contemporary society? What forms of media and communication do we desire and how must society change in order to achieve these goals? * What are the major trends in respect to crisis, communication, and critique in Europe? What are the major trends in respect to crisis, communication, and critique in other parts of the world? * How do different companies and organizations make use of different information transmission technologies? What is the role of high speed financial flows and associated transmission networks in the finance industry? How (in)visible are these flows? Submission An abstract of 200-250 words should be sent to Dr. Romina Surugiu, University of Bucharest, at the following e-mail address: bilbao.conference(a)yahoo.com. Please insert the words Bilbao in the subject. The deadline for abstract submission is May 31st, 2012.

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