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cfp 4s panel The Normal Vices and Violences of Data
by Jeremy hunsinger 21 Apr '26

21 Apr '26

The normal vices and violences of data is a panel that attempts to confront what is accepted as normal and everyday about data, but should not be accepted as providing for better technoscientific futures. The panelists confront the normal vices and violences of data. Normal violence is a seemingly acceptable form of violence because of its everyday occurrence (Cerulo, 1998; Dutton, 2013; Hunsinger, 2020). Usually discussed as part of domestic relationships, normal violence is a form of abuse against the other. Generalized, in society, we can see subtle ‘normal violence’ occurring everyday, as physical altercations, mental anguish, pervasive anxieties, emotional violences, or otherwise (ibid). Similarly, normal vices are those that are seemingly acceptable elements of vices, be they minor anti-social behaviours, profiteering and greed, or similar things we accept as part of everyday life, but we should not. There are many violences and vices involved with data, the use and abuse of personal data/identities, the fraudulent representation of data, the use of data to generalize in manners not warranted, the objectification of people via data, the racialization of data, the undermining of democracy, and the undermining of science/technology. In this panel, we want to confront these issues directly with evidence of their existence, combined with a critique of those practices. We invite authors to expose issues in technoscience, to discuss them openly, and to share the normal violences and vices that we should not accept. We also want to discuss the ethics, or lack thereof, of participating in these everyday violences. References: Cerulo, K. A. (1998). Deciphering violence: The cognitive structure of right and wrong. Routledge. Dutton, D. G. (2006). Rethinking domestic violence. UBC Press. Hunsinger, J. (2020). On the Current Situation: Normal Violences, Pandemics, Emergencies, Necropolitics, Zombies, and Creepy Treehouses. Fastcapitalism. -- jeremy hunsinger Associate Professor, Communication Studies Wilfrid Laurier University Collaboratory for Digital Discourse and Culture Virginia Tech www.tmttlt.com () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments http://www.stswiki.org/ sts wiki http://transdisciplinarystudies.tmttlt.com/ Transdisciplinary Studies:the book series I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. -Pablo Picasso

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4S Panel - CFA: Taking Back Technopower: STS and strategic interventions for the fight against technofascism
by Nathan Kim 21 Apr '26

21 Apr '26

Hi all, Are you engaged in political struggle against technofascism? Do you have things to share: strategic reflections, organizing artifacts, etc? Do you have thoughts about how we will win? If so, you should submit an abstract to our open panel at 4S this year: Taking Back Technopower: STS and strategic interventions for the fight against technofascism! The Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) to be held in Toronto October 7-10, 2026. You can submit a potential abstract via the portal: www.4sonline.org/accepted_open_panels_toronto.php by April 30th (we are #138). See our full panel abstract below: 138 Taking Back Technopower: STS and strategic interventions for the fight against technofascism Kevin Zheng, University of Michigan; Linda Huber, Swarthmore College; Alicia DeVrio, Carnegie Mellon University; Cella Sum, Carnegie Mellon University; Nathan Kim, University of Michigan; Ember McCoy, Pennsylvania State University; Gena Kim, University of Michigan; Nasanbayar Ulzii-Orshikh, University of Michigan; Justine Zhang, University of Michigan Social Movements and STS Information, Computing and Media Technology The current moment is characterized by resurgent struggles against technofascism. These struggles include community resistance against data centers, strategic actions against tech companies complicit in genocidal violence, and organizing efforts across many sectors against the proliferation of AI in the workplace. This open panel gathers people engaged in these sites of struggle to collectively consider the following question: how can STS approaches advance these struggles against fascist technopower, and work towards constructing more liberatory futures? In addressing this question, we seek to surface the incipient militant potential of STS, often submerged under scholarship that muddies strategic analysis and disarms political action through the register of subversive critique. Through close attention to relationality and sociality, STS may help build solidarities while unsettling the sedimented categories that impede movement building (Breymen et al, 2017). By incorporating materialist, political economic accounts of technology, STS may help push beyond the boundaries of "ethical tech” by revealing the imbrications of economic and financial processes with technoscience (Birch, 2013). And as a roving, interdisciplinary field attuned to embodied and situated practices (Haraway, 1988), an STS lens may help ensure that analyses are constantly attentive to the lively contingencies of on-the-ground struggles. We seek to explore theories born through political struggle, and examples of how STS theory informs praxis. Submissions may include, but are not limited to: strategic reflections from organizers and activists; historical accounts that can inform future organizing and activism; or the analysis of organizing artefacts (e.g., propaganda, slogans, campaigns) and their role in advancing political struggle. We will facilitate this panel as an open discussion among folks situated across different sites of struggle, aiming to provide a space for advancing the struggle against technofascism through the development of relationships, theories, and strategic insights.

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Call for papers: AI Hype Hope and Humanity 2026
by Majsa Storbeck 21 Apr '26

21 Apr '26

Dear colleagues, The Call for Submissions for the academic track of AI: Hype, Hope & Humanity – Co-creating Responsible AI across Research, Policy, and Practice is now open. This three-day festival brings together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and societal partners to co-create responsible AI solutions for societal challenges across areas such as work, health, education, media, food, safety, and defence. We welcome submissions that engage critically and constructively with responsible AI, public values, and real-world impact, including research papers, interdisciplinary contributions, and practice-oriented work. Conference dates: 30 September – 2 October 2026 Location: De Doelen, Rotterdam Submission portal: https://www.eur.nl/en/events/ai-hype-hope-and-humanity-2026-09-29 Submission deadline: 24 May 2026 We encourage submissions from across disciplines and sectors, and particularly welcome contributions that bridge research, practice, and societal impact. Please feel free to share this call with colleagues or networks who may be interested. With kind regards on behalf of the AI MAPS team, Majsa

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New open access book: Postdigital Intimacies: Relational lives in the networked public-private (UCL Press)
by Alison Fox 21 Apr '26

21 Apr '26

*** We apologise for any cross-posting*** UCL Press is delighted to announce the publication of a new open access book that may be of interest to list subscribers: Postdigital Intimacies: Relational lives in the networked public-private edited by Adrienne Evans, Jamie Hakim, Jessica Ringrose, Amy Shields Dobson and Shaka McGlotten. Download it free: https://uclpress.co.uk/book/postdigital-intimacies/ ******************************************* Postdigital Intimacies Relational lives in the networked public-private Edited by Adrienne Evans, Jamie Hakim, Jessica Ringrose, Amy Shields Dobson and Shaka McGlotten. Free download: https://uclpress.co.uk/book/postdigital-intimacies/ ******************************************* Postdigital Intimacies presents a unique and timely collection of research into the complex interplay and entanglement between digital and analogue relationships. Set within the normalisation of digital technology, cultures, AI and algorithms, the book explores social, political and cultural implications of intimacy in a blurry public–private. Chapters are informed by intersectional feminist, queer, anti-racist and postcolonial theories, and show how research can be part of creating affirmative, collective worlds that are more equitable and socially just. Through these lenses, contributors uncover vibrant digitally mediated lives and sociality. They investigate the vibey, emotional and affective sensibilities evolving online – excitement, boredom, mental health, survival – and reveal new activisms formed through digital belonging and a networked identity that responds to and resists marginality. Consideration is given to the capacity for digital affordances to enable new forms of connection, community and solidarity as well as harm. Authors explore vulnerability and risk through image-based abuse and gendered and sexual violence. They also analyse the forms of digital surveillance, labour and platformed capitalism that shape intimate relations created in kinship and domesticity. By addressing these relationalities as postdigital intimacies, the chapters offer fascinating insights and timely analyses of the intimate relations that emerge from our current cultural and postdigital condition. Free download: https://uclpress.co.uk/book/postdigital-intimacies/ ---------------------- uclpress.co.uk | @uclpress

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ISOC LIVE - What’s On & What’s New - Apr 21 2026
by Joly MacFie 21 Apr '26

21 Apr '26

Hatched, matched, and despatched! Thanks to those of you who have Substack subs <https://isoclive.substack.com/>! Here is what is up. *Upcoming Events* - APR 19-22 - ARIN 57 Public Policy and Members Meeting <https://isoc.live/20814/> - APR 21 - FLODIR - Beyond the ban? How to regulate platform design to protect minors under the DSA <https://isoc.live/20821/> - APR 21 04:00 UTC - Doing Digital Platform Research with Australian Internet Observatory <https://isoc.live/20742/> - APR 22 11:00 UTC - COcyber Roundtable on Defence - Civilian Synergies in Cybersecurity <https://isoc.live/20498/> - APR 22 12:00 UTC - ICANN and Global Internet Governance Engagements in 2026 <https://isoc.live/20665/> - APR 23 06:00 UTC - APRALO Policy Forum Multilingual Internet #3: Universal Acceptance of All Domain Names and Email Addresses <https://isoc.live/20789/> - APR 23-24 07:00 UTC - Moldova Internet Governance Forum 2026 + Moldova Universal Acceptance Day 2026 <https://isoc.live/20800/> - APR 23 07:30 UTC - ISOC Kenya Celebrating International Girls in ICT Day <https://isoc.live/20807/> - APR 23 12:30 UTC - International Girls in ICT Day 2026 - ITU Global Celebration <https://isoc.live/20764/> - APR 23 13:00 UTC - ITU - Girls & Space: Pathways to the stars <https://isoc.live/20755/> - APR 23 13:30 UTC - ISOC PERU - Soluciones de Conectividad impulsadas por la Comunidad <https://isoc.live/20810/> - APR 23 15:00 UTC - INTC / IIESoc - IP Address Geolocation <https://isoc.live/20653/> - APR 23 18:00 UTC - The Rise and Fall of Undelegated TLDs: The Impact of a Global Misconfiguration <https://isoc.live/20792/> - APR 23 20:00 UTC - Georgetown on the Hill - Making AI Work: Productivity, Diffusion, and Policy <https://isoc.live/20779/> - APR 24 13:00 UTC - UN Global Mech ICT - 1st Chair Informal Dialogue w/ Stakeholders <https://isoc.live/20600/> - APR 24 16:00 UTC - Canada Youth IGF Honorariums Symposium <https://isoc.live/20565/> - APR 28 17:00 UTC - ICANN Global Public Interest Framework (GPIF) and its Relevance to At-Large <https://isoc.live/20797/> - MAY 11-12 - UN Virtual Worlds Day 2026 - Shaping the Future of Cities <https://isoc.live/20737/> - MAY 11 14:00 UTC - topDNS Best Practice Series: Beyond the Perimeter - Managing Internet Routing as a Supply Chain Risk <https://isoc.live/20626/> - MAY 27 12:00 UTC - What Makes a DNS Abuse Complaint to ICANN Actionable: Insights and Common Challenges <https://isoc.live/20671/> *Recaps / Recordings* - APR 15 - The New gTLD Program 2026 and the Future of the DNS Ecosystem <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/ispcp-newgtld> - APR 14 - Effective Youth Participation and Digital Inclusion Action Toward WSIS 2035 <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/ecosoc-youth-wsis> - APR 14 - From Spectrum to Service: Building with Unlicensed Fixed Wireless <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/ntia-fixedwireless> - APR 13 - Quantum Technologies, Implications for the Global Digital Divide <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/dc-ddht-quantum> - FEB 26 - At-Large Meets OCTO-SSR <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/at-large-octo-ssr> *Other Report Summaries* - Age Verification Architecture (summary) <https://isoclive.substack.com/p/age-verification-architecture> *NYC Open Data Week 2026 <https://opendataweek.substack.com/>* - NYC School of Data 2026 - Opening Session <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/nyc-school-of-data-2026-opening-session> - NYC School of Data 2026 - From Connectivity to Connection: Transforming Digital Equity Into Action <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/nyc-school-of-data-2026-from-connectivi…> - NYC School of Data - Building the Public Interest Tech Workforce <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/nyc-school-of-data-building-the-public> - AI in Government: Opportunities for the Mamdani Administration <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/ai-in-government-opportunities-for> - How Has 10 Years of Civic Engagement Through Open Data Changed New York? <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/how-has-10-years-of-civic-engagement> - NYC Health Department Health Data Tour <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/nyc-health-department-health-data> - NYC Agency Maps, Tools, & Geospatial Data for 2026 <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/nyc-agency-maps-tools-and-geospatial> - Tracking NYC Trash: Using Open Data to Understand and Improve the City's Waste System <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/tracking-nyc-trash-using-open-data> - Data for Disaster Recovery and Resilience: Exploring NYCEM's Hazard History Consequence Tool and Recovery Dashboards <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/data-for-disaster-recovery-and-resilien…> - Querying Big Bus Data off of the Open Data Portal <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/querying-big-bus-data-off-of-the> - Advancing Climate Compliance: How Data Informs & Challenges Building Retrofits and Decarbonization (Local Law 97) <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/advancing-climate-compliance-how> - From Open Data to Urban Impact: Data-Driven Research on Health, Safety, and Policy in New York City <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/from-open-data-to-urban-impact-data> - DATA2GO.NYC: A Data Tool to Understand Well-Being and Need in NYC <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/data2gonyc-a-data-tool-to-understand> - Vital City: Exploring 30 Years of NYC Crime - and What Comes Next <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/vital-city-exploring-30-years-of> - NYC's Changing Landscape: Discover What's Being Built Around You <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/nycs-changing-landscape> - Databook Update: Data Supporting Civil Service and Tech Procurement Reform <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/databook-update> - Using Open Tools to Explore Open Data <https://opendataweek.substack.com/p/using-open-tools> - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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Two PhDs positions on Persuasive AI Futures - University of St. Gallen
by Philip Di Salvo 21 Apr '26

21 Apr '26

Dear all, The Media and Culture Research Unit at the MCM Institute, University of St. Gallen is hiring: *We are seeking two highly motivated PhD candidates to join an exciting new SNSF-funded research project investigating the persuasive power of communicative AI (comAI) in the everyday lives of adolescents and families across Europe. * *The Project* Chatbots, virtual assistants, and AI writing tools are becoming a normal part of daily life for young people across Europe. Yet we know surprisingly little about how these technologies actually influence adolescents - their attitudes, decisions, and relationships - in the context of everyday family life. This four-year cross-national ethnographic study investigates the persuasive power of comAI among adolescents aged 13–18 and their families across Switzerland, Germany, France, and Italy. It examines AI influence along three dimensions: the interpersonal dimension, exploring how young people perceive AI as a social actor and navigate questions of agency and relationship; the social and cultural dimension, focusing on how families respond to AI-generated disinformation, bias, and errors; and the technical dimension, examining how families understand emotional design, data profiling, and manipulative by-design features in comAI. Findings will inform AI regulation and digital literacy programmes across Europe. *The DOK Programme* Successful candidates will be enrolled in the PhD Programme in Organisation Studies and Cultural Theory (DOK) at the University of St. Gallen. The DOK programme integrates the university's core and contextual subjects in an interdisciplinary form of doctoral studies, bringing together organisational research and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS). The programme is particularly suited to research that engages with complex social, cultural, and technological questions from multiple disciplinary perspectives, making it an ideal home for this project. *What We Offer* - A fully funded PhD position (100%) for four years supervised by Prof. Veronica Barassi, starting in September 2026. - Enrolment in the DOK programme at the University of St. Gallen, one of Europe's leading universities. - Integration into the Media & Culture research unit (=mcm3) at the Institute of Media and Communications Management Institute, a dynamic, international, and interdisciplinary research team. See more information about us here: https://mcm.unisg.ch/en/das-institut/lehrstuehle-und-forschungsbereiche/mcm… . - Access to a growing network of researchers through the PersuasiveAI Futures Network *Your Profile* - Master's degree in communication sciences, social sciences, political sciences, or a related field. - Proficiency in English and fluency in at least one or two of the project languages (German, French, or Italian) is mandatory. - Willingness and ability to spend extended periods conducting fieldwork in one of the following cities: Berlin, Paris, or Milan. - Knowledge of qualitative and ethnographic research methodologies is a strong advantage. - Curiosity, intellectual independence, and a genuine interest in the social impacts of comAI. *How to Apply: * Application must be submitted by 4 May. In person interviews will be held by 15 June, with decisions communicated by the end of that month. *Please send along: * - A cover letter explaining who you are, your background, and why you are interested in the PhD position, including your level of language knowledge and your connection to one of the ethnographic areas - A one-page document outlining your potential PhD project - Your CV - A writing sample (MA thesis, article, etc.), if available but not mandatory *APPLICATION LINK: https://jobs.unisg.ch/offene-stellen/two-fully-funded-phd-positions-m-w-d/5… <https://jobs.unisg.ch/offene-stellen/two-fully-funded-phd-positions-m-w-d/5…>* For information about the job opening or general questions, please contact philip.disalvo(a)unisg.ch <philip.disalvo(a)unisg.ch?subject=> (applications must be submitted through the application link, applications coming via email won't be considered). -- *Philip Di Salvo, PhD* Researcher <https://mcm.unisg.ch/en/personenverzeichnis/9479a240-e20b-4b1e-aaa4-249f2ca…> | journalist <https://twitter.com/philipdisalvo> Zürich

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CFP ICA 2026 Oceania Hub
by Sy Taffel 21 Apr '26

21 Apr '26

Apologies for cross-posting We are pleased to share the Call for Papers for the ICA 2026 Oceania Hub: Communicative Equality Against Empire: Socialism, Anticapitalism, Anticolonialism, Antiimperialism, hosted by the Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE) at Massey University, Te Papaioea Palmerston North, Aotearoa New Zealand, 6–7 June 2026. The Hub is a hybrid gathering (face-to-face and online) that convenes scholars, organizers, activists, trade unionists, and community partners to theorize and practice communicative equality as an explicitly socialist, anticapitalist, anticolonial, and antiimperialist project. Over two days, we will build a shared lexicon and shared practice of refusal, positioning communication scholarship as a terrain of class struggle, anticolonial organizing, and internationalist solidarity. Submission themes include: 1. Socialism, Class, and the Political Economy of Communication 2. Anticolonialism, Land, and Indigenous Sovereignty 3. Antiimperialism and Global Solidarity 4. Refusal as Communicative Method 5. The Living Lexicon of Liberation — a collaborative, co-authored decolonial, anticapitalist, antiimperialist lexicon We welcome individual papers, pre-constituted panels, workshops and movement clinics, multimodal and creative interventions, and lexicon entries. Submission formats: • Individual papers (250-word abstract) • Pre-constituted panels of 3–5 papers (500-word rationale plus abstracts) • Workshops and movement clinics (250-word abstract) • Multimodal and creative interventions (250-word abstract) • Lexicon entries (300–800 words) Key dates: • Submissions open: 15 April 2026 • Submission deadline: 2 May 2026 • Notification of acceptance: 6 May 2026 • Conference fee: NZD $200 Please send your extended abstracts to Debalina Dutta at D.Dutta(a)massey.ac.nz<mailto:D.Dutta@massey.ac.nz>. Include your name, affiliation, community or organizational ties where relevant, submission type, and a short bio (100 words). We actively welcome submissions from scholars, organizers, and community partners working outside conventional academic infrastructures, and from those whose first language is not English. Submissions from Oceania, the Pacific Islands, South and Southeast Asia, and other Global South locations are especially encouraged. Please circulate widely. In solidarity, Debalina, Mohan and Sy (organising committee, 2026 ICA Hub) Sy Taffel, PhD Senior Lecturer in Media Studies |Co-Director, Political Ecology Research Centre<http://perc.ac.nz/> College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Massey University Email: s.a.taffel(a)massey.ac.nz<mailto:s.a.taffel@massey.ac.nz> | Telephone: +64 (06 ) 356 9099 ext. 84527 Website: sytaffel.com<http://sytaffel.com/> Taffel, S (2026) Postgrowth Digital Futures<https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/postgrowth-digital-futures>, Bristol University Press Taffel, S. (2025) Degrowth and Digital Culture<https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111316857-045/html>, in DeGruyter Handbook of Digtial Cultures Taffel, S. (2024) Fantasies of dematerialization: (Un)sustainable growth and digital capitalism<https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003441311-3/fantasi…>. In Digital Technologies for Sustainable Futures: Promises and Pitfalls.

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CFS | After Virtual Reality: Extending Immersive Narrative Symposium
by Sérgio Galvão Roxo 20 Apr '26

20 Apr '26

Dear all, I'm sharing the call for submissions for the "After Virtual Reality: Extending Immersive Narrative Symposium". A three-day symposium for a small cohort of participants, convened by the Extending Digital Narrative (XDN) research project the Center for Digital Narrative (CDN), a Norwegian Centre of Research Excellence at the University of Bergen. An affiliated exhibition will take place during the gathering at the Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF). October 2026, Bergen, Norway • 19 October – Exhibition Opening & Artist Panel • 20-21 October – Academic Symposium The After Virtual Reality symposium will take place in conjunction with an exhibition on display from October 14-22, in collaboration with the Bergen International Film Festival. Deadline for submissions: May 17, 2026 Abstracts of 500-1000 words, with short bio and keywords (excluding references) Submission Link: https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=21016960 For more information: sergio.roxo(a)uib.no Applicants will be notified in June. Up to 20 proposals for presentations will be accepted for the symposium following a review process. Authors of selected presentations will be invited to submit their work to a peer-reviewed publication. What are immersive narratives becoming? As contemporary forms of digital narrative continue to expand, mutate, and hybridize, immersive storytelling has become a key site of experimentation across artistic, cultural, and technological domains. Immersive narratives now transcend singular media forms, platforms, or devices, unfolding across thresholds such as physical and digital environments, embodied and computational experiences, and authored and generative processes. Immersive storytelling has often been associated with immersive media and Extended Reality (XR), encompassing Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR). However, XR itself remains an unstable and evolving category. Drawing from Milgram and Kishino’s (1994) reality–virtuality continuum, we consider “XR” an open and extensible framework for emerging, speculative, and as-yet-unsettled forms of computationally mediated reality, including spatial computing, AI-driven environments, and hybrid physical–digital spaces. After Virtual Reality: Extending Immersive Narrative brings together researchers, practitioners, and theorists to explore how immersive narratives are being reconfigured today — and what they might become. The symposium is organized by the Center for Digital Narrative (CDN) at the University of Bergen, within the Extending Digital Narrative (XDN) research project, which takes an experimental approach to studying emerging forms of digital narrative and exploring the potentialities of emerging technologies for new genres of storytelling. The symposium will foreground immersive narratives as sites of epistemological, aesthetic, and political experimentation. We invite contributions that examine immersive narratives as spatial, multimodal, and relational practices, with attention to how they produce affect, reflection, identification, participation, and belonging. The symposium welcomes diverse critical perspectives and explicitly encourages contributions grounded in decolonial, queer, feminist, cyborg, and posthuman epistemologies, as well as community-based, activist, and industry-facing practices. Potential themes: We invite theoretical and empirical contributions addressing immersive narrative across the following themes, including but not limited to: Immersive Narrative Practices & Aesthetics ◦ Case studies of immersive storytelling across VR, AR, MR, and spatial computing ◦ Spatial storytelling, narrative, environments, and multimodal embodied experience ◦ Theoretical frameworks emerging from creative and practice-based research in immersive narrative AI, Authorship, and Generative Systems ◦ Relationships between AI and XR; AI-driven environments and generative narrative ◦ Thresholds between authored and generative processes ◦ New epistemologies of narrative authorship in computational systems Politics, Epistemology, and Social Practice ◦ Decolonial, queer, feminist, and cyborg frameworks for immersive media ◦ Narratives of belonging, exclusion, memory, and futurity ◦ Community-driven, participatory, and activist immersive practices ◦ Immersion as affective, political, and epistemological condition Contributions may also address thresholds between physical ↔ digital, embodied ↔ mediated, and spectator ↔ participant across any of the above themes. Collaborative submissions between scholars and creators are particularly encouraged. Submission Information: Submission format: Academic Abstracts Specifications: • Length: 500 — 1000 words (excluding references) • Author bio: 50 words • Keywords: Up to 5 Deadline: 17 May 2026 Notification: June 2026 Submission link: https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=21016960 Contact person: [sergio.roxo(a)uib.no] Organizing committee Scott Rettberg, Maria Engberg, Pedro Queirós Pinto, Sérgio Galvão Roxo, Anna Nacher Up to 20 presentations will be selected from submissions, with additional participants invited as discussants and respondents. Selection is based on thematic fit, scholarly contribution, and the need for intellectually diverse perspectives on immersive narrative. Selected contributions will be invited for inclusion in a peer-reviewed publication. The After Virtual Reality symposium will take place between October 19-21, in conjunction with an exhibition on display from October 14-22, in collaboration with the Bergen International Film Festival. There will be no conference fee. Lunches and a conference dinner will be provided by the hosts. Organizing Institution The Center for Digital Narrative (CDN) is a Norwegian Centre of Research Excellence dedicated to the study of narrative across digital, visual, sonic, and computational media. The symposium is organized within the framework of Extending Digital Narrative (XDN), an interdisciplinary research group focused on immersive, conversational, and generative narratives. For more information: https://www4.uib.no/en/research/research-centres/center-for-digital-narrati… Funding This is supported by the Research Council of Norway through its Centers of Excellence scheme (project number 332643, Center for Digital Narrative) and its SAMKUL project scheme (project number 335129, Extending Digital Narrative).

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10 more days to apply: “Synthetic Social Media – Studying Platform-Embedded AI” (22–25 September 2026, CRC Media of Cooperation, University of Siegen)
by Pilipets, Elena 20 Apr '26

20 Apr '26

Dear all, Just a quick and friendly reminder that the submission deadline for the CfP “Synthetic Social Media – Studying Platform-Embedded AI” (22–25 September 2026, CRC Media of Cooperation, University of Siegen) is in 10 days. Apply here https://www.mediacoop.uni-siegen.de/en/autumn-school-synthetic-social-media… Keynotes Esther Weltevrede (University of Amsterdam) and Gabriele de Seta (University of Bergen) About the Event Social media platforms are increasingly shaped by the integration of generative AI alongside long-standing analytical and predictive models. Today's algorithmic systems are moving from the background infrastructure to the forefront of digital social life – where autonomous AI agents operate in coexistence with (or independently of) human users. They intervene in the content feeds as conversational agents like xAI's Grok, reshape identity play through synthetic likenesses of OpenAI's Sora-2, and expand the social ecosystem itself through experimental projects like Butterflies AI and Moltbook. As these developments rapidly outpace existing research frameworks, the need for mixed critical methodologies to explore the nested integration of GenAI into platforms grows more urgent. The 2026 Autumn School edition of the CRC “Media of Cooperation” explores these developments by focusing on generative AI as an infrastructural, cultural, and regulated component of social media platforms across three intersecting dimensions: At the cultural level of everyday use, it refers to the routinized practices of prompting or interacting with platform-embedded generative systems through multimodal inputs. Infrastructurally, it signals a shift in agency, as platforms keep multiplying affordances that nudge us into co-producing synthetic outputs. Finally, it foregrounds research techniques for probing AI models in their entanglements with the platform governance and moderation regimes. Call for Contributions Please submit a proposal (max. 500 words) outlining how your work engages with the event’s main theme, inspired by, though not limited to, one of the following "how to" prompts: ● How to account for the ambiguities emerging from human-machine co-creation ● How to rethink walkthrough methods in light of platforms’ generative affordances ● How to study AI moderation as platform policy in action ● How to approach cultural biases conditioned by AI systems and prompt cultures ● How to explore platform agency and its steering ideologies ● How to integrate screenshots as a method for capturing synthetic situations ● How to repurpose AI personas as research personas ● How to develop non-extractive approaches to researching AI platforms Submission Deadline: 30. April 2026. Accepted proposals will be grouped into thematic sessions and discussed in a collaborative, dialogue-focused format. Presentations (max. 15 mins) should raise questions or provocations rather than present finished research. We encourage especially Early Career Researchers to apply. For full details, including the submission link, please visit our website: https://www.mediacoop.uni-siegen.de/en/autumn-school-synthetic-social-media… Event Highlights The event begins with a one-day conference featuring keynote talks by Esther Weltevrede (University of Amsterdam) and Gabriele de Seta (University of Bergen), before transitioning into hands-on workshops and collaborative project work. Accepted abstracts will be grouped into thematic sessions curated by the organising team. Presenters will be connected via email ahead of time to coordinate their contributions. The first day is about presentations and discussions. The next three days are dedicated to exploring and developing methods - hands-on! We invite you to join a team of interdisciplinary scholars and data designers in probing new methodological combinations. Each of our project teams will present a research question alongside a specific method to be collaboratively explored. The event is free of charge, though attendees are responsible for arranging and covering their travel and accommodation in Siegen. Questions? Feel free to get in touch: elena.pilipets(a)uni-siegen.de<mailto:elena.pilipets@uni-siegen.de> We look forward to your contributions! Elena

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PhD in Feminist Software Design: Fully Funded, Uni of Amsterdam, April 28
by Sian Brooke 19 Apr '26

19 Apr '26

Dear All, I am writing to share that I am hiring for a fully funded PhD in my group at the University of Amsterdam, in case it is of interest to your students or networks. The deadline is 28 April 2026, so there is still time to apply! The position is in Human-Centred AI for Programming Environments, based at the Digital Interactions Lab (DILAB), Informatics Institute, University of Amsterdam. The project sits at the intersection of feminism, software engineering, human-computer interaction, and applied AI. The successful candidate will design, implement, and evaluate AI-powered IDE tools (for example, VS Code extensions integrating large language models) and co-design them with neurodiverse women in computing, using participatory and mixed-methods research. DETAILS: Fully funded, four-year contract at 38 hours per week. Salary between €3,059 and €3,881 gross per month (scale P), plus 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% year-end allowance. Funded training, courses, and international conference attendance (for example CHI, ICER, ICSE). The 30% tax ruling may apply to non-Dutch applicants. Preferred start date is September 2026, but open for discussion. DESCRIPTION: We are looking for someone with a Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, AI, HCI, or a closely related field, with strong software engineering skills and experience building non-trivial systems (ideally plugins or extensions). Proficiency in JavaScript, TypeScript, and/or Python is expected. Prior experience with qualitative or participatory research is welcome but not required, if the candidate is genuinely motivated to learn these methods. We particularly encourage applications from candidates interested in accessibility, neurodiversity, and inclusive computing. Full details and application instructions are available here: https://werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies/phd-position-in-human-centered-ai-for… I would be very grateful if you could circulate this to anyone who might be a good fit. Questions are welcome, either to me directly or via the contacts listed on the vacancy page Thank you and Best wishes, Siân Dr Siân JM Brooke (she/her) Assistant Professor (MacGillavry Fellowship) L5.51 | Lab42 | Science Park userinteractionlab.com<https://userinteractionlab.com/> <https://www.uva.nl/en/profile/b/r/s.j.m.brooke/s.j.m.brooke.html> | sianbrooke.com<http://www.sianbrooke.com/> | qfinformatics.com<http://www.qfinformatics.com/>

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