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Invitation to Inclusive Data Skills Hackathon
by Zoetanya Sujon 09 Jan '24

09 Jan '24

Dear AoIR colleagues, Calling all London / UK based AoIR members - you, interested colleagues and your students are warmly invited to join us for an *Inclusive Data Skills Hackathon* on Jan 26, 10:00-17:00. The event is free, but registration <https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inclusive-data-research-skills-hackathon-for…> is required. As part of the DAReS project <https://www.arts.ac.uk/colleges/london-college-of-communication/research-at…>, the Hackathon aims to collectively hack key challenges around new digitally oriented skills and methods in arts and humanities research, such as: - What data and digital research skills are most relevant for those in arts and humanities researchers? - What kinds of thinking, epistemologies and colonial practices come with data tools, skills and methods? How can we engage decolonial approaches to data for arts and humanities? - What value do data and digital research have in relation to broader research journeys - from planning to research impact? - How can these challenges be met in inclusive ways which account for diverse perspectives? These challenges arise from 8 months of co-design work with marginalised and underrepresented arts and humanities researchers working on a data and digital research skills curriculum. To meet these challenges, we will work together to better understand these challenges for inclusive engagement and problem-solving. You and interested colleagues or students are warmly invited to join us. Please see the Eventbrite link for more information and for free registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inclusive-data-research-skills-hackathon-for… A little more about the DAReS Project: The project places diversity and inclusion as important preconditions for innovation and high quality research, and applies these priorities to digital research skills development and training. We are working to transform known gaps into opportunities for inclusive practice enabling game-changer solutions, artistic practice, and impactful, high-quality research in arts and humanities. The DAReS project is a collaboration between the University of the Arts London (London College of Communication and Creative Computing Institute), Leeds University, King's College London, Roehampton University and partners, CRAC/Vitae and Wikimedia UK. -- 'You are marvellous. The Gods wait to delight in you.' ('The Laughing Heart' by Charles Bukowski).

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CFP: Panel on illegitimate and informal digital economies (Barcelona, July 23-26)
by Andreas Hackl 09 Jan '24

09 Jan '24

Dear colleagues, The role of the "illegitimate" and informal in digital economies is a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of digitalisation. If you are working in this field, please consider joining this exciting in-person panel at the EASA conference in Barcelona this July (deadline 22 January): Illegitimacy and informality in the digital economy<https://nomadit.co.uk/conference/easa2024/p/14503> In-person panel at EASA2024 conference in Barcelona, 23-26 July Anthropological research has long been attuned to the subversive ways in which people maintain their livelihoods, and has thereby contested binary divisions between the formal and informal in economies and labour markets. These binaries are upheld by state-centric perspectives on legitimate economic activity; challenging them means questioning norms and stereotypes around legality, criminalisation, and authority. Digitalisation has beckoned many new ways of generating income, accessing work, and getting paid, for example through platform work, e-commerce, mobile money, cryptocurrency exchanges, or social media platforms. Here, new informal and illegitimate activities have flourished. New forms of digital brokerage and informal intermediation, online scams, and fraudulent digital identities are especially prevalent among low income, migrant, and non-citizen groups who are excluded from bank accounts, SIMs, and other foundations of digital economic activity (Chonka 2023; Cheesman & Hackl 2023; Swartz 2023). Building on these emerging conversations, this panel seeks to generate critical discussion around the role of the illegitimate and informal in contemporary digital economies, including digital labour markets, finance, aid and welfare, cybercrime, and more. We are interested in both the empowering and disempowering dimensions of the illegitimate and informal. Papers may include discussions of subject formation in digital economies, everyday negotiations or regimes of suspicion and authenticity. We invite papers based on research not only with vulnerable, exploited populations, but also elite actors, such as those involved in shadow banking or regulatory arbitrage. The panel encourages methodological reflections about the challenges of doing anthropological research in this ambivalent and sensitive field. If you are interested to join, please submit your paper proposal here: https://nomadit.co.uk/conference/easa2024/p/14503 If you have any questions, please contact the conveners (Andreas Hackl, University of Edinburgh, and Margie Cheesman, King's College London): andreas.hackl(a)ed.ac.uk margie.cheesman(a)kcl.ac.uk ---------------------- Dr Andreas Hackl Lecturer, Social Anthropology School of Social and Political Science University of Edinburgh, UK The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th' ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336.

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Looking for recommendations: Indonesian researchers in STS / AI
by André Sarli 09 Jan '24

09 Jan '24

Dear community, I’m looking for recommendations of Professors in Indonesia that work in the fields of STS + AI, or just STS, or AI from the point of view of social sciences. Any hint helps!! Best regards, André Cardozo Sarli, PhD (2023) Université de Genève +41 76 290 9969 > > >

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Call for Abstracts: Screen Studies in the Age of Extended Reality & Synthetic Media, Trinity College Dublin, June 4th-5th 2024
by Jennifer O'Meara 09 Jan '24

09 Jan '24

*With apologies for cross-posting* *Call for Abstracts: Screen Studies in the Age of Extended Reality & Synthetic Media* An international conference to take place at Trinity College Dublin, as part of the Irish Research Council Laureate Award project “From Cinematic Realism to Extended Reality: Reformulating Screen Studies at the Precipice of Hyper-reality” (2022-2026). *Keynote speaker: * Professor Jenna Ng, Head of Creative Technologies and Professor of Digital Media and Culture at the University of York. The world is increasingly grappling with an existential crisis of what constitutes the real. Contemporary “post-truth” societies are mired by so-called fake news and a technological dependence approaching philosopher Jean Baudrillard’s (1981) concept of hyper-reality. Already noting an increased shift towards versions of reality accessed via simulation and replication, he warned of a potential moment where “hyperreality” would become indistinguishable from the reality in which humans exist. More specifically, the rapid deployment of extended reality (XR) technologies like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), as well as the increased use of virtual production practices and machine learning to produce synthetic media including “deepfakes” and “AI films,” present creative challenges for screen production workers and critical challenges for screen studies. As various arts and media scholars have recently highlighted, there is a strong need to consider AR and VR not just as hyped technologies but as media (Bolter, Engberg and MacIntyre 2021; O’Meara and Szita 2023), and for further explorations of the cultural and artistic ramifications of algorithmically generated media in arts and humanities research (De Vries 2019; Chow 2020). These developments are an extension of earlier research into topics like software cinema (Hassapopoulou 2014) and broader questions as to the place of traditional screen media in the digital age (Gaudreault and Marion, 2015). Since early cinema, filmmakers and theorists have been preoccupied with conventions of realism and its reliance on both analogue technologies (camera and film strip) and creative choices. Though extended reality and synthetic screen technologies are largely driven by computing and the tech industries, their design and use build on a much longer history of media technologies and, as such, can intersect meaningfully with existing screen theories and critical approaches to screen aesthetics, narrative and audience consumption (see: Haslem 2019; Denson 2020). This conference will thus consider how approaches from screen studies, media history and cultural studies can guide a more critical and humanistic development of these technologies and their associated media. It aims to address the following questions inter-related topics and questions: *Technologies.* How can screen studies approaches, histories and theories be used to better understand the development of extended reality technologies and synthetic media with respect to their technologic features, narrative properties, and audio-visual aesthetics? *Ethical and Social Impact.* What are the key ethical ramifications of synthetic media technologies being 1) used in the screen industries and via amateur media practices and 2) consumed by individuals as a form of entertainment or recorded document? *Embodiment and Spectatorship.* Acknowledging the proven impact of extended reality media and technologies on consumers’ bodies (e.g. Ross 2020; Crouch and Damjanov, 2021), how can we gain more understanding of this impact using, for example, sensory theories of embodiment and concepts of screen “gaze”? *Inclusivity and Identity Politics.* Acknowledging that the design and use of media technologies are inherently intertwined with identity politics related to gender, race, sexuality and disability, what are the related risks and opportunities associated with emergent forms of XR and synthetic media? *Disciplinary Impact.* To what degree is the discipline and teaching of screen studies being disrupted (forcing a revision of methods and practices) by the mainstreaming of extended reality and deceptive technologies? The conference will feature a Keynote address by *Professor Jenna Ng*, Head of Creative Technologies and Professor of Digital Media and Culture and the University of York. Professor Ng’s work includes “The New Virtuality: A Video Essay on the Disappearing Differences Between Real and Unreal” (2023); the monograph *T**he Post-Screen Through Virtual Reality, Holograms and Light Projections: Where Screen Boundaries Lie* (2021); the edited collection *Understanding Machinima: essays on filmmaking in virtual worlds* (2013), and a forthcoming book on the existential tensions of living in the age of AI. We welcome abstracts for both *research papers* (20 minutes) and *practice-based works* (<30 minutes). A related edited collection is also being planned for the post-conference period. *Topics may include, but are not limited to:* · Aesthetic properties of extended reality or synthetic media, such as the uses of colour, framing, camera work, editing, sound and music. · Narrative properties of extended reality or synthetic media, including interactive/ludic elements and elliptical or non-linear storytelling. · Resulting labour and ethical issues, including the potential displacement of creative workers / performers. · XR models of spectatorship, including inaccessibility of emergent technologies and financial barriers to access. · Approaches to these technologies that intersect with film philosophy / film theory / theories of media convergence. · Historical / media archaeological approaches to XR and synthetic media, including those that relate them to concepts of realism/surrealism. · Critical language / terminology developing around these technologies. · Multisensory aspects of immersive media and their potential to create new forms of embodiment. · Augmented reality trends and distribution channels, including AR filters embedded on dominant social media platforms. · VR distribution channels, including via festivals and galleries. · Collaborations between tech companies and production companies or filmmakers. · Politicised uses of deepfakes / synthetic media and their links to concepts of propaganda and documentary truth or constructed realities. · The wider socio-cultural implications of algorithmically generated media’s heightened ubiquity/visibility. · Ties to parallel developments in other creative realms, including algorithmically generated music, sound, and speech. · Music, sound and immersiveness in XR media. · The flow of influences between these technologies and representations of them in screen media such as cinema and television. · Intersections with identity politics related to gender, race, age and disability. · Intersections with environmental issues, including media obsolescence and sustainable practices for media production and consumption. · Intersections with posthumanism and non-human creation or co-creation. · Intersections with performance, stardom and celebrity culture · Videographic or experimental media works that address the conference themes Please submit ~300 words abstracts and a short bio (~100 words) to jennifer.omeara(a)tcd.ie and james.mcglynn(a)tcd.ie by *February 20th*. Note: A limited number of remote papers/practice works can be facilitated. If you would like to present remotely then please signal this when submitting your abstract. Deadline for abstracts: 20th February Applicants notified of acceptance: by March 1st Conference: June 4th–5th The conference is generously supported by the Irish Research Council (grant number: IRCLA/2022/2959) and by the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts & Humanities Research Institute, where it will be held. *Works cited* Baudrillard, J. (1981; 1983). *Simulacra and Simulation*. Los Angeles: Semiotext(e). Bolter, J.D., Engberg, M. and MacIntyre, B. (2021). *Reality Media: Augmented and Virtual Reality*. The MIT Press. Chow, P-S. (2020) “Ghost in the (Hollywood) machine: Emergent applications of artificial intelligence in the film industry.” *NECSUS European Journal of Media Studies*, 9: 193-214. Crouch, D. & Damjanov, K. (2021). “Extreme VR: strategies of sensorial immersion and the intensities of experience.” *The Senses and Society* 16 (3), 308–319. Denson, S. (2020) *Discorrelated Images*. Duke University Press. De Vries, P. (2020) *Algorithmic Anxiety in Contemporary Art: A Kierkegaardian Inquiry into the Imaginary of Possibility*. Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures. Gaudreault, A. and Marion, P. (2015). *The End of Cinema? A Medium in Crisis in the Digital Age*, translated by Timothy Barnard. NYC: Columbia University Press. Haslem, W. (2019). *From Méliès to New Media: Spectral Projections*. Bristol: Intellect books. Hassapopoulou, M. (2014) “Reconfiguring Film Studies Through Software Cinema and Procedural Spectatorship.” *NECSUS European Journal of Media Studies*, 3:2. 2014. O’Meara, J. and Szita, K. (2023) “AR Cinema: Visual Storytelling and Embodied Experiences with Augmented Reality Filters and Backgrounds.” *PRESENCE: Virtual and Augmented Reality* 30: 99–123. Ross, M. (2020). “Virtual Reality’s New Synesthetic Possibilities,” *New Media & Society*, Vol. 21 Issue 3: 297-314. –––––––––––– Dr Jennifer O’Meara Associate Professor in Film Studies, FTCD Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin Dublin 2, Ireland.

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Final Week to Submit Abstracts for AI & Public Safety Symposium
by Majsa Storbeck 09 Jan '24

09 Jan '24

Dear Colleagues and Friends, This is a friendly reminder that you have one week left to submit your abstract for our upcoming symposium on "AI Experiences and Public Safety”, due 15 January 2024. We're thrilled to announce our keynote speakers, Pete Fussey (UK) and Antoinette Rouvroy (BE), who will bring insightful perspectives to our discussions. Additionally, we are excited to confirm that we have partnered with a great journal (European Journal of Policing Studies) to publish selected articles from the conference. For detailed information on submission guidelines and more about the symposium, please refer to the call for papers: https://www.eur.nl/en/news/call-abstracts-ai-experiences-and-public-safety Warm regards, Dutch Surveillance Studies Erasmus University @NLSurvStudies — — Majsa Storbeck PhD Research Student Erasmus University Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam AI-MAPS Artificial Intelligence for Multi-Agency Public Safety<https://www.eur.nl/en/research/research-groups-initiatives/artificial-intel…>

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36th International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering (CAiSE 2024): Second Call for Tutorial Proposals
by Announce 08 Jan '24

08 Jan '24

*** Second Call for Tutorial Proposals *** 36th International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering (CAiSE'24) June 3-7, 2024, 5* St. Raphael Resort and Marina, Limassol, Cyprus https://cyprusconferences.org/caise2024/ (*** Submission Deadline: 28th February, 2024 AoE ***) CAiSE'24 invites proposals for tutorials on advanced topics in the field of Information Systems Engineering. Tutorials should aim at offering new insights, knowledge, and skills to professionals, educators, researchers, and students seeking to gain a better understanding either about methods of broad interest in the field, or emergent paradigms that are ripe for practical adoption or that require further research to reach maturity. Proposals emphasizing the special theme of the CAISE'24 conference “Information Systems in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” are encouraged, but proposals on other new or long-standing topics in information systems engineering are also welcome. Tutorials should be focused on principles, concepts, and methods. Commercial or sales-oriented presentations are not allowed and will not be accepted. Tutorials are intended to provide a pedagogic introduction to or overview of a topic of relevance. Potential presenters should keep in mind that there may be a heterogeneous audience, including novice graduate students, experienced practitioners, and specialized researchers. Tutorial speakers should be prepared to cope with this diversity in the audience. Tutorials will be 90 minutes long and organized in parallel with the technical sessions of the main conference and participants of the conference will have free access to all of them. Potential proposers are free to contact the tutorial chairs via e-mail to validate their idea prior to the submission. SELECTION CRITERIA The tutorial chairs will review each proposal and select a subset of them based on the following criteria: 1. relevance to the field of IS engineering; 2. anticipated appeal to the conference audience; 3. timeliness and importance for the conference audience; 4. past experience and qualifications of the instructor(s). The tutorial chairs will also consider the complementarity of the proposal w.r.t. the conference program and other tutorial proposals. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Tutorial proposals should be submitted to Easy Chair using the conference submission site (https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=caise2024) and then selecting the “CAiSE 2024 Tutorials” track. The proposal (length up to 1500 words) should cover the following points: • Title • Presenters and affiliation • Goal: The overall goal of the tutorial. • Scope: Intended audience, level (basic or advanced), and prerequisites. • Topic relevance and novelty: Specifically indicate the relevance to the scope of CAiSE, the relevance to practice, the novel aspects that would make this tutorial beneficiary and appealing to CAiSE participants. • Structure of contents: Here you should provide a structured overview of your planned tutorial, organized into numbered sections and subsections. For each subsection, you should sketch its contents in a few sentences or bullet points. • References: Provide references to papers, books, etc. that your tutorial builds on. Please specify previous venues at which similar tutorials have been presented by you and indicate the difference between the proposed tutorial and previous ones. CAiSE usually does not accept tutorials that have been presented in other venues. • Sample Slides: Include at least 5 sample slides of the presentation you plan to give if your tutorial is accepted. Select slides that are typical of your presentation style. These slides have to be submitted in a separate PDF file. Services provided to tutorialists • A 2-page tutorial abstract will be published in the CAiSE LNCS proceedings • Tutorials will benefit from the local organizational infrastructure (registration, badges, refreshments, beamers, screens, etc.). • Advertisement of the tutorial on CAISE 2024 homepage and mailings. • The conference fee will be waived for tutorial presenters (one fee per tutorial). IMPORTANT DATES • Submission of Tutorial Proposals: 28th February, 2024 (AoE) • Notification of Acceptance: 15th March, 2024 • Camera-ready Abstracts: 5th April, 2024 • Tutorial Presenters Registration Deadline: 8th April, 2024 TUTORIAL CHAIRS • Adela del Rio Ortega, University of Seville, Spain (adeladelrio(a)us.es) • Tiago Prince Sales, University of Twente, The Netherlands (t.princesales(a)utwente.nl) Other Committee Members https://cyprusconferences.org/caise2024/committees/

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Reminder: Inference - Critical Approaches to Visual Generative AI workshop, Sheffield, April 2024 (abstract deadline extended deadline - 22 January)
by Tim Highfield 08 Jan '24

08 Jan '24

Dear all, Happy new year! I just wanted to remind you about the one-day workshop on Critical Approaches to Visual Generative AI that will be held in Sheffield in April 2024 by the Data, AI, and Algorithms in Society hub of the University of Sheffield's Digital Society Network. The deadline for submitting abstracts has been extended to midnight on 21 January 2024 (i.e. the end of Sunday 21 January, UK time), so you still have time to submit something if you are interested in participating! Submissions might consider the following topics, and additional subjects are also encouraged: - Visual AI and identity - Commercial applications of visual AI - The inequalities/biases of visual AI - The harms of visual AI - Visual AI and user behaviour - Visual AI and play/humour - The legal implications of visual AI - Visual AI imaginaries - Visual AI and mis/disinformation - Theoretical approaches to Visual AI - Visual AI as/and art - Visual AI and labour - Economies of visual AI - Visual AI and geopolitics/colonialism and colonial logics The workshop will be held on 22 April 2024 in Sheffield. For more information and to submit, please visit: https://bit.ly/inferenceworkshop If you have any questions, please email Kate Miltner at k.miltner(a)sheffield.ac.uk Many thanks, Tim. -- *Dr Tim Highfield | *Pronouns: he, him, his Lecturer in Digital Media & Society Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield C435, The Wave 2 Whitham Road Sheffield S10 2AH Director, Digital Society Network: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/social-sciences/research/digital-society *Latest writing* Highfield, T., & Miltner, K.M. (2023). '‘Platformed solidarity: examining the performative politics of Twitter hashflags’. *Convergence*. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13548565231199981 Highfield, T. (2023). 'BeReal Now: Digital temporal authenticity on BeReal'. *Flow*, *29*(4): http://www.flowjournal.org/2023/02/bereal_now_temporal_authenticity/ *Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures* <http://timhighfield.net/research/instagram/> (with Tama Leaver and Crystal Abidin; Polity, 2020) *Social Media and Everyday Politics* <http://timhighfield.net/research/social-media-and-everyday-politics/> (Polity, 2016) timhighfield.net / @timhighfield <http://twitter.com/timhighfield>

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Methodology recommendations for platform analysis
by Jacob Johanssen 08 Jan '24

08 Jan '24

Dear colleagues, I am looking for recommendations for qualitative methods / approaches to the analysis of social media platforms which focus on both content and structures / features / affordances of the platform. rather than mixed methods, I am wondering if colleagues have developed something more integrative. Many thanks! Best wishes, Jacob

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Re: [Air-L] Methodology recommendations for platform analysis
by Mel Stanfill 06 Jan '24

06 Jan '24

And also, read André! Brock, André. 2018. “Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis.” New Media & Society 20 (3): 1012–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816677532. Mel Stanfill, PhD Associate Professor Texts & Technology / English University of Central Florida http://www.melstanfill.com

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Free opportunity for higher education faculty! Run a Wikipedia assignment this term!
by Helaine Blumenthal 05 Jan '24

05 Jan '24

🎓 Opportunity for Educators! Enhance Your Course with Wikipedia Assignments 🌐 In Fall 2022, a student's Wikipedia article on the Independent state legislature theory gained over 100,000 views before its Supreme Court review in June 2023. This is just one of hundreds of examples of how students shape public knowledge on key issues. In an era of rampant misinformation, enhancing our students' media literacy, research, and writing skills is crucial. Wiki Education is here to help! Join us for one of our no-cost workshops to equip educators with tools for integrating Wikipedia assignments into their curriculum. ✅ Improve students' critical thinking ✅ Contribute to factual, neutral public knowledge ✅ Impact: Over 700 courses, 12,000 students, and millions of words added to Wikipedia annually. 📅 Dates: Jan. 5th, 8th, 12th, 13th, 14th, or 15th 🔗 Register at wikiedu.org/webinars Let's collaborate to empower the next generation of informed citizens! -- Helaine Blumenthal,Ph.D. (she/her) Senior Program Manager Wiki Education helaine(a)wikiedu.org teach.wikiedu.org <https://wikiedu.org/teach-with-wikipedia/> Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/WikiEducationFoundation/>, Linkedin <https://www.linkedin.com/company/wiki-education-foundation/>

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