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Webinar: Strengthening Gender, Equity and Rights in the East Mediterranean National Digital Health Strategies
by JAVIER GARCIA MARTINEZ 23 Feb '26

23 Feb '26

*Webinar: Strengthening Gender, Equity and Rights in** the East Mediterranean* *National Digital Health Strategies* The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020-2025 (now extended to 2027) promotes a more robust digital health governance system, including through the development of national digital health strategies. To successfully operationalise the Global Strategy across territories in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Regional Strategy for Fostering Digital Health in the EMR (2023-2027) encourages the formulation of national digital health strategies aligned with broader national and public health priorities. Today, fifteen out of twenty-one countries in the region have adopted national strategies, with others under way. Our report,* Towards People-centred Digital Health Strategies: Gender, Equity, Rights and Inclusion* <https://digitalhealthandrights.com/news-and-blog/towards-people-centred-dig…>, that reviewed 20 national digital health strategies found that gender equality, human rights, and the needs of marginalised populations were largely overlooked. The Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (CIM) at the University of Warwick and the event co-sponsors at Health Enabled are hosting this third and final webinar in our series to share insights and practical tools aimed at embedding gender, equity and rights in national digital health strategies throughout the development and implementation processes. *Title: Strengthening Gender, Equity and Rights in National Digital Health Strategies in the East Mediterranean* *Date: *5th March 2026 *Time*: 2:00pm-3:30pm GMT, 4:00pm-5:30pm EET, IST *Where: *Online *Platform:* Microsoft Teams (Link provided upon registration) *Translation* (captions) *available!* *Registration:* *https://forms.office.com/e/f4nCEPGeBc* <https://forms.office.com/e/f4nCEPGeBc> Speakers: - *Arash Rashidian*, Coordinator, Science, Innovation & Data for Impact (SID), WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean - *Ayman Sabae*, Chief Executive Officer, Shamseya - *Tariq El Alaoui*, Love Alliance MENA Consultant/GNP+ - *UNDP* (Speaker TBC) - *Patricia Mechael*, Chief Executive Officer, Health Enabled - *Meg Davis*, Professor, Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (CIM), University of Warwick; Project Lead, Digital Health and Rights Project - *Tara Imalingat*, Advocacy and Impact Coordinator, Digital Health and Rights Project, CIM, University of Warwick *And please save the date for our hybrid **side event at the **World Health Assembly (WHA)**:* *Promoting Human Rights in Digital Health and AI Strategies: National and Global perspectives* Date: 20 May 2026 Time: 2:00pm-3:30pm GMT Where: Impact Hub, Geneva & Online Registration (online and in-person): *https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/rAahurpV65* <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforms.clo…> French, Spanish and Vietnamese interpretation will be available online Please register and disseminate this invitation with others who may be interested! *Stay Connected!* Follow us on social media: *X* <https://x.com/DigHealthRights> *LinkedIn* <https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-health-and-rights-project/?viewAsM…> *Instagram* <https://www.instagram.com/dighealthrightspi?igsh=cWJ0ZzJweGp4aXlm> You can also join *our mailing list* <https://graduateinstitute.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=590ca89241da5db5…>

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Event Invitation | How to Demystify AI | 17 March 2026
by Daniela Alves Lima Da Silva 23 Feb '26

23 Feb '26

The Centre for Digital Governance at the Hertie School is pleased to invite you to the event: How to Demystify AI Date: Tuesday, 17 March 2026 Time: 6:00 – 7:00 pm (CET) Location: Hertie School Format: On-site event Join us and our distinguished speakers, Dr. Julia Stamm (Founder & CEO of She Shapes AI) and Dr. Philipp Fuerst, PhD (VP for Data & AI in Capgemini’s Global Public Sector team), for a discussion on clarifying our understanding of artificial intelligence, moderated by Anna Kubaszewska (Centre for Digital Governance). Responsible AI isn’t only about better models, it’s about better choices: broader perspectives, stronger talent pathways, and governance that earns trust. In this session, our speakers will examine how to translate these principles into real public-sector use cases, and what it takes to implement AI thoughtfully, effectively, and in line with public values. This event is part of the Digital Governance in Practice event series organised by the Centre for Digital Governance of the Hertie School. This event will be followed by a reception. More information and registration: How to Demystify AI | Hertie School<https://www.hertie-school.org/en/digitalgovernance/events/event-detail/even…>

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Silicon Empires. Book Talk with Nick Srnicek, March 4
by Rafael Do Nascimento Grohmann 23 Feb '26

23 Feb '26

Hi AoIR, DigiLabour invites you to this online book talk with Nick Srnicek (King's College) on Silicon Empires: The Fight for the Future of AI, published by Polity. It will take place on March 4, 10 am ET on DigiLabour YouTube Channel. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85Ey_86PocQ After the talk, there will be two discussants: Helena Martins (University of Ceara, Brazil) and David Nieborg (University of Toronto) Description Since the emergence of ChatGPT, generative AI has been heralded as a technology poised to revolutionize our world. But beyond the hype and hyperbole, who truly wields power over this transformative technology? In Silicon Empires, Nick Srnicek explores the geopolitical economy of artificial intelligence, revealing how a handful of powerful corporations and states are engaged in a monumental struggle to control its future. Srnicek moves beyond the headlines to lay bare the elaborate strategies that these silicon empires - from tech giants to great powers - are deploying to capture the immense value of AI. This incisive analysis uncovers the deep-seated tensions between corporate ambitions and national interests, and the profound consequences of this new era of technological competition. As the race for AI supremacy accelerates, Srnicek compellingly demonstrates that the decisions being made in the boardrooms of Silicon Valley and the halls of government will shape the distribution of wealth and power on a global scale for decades to come. best, Rafael -- dr. Rafael Grohmann Assistant Professor of Media Studies Department of Arts, Culture and Media<https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/acm/rafael-grohmann> Faculty of Information<https://ischool.utoronto.ca/profile/rafael-grohmann/> University of Toronto Leader, DigiLabour<https://digilabour.com.br/> Research Associate, University of Oxford<https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/profiles/rafael-grohmann/> Founding Editor, Platforms & Society<https://journals.sagepub.com/home/PNS> Principal Investigator, Worker-Owned Intersectional Platforms (WOIP)<https://digilabour.com.br/worker-owned-intersectional-platforms-woip/> Co-Lead, Creative Labour and Critical Futures (CLCF)<https://criticaldigitalmethods.ca/creative-labour-critical-futures/> Researcher, AI Policy Observatory for the World of Work<https://www.essex.ac.uk/research-projects/ai-policy-observatory-for-the-wor…> Senior Fellow, Massey College<https://www.masseycollege.ca/> Faculty Affiliate, Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society<https://srinstitute.utoronto.ca/> <https://srinstitute.utoronto.ca/>

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Communication and Change, Articles published in 2025
by Yu Tian 23 Feb '26

23 Feb '26

Hi AoIR, Happy 2026! We are pleased to share that 2025 marks a milestone for Communication and Change with 20 peer-reviewed and editorial articles published and several special issues scheduled for publication in 2026! We invite you to take a look. https://link.springer.com/journal/44382 Table of Contents 1. Building a methodological profile for communication’s study of the passive generation of information Huma Rasheed & Robert Holbert 1. Stuck in the middleware with you: the challenges of capitalizing a market-oriented approach to platform governance Blake Hallinan, Omer Rothenstein & Nicholas A. John 1. The end of experimental research as we know it? A perspective on generative artificial intelligence in communication science Jörg Matthes & Sofie Vranken 1. The evolution of agenda-setting research and theory from 1972 to 2025: from newspapers and TV to social media and artificial intelligence David H. Weaver 1. Media History vs. Media Change: ahistoricism, technological determinism, and other problems Otávio Daros 1. A chatbot for the soul: mental health care, privacy, and intimacy in AI-based conversational agents Tamara Kneese, Briana Vecchione & Alice Marwick 1. Using large language models for survey research in communication: opportunities and challenges Sebastián Valenzuela, Stephan Winter & Sebastián Rivera 1. A bias towards neutrality? How LLM guardrail sensitivity affects classification Richard Rogers & Xiaoke Zhang 1. Reimagining AI in Latin America: situated narratives of users, developers, and decision-makers on understanding and governing AI Teresa Correa, Francisca Luco, Mónica Humeres, Dusan Cotoras, Alexandra Davidoff, Yelena Hernández-Estrada, Iñaki Oyarzún-Merino & Claudia López 1. Emerging AI individualism: how young people integrate social AI into everyday life Petter Bae Brandtzaeg, Asbjørn Følstad & Marita Skjuve 1. Communication, change, and the challenge of AI: an introduction to the inaugural issue of Communication and Change James E. Katz 1. Generative AI and its disruptive challenge to journalism: An institutional analysis Seth C. Lewis, Andrea L. Guzman, Thomas R. Schmidt, Bibo Lin 1. Introducing Communication and Change: A journal for empirically grounded communication research and theory James E. Katz 1. 100 years of communication: Change and continuity in inaugural communication journals 1924–2024 Lee Humphreys, Didem Özkul & Stephanie Belina 1. Artificial intelligence as primitive accumulation: Enclosure, extraction, exploitation Graham Murdock 1. Mobile AI: Communication and mobility after the smartphone Gerard Goggin 1. A framework for thinking about and deploying ethics in AI Peng Hwa Ang 1. Extending the self through AI-mediated communication: Functional, ontological, and anthropomorphic extensions Scott W. Campbell, Nicole B. Ellison & Morgan Quinn Ross 1. An ecological approach to debated questions in communication research: Issue competition, media convergence, and AI-generated content Jonathan J. H. Zhu & Tai-Quan Peng 1. Communication and Change: Our Vision James E. Katz, Baohua Zhou, Lei Guo & Jianhua Yao Also, consider submitting your articles in 2026! Submission guidelines： https://link.springer.com/journal/44382/submission-guidelines Submission Website： https://link.springer.com/journal/44382 Social Media Handle: X (previously known as Twitter): @CAC_Springer Bluesky: cacspringer.bsky.social

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Job Ad: Lecturer I / Lecturer II in General Education and BA/MA Programmes (Hong Kong Baptist University)
by Gillian Chu 20 Feb '26

20 Feb '26

https://fa-ewqq-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperienc… <https://fa-ewqq-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperienc…> *FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES* *ACADEMY OF CHINESE, HISTORY, RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY* *Lecturer I / Lecturer II in General Education and BA/MA Programmes (25260535)* The Faculty invites applications for up to two Lecturer I/II posts to teach in the University-wide General Education (GE) curriculum and contribute to BA/MA programmes in Digital Futures & Humanities, History, Religion, Philosophy & Ethics, and Ethics & Public Affairs. Candidates should have expertise in one or more of the following areas: 1. Digital humanities; community-engaged/field-based learning; cross-disciplinary digital methods 2. Modern China and Hong Kong history, ideally with a global China perspective 3. Modern and contemporary China (e.g., China in the Imperial Age; Contemporary China and Globalisation; Sino-Russian Relations; Hong Kong between Past and Present; Global China in the Modern Age) 4. Religious studies related to Islamic, Daoist, or Buddhist traditions 5. History of world religions and/or history of ideas 6. Ethics and public affairs 7. GE courses such as Ideologies, Worldviews and Modern History; Happiness: East and West; Ethical Issues in the Contemporary World *Responsibilities:* - Teach GE and major undergraduate and/or master level courses in one or more of the programmes in Faculty and Academy; - Manage and coordinate core courses; - Develop new courses with field-based, community-partnered, or short-term overseas elements; - Student supervision; - Manage and support student internship; and - Perform other duties as assigned by the Academy Director or the respective Programme Directors. *Requirements:* - At least a PhD in a relevant discipline; - Some tertiary-level teaching experience; - Proficiency in English as the medium of instruction; and - Strong interpersonal and communication skills. The initial appointment will be offered on a fixed-term contract of one to two years, commencing in late August 2026. Reappointment thereafter will be subject to mutual agreement. *Rank and salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. * *Application Procedure:* Applicants are invited to submit their applications at the HKBU e-Recruitment System. Applicants are requested to upload their (a) CV, (b) the most recent teaching evaluation results and (c) teaching statement to the HKBU e-Recruitment System. Those who are not invited for interview 4 months after submission of application may consider their applications unsuccessful. All application materials will be disposed of after completion of the recruitment exercise. Details of the University's Personal Information Collection Statement can be found at https://hro.hkbu.edu.hk/en/worklife-at-hkbu/employee-favourable-environment… . The University reserves the right not to make an appointment for the post advertised, and the appointment will be made according to the terms and conditions applicable at the time of offer. *Review of applications is ongoing until the position is filled.*

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IAMCR Pre-Conference on Reimagining Climate Media Research: Current Challenges and Future Directions
by Hanna Morris 20 Feb '26

20 Feb '26

Dear colleagues, I'm pleased to share a call for abstracts for our IAMCR Pre-Conference on Reimagining Climate Media Research: Current Challenges and Future Directions https://iamcr.org/galway2026/esr-conf The event details and instructions for abstract submissions are below: Saturday, 27 June 2026, 9:00am - 4:00pm Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland In collaboration with: Climate Social Science Network’s Working Group on Critical Studies of Climate Media, Discourse, and Power and IAMCR’s Environment, Science, and Risk Communication Section Co-organizers: Hanna E. Morris, Emily Diamond, James Painter, Brenda McNally, Lluis de Nadal, Sylvia Hayes, Allen Munoriyarwa, Marc Esteve del Valle, Kelly E. Perry, Loredana Loy, Zeina Seaifan, Claire Konkes, Miki Kawabata, Sibo Chen Contact: hanna.morris(a)utoronto.ca<mailto:hanna.morris@utoronto.ca> We invite abstract submissions that reflect on the past, current, and future trajectories of the field of climate change communication. In line with IAMCR’s main conference<https://iamcr.org/galway2026> theme of Peripheries and Connections: Media, Communication, and Transformation, this event will bring together scholars from a range of career levels and geographical locations to take stock of research on climate change media and communication. In this pre-conference, we will collaboratively co-imagine possible new directions for climate change communication research that are transformative and have impact within, across, and beyond the university. To this end, we encourage practice-based abstracts from climate media-makers, NGOs, activists, and community organizers in addition to traditional scholarly papers. In stride with the recent essay titled Climate media amidst technopolitical change: challenges, transformations, and new directions for research<https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-025-03936-1> (Wetts, Morris, Boykoff, et al., 2025), we also welcome scholars to reflect on what more impactful partnerships outside of the academy could look like and how to build and support these collaborative spaces. We also seek papers that explore peripheralised voices in climate change media and communication, the consequences of such peripheralisation, and how they can be brought into the centre of research and practice. Practitioners and scholarship from less-researched geographical contexts are encouraged. Possible paper topics include but are not limited to: * Transdisciplinary scholarship on climate change communication and how to build long-lasting, meaningful, and impactful partnerships with communities outside of the university * Methodological or practical challenges in working in the inter/trans-disciplinary field of climate communication, especially amid authoritarian threats to researchers and media practitioners * Climate communication as intervention – evaluating what “impact” means across academic, policy, community, and activist contexts * Reflections on teaching and mentoring in climate communication, particularly in politically fraught and/or financially constrained institutional environments * How recent developments in AI technologies are shaping what we know about climate change communication and how we do our research, teaching, and/or practitioner-work * The enduring legacy of the deficit model of science communication and what it misses about how people engage with climate change communication * The intersection of mental health, media, and climate-related issues, including possible oversights in how the field has conceptualized eco-anxiety, particularly among young people * Exploring climate media from the peripheries – how climate change is communicated, contested, or silenced in the Global South, small island states, rural areas, and historically marginalised communities * Community-led and Indigenous climate storytelling, including questions of epistemic justice, sovereignty, and co-production of knowledge * Decolonial, feminist, and critical political economy approaches to climate media and communication * Visual, artistic and alternative forms of climate communication research and/or practice Abstracts should be no more than 500 words, including the author’s name (and co-authors’ names, if applicable), contact details, and affiliation(s). Please email all abstract submissions to hanna.morris(a)utoronto.ca<mailto:hanna.morris@utoronto.ca> with the subject line of “Climate Media Pre-Conference Submission” by March 24, 2026. We will send out notices of acceptances and instructions on how to register for the pre-conference by April 3, 2026. Participation must be in-person with no virtual or hybrid options. Best wishes, Hanna -- Dr. Hanna E. Morris, Ph.D.<https://hannamorris.com> Assistant Professor, School of the Environment at the University of Toronto<https://www.environment.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/hanna-e-…> Author, Apocalyptic Authoritarianism: Climate Crisis, Media, and Power (Oxford University Press, 2025)<https://global.oup.com/academic/product/apocalyptic-authoritarianism-978019…> Special Issue Editor, Backlash, Borders, and Bunkers: Antidemocratic Politics and Climate Change Communication (Environmental Communication, 2026)<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17524032.2025.2607041> Co-chair, CSSN Critical Studies of Climate Media, Discourse, and Power Working Group <https://cssn.org/working-groups/critical-studies-of-climate-media-discourse…> Co-chair, IAMCR Environment, Science, and Risk Communication Section<https://iamcr.org/s-wg/section/esr> <https://iamcr.org/s-wg/section/esr> Associate Deputy Editor, Climatic Change<https://link.springer.com/journal/10584/editorial-board>

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CFP: Journal of Community Informatics
by Jasmine McNealy 20 Feb '26

20 Feb '26

Call for Papers: Special Issue of The Journal of Community Informatics >From the Digital Divide to Algorithmic Agency: Rural Community Informatics and Artificial Intelligence Aims and Scope For decades, the "Digital Divide" was framed as a crisis of access—a gap in infrastructure that could be closed with fiber optic cables and hardware. Foundational scholarship by Selwyn (2004) challenged this technical reductionism, arguing that "meaningful use" of technology is contingent upon the social, economic, and cultural capital of the user. This was further operationalized by Gurstein’s (2003) Effective Use Framework, shifting the focus from passive connectivity to a community’s capacity to achieve local goals through digital communication technology. As we enter the era of generative and predictive surveillance technology, we continue to be confronted with questions about access and uses of these technologies for the good of different communities. Technologies categorized under the big tent of Artificial Intelligence are now ubiquitous in many places. Yet, rural and marginalized geographies face a new challenge, quite like the old challenge, in the AI or Algorithmic Divides. While AI offers potential for rural industrial revitalization (Li & Chen, 2025), it also risks exacerbating "data colonialism" (Couldry & Mejias, 2019), where rural data is extracted to train urban-centric models that fail to account for the nuances of rural life, health, and labor (Brown & Davis, 2026). A community informatics (CI) approach to studying the promise, peril, and provocations of AI for rural communities offers an opportunity for centering people and networks. To be sure, although CI examines the use of technology for empowerment, this is not a techno-optimist perspective. Instead, CI allows, and in some cases demands, a critical outlook, This special issue seeks to explore how rural communities and organizations are using, rejecting, and/or mitigating the risks of AI. We invite papers that move beyond "techno-optimism" to investigate how rural communities exercise agency—the ability to govern, audit, and co-design the intelligent systems that increasingly mediate their environments. Themes of Interest We welcome original research, theoretical interventions, case studies, and provocations on various topics, including: * Re-evaluating the "Access Rainbow" (Clement & Slade, 1996, 2000) in the context of LLMs and automated decision-making. * Applying the CARE Principles (Carroll et al, 2021) to different categories of community data. * How AI-driven automation impacts rural labor markets and the "ghost work" (Gray & Suri, 2019) often performed in marginalized geographies. * The implications of AI for rural memory institutions (e.g. libraries, museums, archives) * The use of AI systems to fill the gap left by the loss of local news organizations. * Case studies of systems co-designed with rural practitioners to prevent algorithmic bias. * Community-led digital infrastructure and literacies (McMahon et al., 2044) as a prerequisite for local AI autonomy. * Environmental data, monitoring, and AI * AI Refusal and grassroots efforts by communities to block access to community data or remove the infrastructure for AI (e.g. data centers) from their communities. * Community-led data governance initiatives. * Data ownership and precision agriculture technologies. * The use of community archived data to influence policy. Timeline Please submit an extended abstract (500 words) along with a 100–150-word biography for each author. Extended abstracts should be sent by email to the special issue guest editor, Dr. Jasmine McNealy, Ph.D. at jmcnealy(a)ufl.edu. * Extended abstracts due: April 23, 2026 * Decisions announced: May 23, 2026 * Full papers due: October 15, 2026 Full Research Manuscript Length: 6,000–8,000 words. Shorter provocations or notes from the field: 1200-2000 words. Peer Review: All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer-review process. * Timeline: * Abstracts Due: April 23, 2026 * Full Manuscripts Due: October 15, 2026 * Publication Date: Spring 2027 References * Brown, K. E., & Davis, S. E. (2026). Gaps in artificial intelligence research for rural health in the United States: a scoping review. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 33(2), 509-520. * Butcher, H. (2007). "Three: What is critical community practice? Case studies and analysis". In Critical community practice. Bristol, UK: Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.51952/9781447342526.ch003 * Carroll, S. R., Herczog, E., Hudson, M., Russell, K., & Stall, S. (2021). Operationalizing the CARE and FAIR Principles for Indigenous data futures. Scientific data, 8(1), 108. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00892-0 * Clement, A., & Shade, L. R. (1996). What do we mean by 'universal access'?: Social perspectives in a Canadian context. INET ’96 Proceedings. https://web.archive.org/web/20160103053947/http://www.isoc.org/inet96/proce…<https://web.archive.org/web/20160103053947/http:/www.isoc.org/inet96/procee…> * Clement, A., & Shade, L. R. (2000). The access rainbow: Conceptualizing universal access to the information communications infrastructure. In M. Gurstein (Ed.), Community informatics: Enabling communities with information and communications technologies (pp. 32–51). IGI Global Scientific Publishing * Couldry, N., & Mejias, U. A. (2019). The Costs of Connection: How Data is Colonizing Human Life. Stanford University Press. * Gray, M. L., & Suri, S. (2019). Ghost work: How to stop Silicon Valley from building a new global underclass. Harper Business. * Gurstein, M. (2003). Effective use: A community informatics strategy beyond the digital divide. First Monday, 8(12). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v8i12.1107<https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v8i12.1107> * Zhao, X., & Yang, J. (2025). How Artificial Intelligence Empowers Rural Industrial Revitalization: A Case Study of Hebei Province. Sustainability, 17(16), 7382. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17167382 * McMahon, R., McNally, M. B., Nitschke, E., Napier, K., Alvarez Malvido, M., & Akçayir, M. (2024). Codesigning community networking literacies with rural/remote Northern Indigenous communities in Northwest Territories, Canada. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 29(1), zmad042. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmad042 * Selwyn, N. (2004). Reconsidering political and popular understandings of the digital divide. New Media & Society, 6(3), 341-362. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444804042519<https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444804042519>

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Call for abstract - H.17. Prison Education for Democracy. Tensions and Contradictions of a Transformative Space
by VINCENZO LAEZZA 20 Feb '26

20 Feb '26

For the ‘Scuola Democratica’ conference, abstracts are welcome for the following panel: H.17. Prison Education for Democracy. Tensions and Contradictions of a Transformative Space – Fourth International Conference of Scuola Democratica<https://www.scuolademocratica-conference.net/panel/prison-education-for-dem…> Stream H. Life Courses, Youth, Migration and Work Convenor(s) Sandra Vatrella (University of Naples Federico Ii, Italy); Andrea Borghini (University of Pisa, Italy); Maria Chiara Calò (University of Naples Federico Ii, Italy) Keywords penal populism, critical education, hybrid subjectivities Prison education (PE) is a broad and complex field where Adult Education and Justice intersect within Institutional configurations that vary depending on the meanings and roles they play within the national context of reference. Despite the differences, the international landscape is crossed by common trends and tensions. In many national contexts, penal populism (Pratt 2007) and punitive common sense reinforce carceral expansion and the marginalisation of PE, legitimising overcrowding, security-driven priorities and the systematic sacrifice of educational opportunities and transformative practices, as highlighted by recent research on prison universities and cultural programmes behind bars (Borghini & Pastore 2021; 2024). Yet, in this cultural and political climate, interesting examples emerge depicting PE as a (seemingly) contradictory space of multiple and overlapping tensions, i.e. where disciplinary power and counter-hegemonic practices coexist. Building on critical and transformative pedagogies, prison education can nurture forms of critical consciousness, autobiographical reflexivity and collective learning that re-politicise everyday life and open up spaces for hybrid forms of subjectivities that neither fully conform to nor fully resist the carceral order. Briefly, where prisonised subjectivities coexist with alternative/resilient/resistant identities and ways of being. We particularly welcome contributions that: (a) theorise the tensions between disciplinary power, democratic education and social justice; (b) empirically explore prison education practices (including higher education, artistic and cultural projects, peer-education and convict-led initiatives); (c) investigate how PE reconfigures institutional arrangements, professional roles and public engagement between prison, university and civil society; (d) reflect on methodological and ethical challenges of researching PE as a transformative democratic space.

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SWING School on Internet Governance | Application DL: 27 February 2026
by Mauro SANTANIELLO 20 Feb '26

20 Feb '26

Dear Colleagues, This is a kind reminder that the application deadline for SWING School on Internet Governance is *27 February*. We would be grateful if you could share this reminder through your channels, and we encourage interested candidates to submit their applications by the deadline. Thank you for your support. Kind regards. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: *SWING School on Internet Governance* 📅 *Application Deadline: 27 February 2026* *About SWING School on Internet Governance 2026:* Join us in Bruges, Belgium (20-24 April 2026), at the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), for an intensive week exploring *Digital Sovereignty, *one of the most pressing issues at the intersection of Internet governance, geopolitics, innovation, and fundamental rights. *Who should apply:* Graduate students, early-career researchers, ICT professionals, policymakers, and anyone interested in Internet governance. *What you'll gain:* - Expert-led lectures from internationally renowned scholars; - Interactive lectures on topics including AI, cybersecurity, undersea cables, semiconductors, low earth orbit satellites, and fundamental rights; - Seminars on topics including Digital Sovereignty, EuroStack, the Geopolitics of Digital Sovereignty; - Hands-on group work developing policy recommendations; - Networking with peers and multistakeholder discussions. *Key Dates* 27 February 2026 — Application deadline, including fee payment 20–24 April 2026 — SWING 2026 (Bruges, UNU-CRIS) *Core Seminars and Lectures* - Introduction to Digital Sovereignty (seminar) with *Jamal Shahin* - VUB, UVA, UNU-CRIS; *Julia Pohle* - WZB, BSoG, CNRS France; *Sophie Hoogenboom* - UNU-CRIS, VUB; *Chris Mondini *- ICANN. - From Governance to Sovereignty (seminar) with *Jamal Shahin* - VUB, UVA, UNU-CRIS; *Mauro Santaniello *- University of Salerno, UNU-CRIS; *Julia Pohle* - WZB, BSoG, CNRS France. - EuroStack: European Digital Sovereignty (seminar) with *Paul Timmers* - KU Leuven, European University Cyprus; *Niels ten Oever* - University of Amsterdam; more TBA - Digital Sovereignty and Competitiveness with *Orsolya Gulyas* - Brussels School of Governance - The Impact of Digital Sovereignty on the Internet with *Azadeh Akbari *- Center for critical computational studies, Goethe University Frankfurt. - Digital Sovereignty and Fundamental Rights with *Marianne Franklin* - University of Groningen. - Indigenous Data Sovereignty with *Claudia Padovani* - University of Padova. - Digital Sovereignty and Undersea Cables with *Kavé Salamatian* - Polytech Annecy-Chambéry. - Digital Sovereignty and Semiconductors with *Linda Monsees* - Institute of International Relations Prague. - Digital Sovereignty and Artificial Intelligence with *Nicola Palladino* - University of Salerno. - Digital Sovereignty and LEOs (Low Earth Orbit satellites) with *Berna Akçalı Gür* - Queen Mary University of London, UNU-CRIS. - Internet Governance: Conflicts and Cooperation with *Jan Aart Scholte *- Leiden University. - The Geopolitics of Digital Sovereignty (seminar) with *Kseniia Ermoshina* - CNRS, France; *Grace X. Yang* - Freie Universität Berlin; more TBA. *Registration* To register, applicants will be asked to submit: - Curriculum Vitae (CV) - Completed application form (template <https://cris.unu.edu/sites/cris.unu.edu/files/SWING_2026_Registration_Form%…> ) - Copy of a valid ID document (passport or national identity card) - Proof of payment of the participation fee (receipt/confirmation) *Participation Fee and What It Covers* The participation fee is 800,00 € and includes: - Registration costs - Meals provided during the School programme - Social event(s) The participation fee does not include: - Accommodation Although students are required to provide for their own accommodation, SWING has an agreement with a local hotel that is willing to provide a reduced fare for the students of the school. Details will be provided after a successful registration. - Dinners *Scientific Committee* *Co-directors: *Mauro Santaniello (University of Salerno, UNU-CRIS) and Jamal Shahin (VUB, UVA, UNU-CRIS). *Scientific Advisory Board: *Andrea Beccalli (ICANN), Dennis Broeders (Leiden University), Edoardo Celeste (Dublin City University), Philippe De Lombaerde (UNU-CRIS), Sophie Hoogenboom (UNU-CRIS, VUB), Robin Mansell (London School of Economics), Francesca Musiani (CNRS), Nicola Palladino (University of Salerno), Dennis Redeker (University of Bremen) and Riccardo Nanni (CNRS). *Organizing Committee: *Sophie Hoogenboom (UNU-CRIS, VUB), Carlos Andres Fonseca Diaz (Ghent University, UNU-CRIS), Armando Antonio Ferrara (University of Salerno), Chiara Spiniello (University of Salerno) and Stephanie Teeuwen (VUB). *More information on the programme, faculty and registration*: https://cris.unu.edu/swing-school-on-internet-governance *For further information about the School and registration, please contact Sophie Hoogenboom at* shoogenboom(a)cris.unu.edu. Prof. Mauro Santaniello (PhD) Associate Professor in Political Science ICPC <https://www.internetpolicyresearch.eu/> Director| GIG-ARTS <https://gig-arts.eu/> Coordinator| Giganet <https://www.giga-net.org/> Secretary SWING School on Internet Governance <https://cris.unu.edu/swing-school-on-internet-governance> Co-Director UNU-CRIS <https://cris.unu.edu/people> Associate Research Fellow PRIN on Digital Sovereignty <https://www.internetpolicyresearch.eu/internet-and-communication-policy-cen…> Principal Investigator Latest publications <https://docenti.unisa.it/023694/ricerca/pubblicazioni>

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WEBCAST JAN 12 – A11yNYC – XR Social Accessibility in Practice: Lessons from Meta Horizon Worlds – Thomas Logan
by Joly MacFie 20 Feb '26

20 Feb '26

[image: ISOC live] <https://isoc.live/19929>*LIVESTREAM <https://youtu.be/9QlSlW8Ni5o>* | *MEETUP <https://www.meetup.com/a11ynyc/events/312254520/>* | *REAL TIME TEXT <https://www.streamtext.net/player?event=a11ynyc>* | *ADD TO CALENDAR <https://addcal.io/e/6isaxytfu6bt>* | *PERMALINK <https://isoc.live/19929>* On *Tuesday January 12, 2026*, at *7:30pm-8:30pm EST* (00:30-01:30 UTC Jan 13), the A*ccessibility NYC Meetup <https://www.meetup.com/A11yNYC/>* (A11yNYC) hosts a meetup ‘*XR Social Accessibility in Practice: Lessons from Meta Horizon Worlds <https://www.meetup.com/a11ynyc/events/312254520/>*‘. *Thomas Logan <https://www.linkedin.com/in/techthomas/>* of *Equal Entry <https://equalentry.com/>* will provide a snapshot of XR social accessibility at the beginning of 2026, examining where the industry currently stands through Meta Horizon Worlds and the Quest ecosystem. The meetup will be webcast live via a partnership with the *Internet Society New York Accessibility SIG <https://a11ysig.org/>*. - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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