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UKRI is inviting AI researchers to the UK | The University of Manchester
by Kitty Lo 23 Jan '26

23 Jan '26

A major new opportunity has just launched for world‑class AI talent based outside the UK! UKRI are seeking to attract exceptional Artificial Intelligence (AI) researchers currently based outside of the UK to build new AI research capability in UK Universities. This fellowship provides: * Funding to relocate to the UK * Support to establish a high‑calibre research team * Resources to pursue transformational, high‑impact AI research If anyone in your network knows outstanding AI researchers who may be interested in relocating to the UK — or if that might even be you — please encourage them to submit an Expression of Interest to Digital Futures - The University of Manchester<https://www.digitalfutures.manchester.ac.uk/> via this link: https://forms.gle/ZUMJKCbxFJJGidr8A EoI Deadline: 6 February 2026 at 17:00 GMT More details of the scheme can be found here: https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/turing-ai-global-fellowships/ For further details or queries, reach out to Digital Futures at: digitalfutures(a)manchester.ac.uk<mailto:digitalfutures@manchester.ac.uk> To stay up to date with Digital Futures' opportunities and news, please sign up to our newsletter here: https://tinyurl.com/digitalfuturesuom Kind regards, Kitty kitty.lo(a)manchester.ac.uk<mailto:kitty.lo@manchester.ac.uk> | Communications and Engagement Coordinator | Research Platforms Team - Digital Futures<http://www.digitalfutures.manchester.ac.uk/> | The University of Manchester | Pronouns (She/her) Sign up to the Digital Futures newsletter here - https://tinyurl.com/digitalfuturesuom

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New book: The Sage Handbook of Chinese Digital Media and Communication
by Jian Xu 23 Jan '26

23 Jan '26

Dear colleagues, We are pleased to share that The Sage Handbook of Chinese Digital Media and Communication, co-edited by Jian Xu (Deakin University), Shaohua Guo (Carleton College) and Weiyu Zhang (National University of Singapore), has now been published. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-sage-handbook-of-chinese-digital-media… The handbook is the first comprehensive reference work dedicated to the fast-evolving field of digital media and communication in China. Marking three decades since China’s official connection to the internet, this landmark volume with 37 chapters brings together leading scholars from across the globe to examine the profound transformations digital technologies have brought to Chinese society, politics, culture, and economy. Spanning activism, governance, labor, industry, everyday life, and research methods, the handbook offers a critical and interdisciplinary survey of the field. It explores how the internet and digital media have reshaped political participation, civil society, and national identity; how state regulation and surveillance intersect with innovation and platformization; and how digital labor, fandom, gaming, and e-commerce are redefining cultural production, consumption and economy. It also reflects on the lived experiences of users, from parenting and diaspora to queer communities and mobile rituals. Structured across five thematic parts, the volume not only maps the current landscape of Chinese digital media and communication but also interrogates the knowledge production that has shaped the field. It invites dialogue with global digital media scholarship and offers a timely reflection on the past, present, and future of China’s digital transformation. Part 1: Activism, Civil Society and Politics Part 2: Technology, Regulation and Governance Part 3: Platform, Labor and Industry Part 4: User, Culture and Everyday Life Part 5: Method, Approach and Reflections Best regards Jian, Shaohua and Weiyu Important Notice: The contents of this email are intended solely for the named addressee and are confidential; any unauthorised use, reproduction or storage of the contents is expressly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please delete it and any attachments immediately and advise the sender by return email or telephone. Deakin University does not warrant that this email and any attachments are error or virus free.

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AoIR 2026 - Fishbowl on Ai and Global Antiblackness
by André Brock 22 Jan '26

22 Jan '26

Hello, everyone! I’m writing to gauge interest in a panel on the above topic for the upcoming conference. Is there anyone on the list interested in either participating or helping to organize this fishbowl style event? If so, please contact me at Andre.brock(a)lmc.gtech.edu; I’d love to hear your suggestions on participation, possible attendees, and facilitator questions for the event. A. I'd love to connect. Click https://cal.com/docdre/30min to schedule a meeting with me! André Brock Associate Professor Department of Literature, Media, and Communication Georgia Institute of Technology Twitter: @DocDre Distributed Blackness: African American Cybercultures https://opensquare.nyupress.org/books/9781479811908/

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WEBCAST JAN 23 – Into the Next Digital Generation: Lessons from Yesterday, Predictions for Tomorrow
by Joly MacFie 22 Jan '26

22 Jan '26

Co-Moderators and Respondents: Rosa Morales – Esq. Lorenzo Pupillo – Centre for European Policy Studies 11:45 Media Industry Structure: An Iron Law of Oligopoly? Ben Compaine – Director of Fellows Program, CITI Jason Adam Buckweitz – Executive Director, CITI, and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Columbia Business School Robert Frieden – Pioneers Chair and Professor of Telecommunications and Law, Penn State University Co-Moderators and Respondents: Kenneth Carter – CEO and Founder, Ozeki Heather Hudson – Professor and fmr. Director ISER, University of Alaska Anchorage 12:45 Lunch Koos Bekker – Chairman, Naspers 2:00 Content Media: 3 Generations of Past Trouble, and Into the Next Eli Noam – CITI Esther Dyson – Investor, Journalist, Author, Philanthropist Howard Homonoff – Senior U.S. Media & Industry Advisor, Grant Thornton Advisors LLC Joost van Dreunen – Asst. Professor, NYU Stern School of Business Stanley Pierre-Louis – President & CEO, Entertainment Software Association Co-Moderators and Respondents: Darcy Gerbarg – Pioneer Digital Artist Corey Spencer – Asst. Director, CITI 3:00 Communications Finance: The Past and Future of Media and IT Investments Doug Conn – fmr Executive Director, SMBC Nikko Securities Tom Aust – fmr VP-Senior Analyst, State Street Blair Levin – Policy Advisor, New Street Research James Alleman – Professor Emeritus, University of Colorado, Boulder Co-Moderators and Respondents: Leon Perlman – fmr head, Digital Financial Services Observatory, CITI Harold Vogel – CEO, Vogel Capital Management Bruce Lincoln – Sr. Fellow, CITI, and co-founder, Silicon Harlem 4:00 Coffee Break 4:15 America and the World: Digital Thought Leadership in the 21st Century Reed Hundt – fmr Chairman, FCC Joseph Stiglitz – University Professor, Columbia University Lawrence Lessig – Furman Professor of Law, Harvard Law School Leonard Waverman – fmr Dean, DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University Martha Garcia-Murillo – Dean, College of Information Science & Technology, University of Nebraska Omaha Co-Moderators: William Drake – Director of International Studies, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information Jonathan Liebenau – Professor of Technology Management, London School of Economics -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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DEADLINE EXTENDED: CFP - Turning Points in Media Studies: The Long 1990s in Global Internet Histories
by Zimanyi, Eszter 22 Jan '26

22 Jan '26

Dear AoIR community, Please see below for updated submission info for the Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication's open access edited volume on The Long 1990s in Global Internet Histories. The volume will be published through Manifold and we are interested in a number of critical creative modalities. Best wishes, Eszter DEADLINE EXTENDED Call for Papers: The Long 1990s in Global Internet Histories Turning Points in Media Studies is an anthology series examining critical moments that shaped the development of media in various parts of the world, the circumstances and histories leading to these moments, and their impact on media development in subsequent periods. This volume, titled ‘The Long 1990s in Global Internet Histories,’ emerges from internal workshops at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication. The workshops reconsidered the coordinates and foundations of the Internet’s development and expansion across the world. These conversations culminated in a satellite event at the annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers in October 2023. Building on the insights shared by our symposium presenters, this edited collection steers clear of Anglophone, north-Atlantic media histories. Instead, it returns to ‘the long 1990s’, a period defined by major political-economic, social, and cultural transformations across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, to offer a global perspective on the history of the Internet. We explore the unruliness and abundance of media cultures that emerged out of the political-economic churn of the decades spanning 1980s, 1990s and the early 2000s to consider multiple ways of being and doing things on the Internet. Assembling an otherwise overlooked range of archives, material cultures and experiences, this volume reimagines the trajectories of Internet’s development and proliferation across multiple analog and digital media. We are interested in critical academic essays and reflections as well as experimental and multimodal work on the Internet’s layered proliferation across the Global South. We ask: what new histories of the Internet emerge into view if we think from the moment of ‘reform’ and ‘economic liberalization’ in varied regional contexts? In what ways would our understanding of Internet histories and digital futures shift if we were to draw insights from media histories, practices, and environments from varied Global South contexts that do not, or will not, follow an easily comprehensible, linear path toward a seemingly inevitable digital horizon? How does a return to the long 1990s, however belatedly, recast Internet histories and re-imagine digital futures? Thematic Concerns Drawing inspiration from our collective conversations over the past three years, we particularly encourage contributions engaging with three conceptual threads: * Belatedness: Following Ali Behdad, we invite essays that theorize “lateness” not as lag or deficit but as a productive, generative condition—one that allows us to rethink Internet and media histories outside the framework of ‘catching up’. Belatedness enables us to revisit the 1990s and trouble the temporal frameworks of economic liberalization, economic reform, and neoliberal modernity. * Unruly Milieus: We seek accounts of messy, heterogeneous media environments that refuse neat categorizations. Rather than simply positing a national account of the Internet, we ask how networked cultures emerge through the technical and material interactions of satellites, digital infrastructure, and other informal circulations. * Abundance: We seek critical inquiries on the abundance of media forms and cultural production from non-Western and diasporic communities that highlight gender, labour and class relations. We invite reflections on how media technologies, practices, and personalities from this era – from FM radio and cable television to SD cards, cybercafés, and pirate film cultures – challenge teleological narratives of inevitable digitalization. Formats and Interventions Turning Points in Media Studies is supported by Manifold @Penn, an intuitive, collaborative, open-source platform for scholarly publishing. Manifold transforms scholarly publications into live digital works through rich media support and iterative texts. We welcome interdisciplinary and multimodal contributions, including but not limited to: Scholarly essays Photo-essays and visual interventions Critical explorations of early internet archives and objects Creative nonfiction, diaries, and fieldnotes Artwork or multimedia reflections, including audio-centered practices Submission Guidelines Please submit the following materials by March 1, 2026 via the form linked below Title of the piece Type of Contribution Abstract (250–300 words) Author name, institutional affiliation, and email address Submission form: http://bit.ly/3LAq6Ku Selected contributors will be invited to submit full drafts (for written pieces, maximum 3,500 words including endnotes and works cited) by May 15, 2026. Submissions should follow APA 9th edition formatting and use endnotes rather than footnotes. Please note that no payment from authors will be required to publish in this open-access volume. If you have any further questions, email us at: cargc.turningpoints(a)gmail.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Eszter Zimanyi, Ph.D. Research Director Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania Pronouns: she/her http://www.eszterzimanyi.com

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Three weeks to submit to ICA 2026 Pre-Conference "Rethinking Global Discourses of Racial Inequality"
by yossi david 22 Jan '26

22 Jan '26

We invite submissions for the in-person pre-conference titled, “Rethinking Global Discourses of Racial Inequality,” at ICA 2026, jointly organized by the Language & Social Interaction (LSI), Intercultural Communication (ICC), and Ethnicity & Race in Communication (ERIC) divisions. This pre-conference responds to the current global moment, marked by intersecting discourses of racism, resistance, justice, and empowerment. Across societies, renewed attention to racial inequalities has sparked calls to reimagine the conceptual and methodological tools we use to study how race is constituted, normalized, and contested in communication practices. Our aim is to create an interdisciplinary and supportive space where all participants (particularly students and early-career scholars) can share their work, receive constructive feedback, and build networks for collaboration across divisions and disciplines. By bringing together scholars from LSI, ICC, and ERIC, we seek to advance cross-divisional dialogue and develop innovative approaches to understanding and transforming global discourses of race and inequality. Topics of Interest We welcome submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following areas: * Interactional and discursive constructions of race, racism, and racial difference * Cross-cultural and intercultural dimensions of racism, privilege, and power * Global and transnational perspectives on racial inequality and justice * Communication practices of resistance, solidarity, and empowerment * Methodological innovations for studying race, discourse, and inequality * Racialization in digital, mediated, and algorithmic spaces * Intersectional analyses of race, ethnicity, language, and culture Submission Guidelines Abstract length: 300–500 words (excluding references) Format: Include title, author(s), affiliation(s), and contact information. Eligibility: We particularly encourage submissions from graduate students and early-career scholars. Submit abstracts to: https://forms.gle/5gBryK9Vp6nC7BHJ7 <https://forms.gle/5gBryK9Vp6nC7BHJ7>. Timeline: Deadline for abstract submission: February 15, 2026 Acceptance notifications: March 15, 2026 Deadline for registration (Registration fee: 85 USD): 15 April 2026 (includes snacks + lunch) Preconference: 4 June 2026 For any inquiries, please email: Natasha.Shrikant(a)colorado.edu <mailto:Natasha.Shrikant@colorado.edu> Pre-Conference Format The pre-conference will feature interactive paper sessions, mentored feedback, and roundtable discussions to facilitate meaningful engagement among participants and mentors. Our goal is to provide a collegial environment that encourages intellectual exchange, collaboration, and mentorship. Location: Conference Hotel, Cape Town Organizing Committee Natasha Shrikant Natasha.Shrikant(a)colorado.edu (Chair, Language & Social Interaction) Godfried Asante gasante(a)sdsu.edu (Chair, Intercultural Communication Division) Yossi David davidyossi4(a)gmail.com (Chair, Ethnicity & Race in Communication) -- *Yossi David, Ph.D.* Senior Lecturer The Lab for Media and Social BIAS Research The Department of Communication Studies The Data Science Research Center (DSRC) Chair, Ethnicity and Race in Communication (ERIC), International Communication Association (ICA) davidyossi4(a)gmail.com Pronouns: he/him/his Homepage <https://www.davidyossi.com>- academia.edu <https://uni-mainz.academia.edu/YossiDavid> - researchgate <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yossi_David2> - ORCiD <https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8020-0317> “Failures must be faced and almost welcomed; failures are experiments that can be invaluable steps toward success” (Bernd Heinrich)

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Research Position - Global Education & NGOs (ERC Project)
by Pedro Jacobetty 22 Jan '26

22 Jan '26

Dear colleagues, We are seeking applicants for a three-year research position in the ERC project EmergEd at the University of Potsdam, starting February 14, 2026. This is an excellent opportunity to join an interdisciplinary team investigating the global role of NGOs in education, using innovative methods such as social network analysis and natural language processing . We welcome applications from motivated candidates with backgrounds in political science, education, sociology, computer science, or related fields. The position offers flexible working conditions within a family-friendly university environment. For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Nina Kolleck. Full details: https://www.uni-potsdam.de/fileadmin/projects/verwaltung/docs/Dezernat3/Aus… Best regards, Pedro -- Pedro Jacobetty Research Associate, Department of educational science EmergEd project University of Potsdam Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, Raum 2.72 14476 Potsdam, OT Golm Germany pedro.jacobetty(a)uni-potsdam.de Tel.: +49 331 9772702

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Craig Mundie and Tom Friedman on global AI governance - "Make a wiki"
by Joly MacFie 22 Jan '26

22 Jan '26

"So we're just collectively going to build one mechanism. And people feed in all the collective set of rules in a well-defined process, right? And basically it, you think of this as essentially a wrapper around an existing AI. So it sees the inputs and it sees the attempted outputs, and then it makes a decision as to whether it's going to permit that output. If it does, it signs it. If it doesn't, it doesn't, right? And then the world moves along. The rules are just basically, the way I think of this in very simplistic terms, is what you want to have is a giant curated wiki. And for each societal element who has basically, is a participating, call it country for starters, the country figures out for that thing who their proxies are to take their rule sets and put them in on their page of the wiki—says US rules, China rules, India rules, Europe rules, or French rules, or whatever they're right. And they don't have to negotiate with anybody, they just put them in. And all they expect is that when an AI is operating essentially in the virtual sovereign environment of that country, it applies their rules in that context. And so you've chunked this thing out into a bunch of separate activities, each engineered for purpose and then you essentially compose a system out of them." https://www.patreon.com/posts/148797684/ -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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AIces 2026 – International School on the Cognitive, Ethical & Societal Dimensions of AI
by David Silva - IRDTA 22 Jan '26

22 Jan '26

📍 Porto–Maia, Portugal | 🗓 March 30 – April 2, 2026 | 🌍 On-site & fully online AIces 2026 is a global, interdisciplinary research training school addressing AI cognition, ethics, and societal impact. The program features 10 advanced courses, 2 keynote lectures, and participant symposia, delivered by leading scholars and industry researchers from institutions such as CMU, Johns Hopkins, NVIDIA Research, KTH, Delft, and more. Topics include: Trustworthy & responsible AI Cognitive architectures and neuroscience-inspired AI Large language models and symbolic processing Algorithmic fairness, governance, and social justice AI, human values, democracy, and the future of work Who should attend: graduate students, researchers, and practitioners from AI, cognitive science, philosophy, ethics, social sciences, and policy. ✔ Full online participation available ✔ Lectures recorded (45-day access) ✔ Certificate of participation 🔗 Website & registration: https://aices.irdta.eu/2026/ ⏳ Early registration deadline: February 3, 2026

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CFP: The Landscape of Generative AI in Australia (MIA; Abstracts due 27 Feb)
by Tama Leaver 22 Jan '26

22 Jan '26

Call for Papers: The Landscape of Generative AI in Australia: A Critical Look Forward Media International Australia Generative AI first entered widespread public awareness with the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022. Since then, Large Language Models and GenAI more broadly have irreversibly changed the technology and media landscape, as these tools drive the creation of impressive novel outputs of text, images and video. After an initial flurry of excitement where GenAI and LLM’s were posited as the solution for everything from skilled labour shortages to environmental catastrophe, or conversely, the end of traditional education and learning, the very real limitations of GenAI have become apparent. ‘Testing’ and interrogating the place of these systems quickly revealed to many that while these are sophisticated tools that recombine elements using statistical likelihoods, their ‘intelligence’ owes to elegant mathematical engines rather than any kind of human-like ‘sentience.’ In order to justify the enormous investments in GenAI made by Silicon Valley, these tools have become widely embedded and integrated into everything from smartphones to social media and messaging, as well as the most widely used computer software applications. This increasing ubiquity has meant that GenAI and its effects have been felt across all industries and demographics, and as they continue to evolve, their place in contemporary media and communication require urgent attention. This proposed Feature Topic invites scholars working on the issues emerging alongside the widespread integration of Generative AI within an Australian context to contribute their work to our guest-edited feature topic in the journal Media International Australia (Sage). This thematically coherent collection will be published in the February 2027 issue of the journal. We invite researchers to explore perspectives such as: - The positioning of GenAI as sentient; - The drivers and beneficiaries of this manufactured hype; - The bias inherent in GenAI systems and the implications of this; - Data privacy and ownership; - Indigenous data sovereignty; - Copyright and creativity concerns; - The growing understanding of the environmental impacts of running GenAI and the data centres that supply GenAI; and, - The growing role of chatbots and chat companions. We also invite scholars whose research engages with any other issues emerging alongside the proliferation of GenAI in an Australian media context to submit a proposal to the feature issue. We also particularly invite scholars working in the area of Indigenous data sovereignty and GenAI, to submit an abstract for this special issue. *Guest Editors* Tama Leaver (Curtin University) and Suzanne Srdarov (Curtin University) *Information about submission* Please send through your proposal as one PDF file to Suzanne.srdarov(a)curtin.edu.au by* Friday 27th February 2026*. Proposals should include an abstract of 500-750 words (not including references) and the authors’ short bios. Authors of accepted proposals are expected to develop and submit their original article, for double-anonymized review, in accordance with the journal’s peer-reviewed procedure, by the deadline stated. Guidelines for manuscripts can be found on the MIA webpage <https://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/MIA>: https://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/MIA *Key Dates* - Abstract submission deadline:* Friday 27th February 2026* - Notification of accepted abstracts: *Monday 16th March 2026* - Full manuscript deadline: *Friday 29th May 2026* - All final revisions deadline: *Tuesday 1st September 2026* *Publication: Issue 202, Q1 February 2027* -- Professor Tama Leaver (he/him) Professor of Internet Studies School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry (MCASI) Faculty of Humanities Curtin University GPO Box U1987 Perth WA Australia 6845 Ph: (+61 8) 9266 1258 Email: t.leaver(a)curtin.edu.au Web: www.tamaleaver.net

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