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REMINDER : Algorithms For Her? at King's College London - 8 days to apply
by Sophie Helen Bishop 22 Oct '19

22 Oct '19

“Algorithms for her? feminist approaches to digital infrastructures, cultures and economies” January 17th 2020 - King’s College London 10am-5pm followed by a wine reception Our daily lives are increasingly governed by algorithmic processes of selection, identification and discrimination.This international symposium focuses on the intersectional forms of injustice that algorithms – and the systems in which they are embedded – help to propagate and sustain. Given the significance and ubiquity of such processes in everyday life, and their disproportionate effects on those marginalised across intersections of gender, sexuality, class and race, this event will create a dedicated space for the discussion of algorithmic forms of oppression and inequality. Algorithms for Her? seeks to support the synthesis of in-depth analysis of algorithms – together with their functions and entanglements – with critical feminist works that meaningfully examine the production and ethics of bias. "Newness" is often fetishised in analyses of digital culture. The approaches sidelined by this fetishisation are often those by women and scholars of colour, who struggle to have their contributions included in dominant canons of thought. In some areas of scholarship we may be reaching ‘peak algorithm’ but relatively few studies can meaningfully be called inclusive, reflective or feminist. This symposium seeks to give platform to perspectives on algorithms and algorithmic culture that are under-represented in the academy. We welcome both traditional conference presentations (15 minutes in length) and creative alternatives such as performances or artistic interventions. We invite contributions related to any of the following areas: - Intersectional feminist work critically examining platforms and their economies/ approaches to machine learning,content moderation and algorithms (broadly defined). - Intersectional feminist work examining software/tools/app design and infrastructure. - Intersectional feminist work on platform labour and inequalities. - Feminist methodologies for studying and teaching algorithms and the ethical questions they raise. - Industry/nonprofit cases of addressing discrimination/bias sustained by and 'within' technologies. Keynote Speakers *Professor Bev Skeggs,* Distinguished Professor at Lancaster University and Academic Advisor at London School of Economics International Inequalities Institute. *Dr Taina Bucher,* Associate Professor at the University of Oslo. Keynote roundtable and Practitioners *Dr Joanne Armitage*, University of Leeds / *Dr Ysabel Gerrard*, The University of Sheffield /* Dr Francesca Sobande*, Journalism, Media and Culture at Cardiff University / *Dr Antonina Puchkovskaia*, IMTO University in St Petersburg, Russia *Please send proposals of 300 words along with a 50 word bio to algorithmsforher(a)gmail.com <algorithmsforher(a)gmail.com> by 30th October 2019. * A small number of travel bursaries will be available for early career researchers who do not have recourse to institutional funds. If you would like to be considered for a bursary, please add a short (100 words) paragraph to your proposal explaining why you are eligible. Given that these bursaries are limited, please only apply if you have no other funding options. -- Dr Sophie Bishop www.sophiebishop.co.uk | @sophiehbishop

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Research Assistant (6 months), University of Edinburgh: Urban refugees and digital labour
by HACKL Andreas 22 Oct '19

22 Oct '19

Dear all, I am looking for a research assistant to work with me on the project 'Digital livelihoods: towards a just gig economy for urban refugees'<https://refugeework.net/> based at the University of Edinburgh, social anthropology subject area. Apply here: https://www.vacancies.ed.ac.uk/pls/corehrrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobs… Vacancy Details Research Assistant (Urban refugees and digital labour) Vacancy Ref: : 050020 Closing Date : 06-Nov-2019 Contact Person : Dr Andreas Hackl Contact Number : 0131 651 5357 Contact Email : andreas.hackl(a)ed.ac.uk<mailto:andreas.hackl@ed.ac.uk?subject=Research%20Assistant%20(Urban%20refugees%20and%20digital%20labour)> You will work with Dr Andreas Hackl on a project entitled ‘Digital livelihoods: towards a just gig economy for urban refugees.’ Funded by the ESRC UK, the project runs for two years (2019-2021) and focuses on digital work practices among refugees in two cities: Berlin and Beirut. The Research Assistant will focus on the field site Berlin and is expected to conduct qualitative research for a period of at least two months towards the project’s objectives. Candidates must have completed at least a Master’s degree in a related field and written their dissertation on a relevant topic. Candidates who have submitted their dissertation but have not yet formally graduated may be apply. This full-time (35 hours) fixed-term post is for six months from as early as 13 January 2020. The role is based in Edinburgh but involves some international travel and field research in Berlin. Salary: Grade 6 (£28,331 - £32,816) Closing date: 06 November 2019 Section 1: Job Details Job Title: Research Assistant (Urban refugees and digital labour) Department/School: School of Social and Political Science Unit (if applicable): Social Anthropology Line Manager: Dr Andreas Hackl Section 2: Job Purpose This research assistant role is fully integrated into the ESRC funded project ‘Digital livelihoods: towards a just gig economy for urban refugees.’ The role of the Research Assistant is to support the project through original research, primarily in the field site Berlin, and by collaborating with the Principal Investigator, Dr Andreas Hackl, on other project-related tasks and activities. Section 3: Main Responsibilities (Approx. % of time) 1. 40% - Conduct and support empirical research on the digital work lives of refugees in the city of Berlin with a focus on: a. Interviews and participatory research with Syrian refugees who are working or seeking work in digital fields, such as computer programming, web design, microwork, online freelancing, and jobs in the wider online gig economy. b. Interviews and participatory research in digital skill training programmes that target refugees. c. Meetings with civil society, public sector, and private sector initiatives in the wider field of digital technology and refugees. 2. 20% - Collect qualitative and/or quantitative data on digital work and remote education for refugees online and on social media. 3. 10% - Contribute to the project’s web presence and social media channels through content creation, sourcing materials and contributions, and editing and updating content. 4. 10% - Review literatures on the research topic and write-up focused reviews for future use by the research team. 5. 10% - Assist in the documentation of the emerging research outcomes and collaborate with the Principal Investigator on the write-up of a joint working paper or a joint publication in a peer-reviewed journal. 6. 10% - Fulfil other project-related tasks as they arise, such as administration, communication, and event organisation. 4. Planning and Organising Once there is a concrete programme and schedule of work agreed with the project PI, you are expected to plan and manage the main tasks and responsibilities independently, but always in coordination with the PI. Regular reporting of progress and meetings with the PI will be a crucial component of this organising process. 5. Problem Solving You are expected to use initiative and experience to be able to pro-actively work on the project, while ensuring that the project PI is aware of and supportive of the work you are undertaking at all stages. The PI will usually be available to provide support, advice, and ideas. 6. Decision Making Independent decision making will be expected on most day-to-day activities, in line with the priorities and objectives of the project and as agreed with the project PI in advance. At the same time, the role will involve close collaboration with the PI and other individuals on issues such as: research design and overall planning, setting of main priorities for research, analysis, producing written outputs, knowledge exchange with project partners and stakeholders. Overall timelines and objectives are set by the project manager. Level of direction given: the project PI will provide detailed guidance and advice on your role within the project. 7. Key Contacts/Relationships As part of the project you will be fully embedded in the social anthropology subject area at the University of Edinburgh. You will further be linked to the cross-subject international development cohort at the School of Social and Political Science. The project is also embedded in wider networks of the Edinburgh Centre for Data, Culture & Society at the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. 8. Knowledge, Skills and Experience Needed for the Job Essential • Appropriate degree, with relevant postgraduate or applied research experience. Normally a Master’s degree or equivalent professional qualification and/or experience in social anthropology or a related field in the social sciences and humanities, including development studies. • Demonstrable experience of working on issues relating to refugee situations, refugee governance, and humanitarianism. • Demonstrable knowledge of the wider issues and debates around digital society and digital economies. • A proven ability to conduct high-quality research independently. • A proven ability to write high-quality texts for a variety of audiences, and communicate complex issues clearly. Desirable • Knowledge of qualitative and quantitative methods and tools used in social data science and internet research. • A track record of published research and writing on themes related to the research project, including articles in academic journals, blogs, publications in the public media, or contributions to reports of NGOs and other relevant institutions. • Experience of collaborative work in research. • Working knowledge of German and/or Arabic. • Experience working with private sector digital platforms and initiatives. • Experience working with NGOs and International Organizations. 9. Job Context and any other relevant information This full-time (35 hours) fixed-term post is for six months from as early as 13 January 2020. The role is based in Edinburgh but involves some international travel and field research in Berlin. The role is part of a research project that started in May 2019 and runs until April 2021. You can find more information about the project on the website here: https://refugeework.net/ Funded by the ESRC UK, the research project runs for two years (2019-2021) and focuses on digital work practices among refugees in two cities: Berlin and Beirut. The Research Assistant will focus on the field site Berlin. Although the position is based at the University of Edinburgh, the role involves about two months of residential field research in Berlin. The project will cover travel, accommodation, and subsistence costs for the Research Assistant during this period of fieldwork. The Principal Investigator will join the Research Assistant for about two weeks of the fieldwork period in Berlin, to offer guidance and assistance, although he will primarily focus on the second field site (Beirut). Application Procedure All applicants should apply online by clicking the apply link at the bottom of this page. The application process is quick and easy to follow, and you will receive email confirmation of safe receipt of your application. The online system allows you to submit a CV and other attachments. Please submit your CV and a covering letter as part of your application. You will be notified by email whether you have been shortlisted for interview or not. Interviews are expected to take place in early December 2019. The closing date is 5pm on [insert date]. ---------------------- 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.

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Call for Submissions: Media Ecology Association 2020 Convention (Adelphi University, NY)
by Peggy Cassidy 21 Oct '19

21 Oct '19

*CALL FOR PAPERS FOR MEA 2020 CONVENTION* *The Twenty-First Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association* *Communication Choices and Challenges* *June 18-21, 2020* *Adelphi University, Garden City, New York* Media Ecology is a discipline whose history, perspectives, and scholarly interests incorporate a broad array of academic and professional disciplines focusing on “the study of complex communication systems as *environments*" (Christine Nystrom, 1973). Every year, the MEA convention provides a unique opportunity for academics and professionals to come together in a relaxed and collegial environment that encourages conversation and creativity. The theme of the 2020 convention is “Communication Choices and Challenges.” In every act of communication, people make choices. We choose where, when, and how to express ourselves or locate and use information. We choose the medium that seems best suited to the task: are we trying to reach the largest possible audience, get the word out quickly, or ensure that our message reaches future generations? Do we wish to convey a deep sense of intimacy, empathy, authority, or cool distance? Are we looking for information from a wide variety of perspectives, confirmation of what we already believe, or the deepest possible exploration of an issue? Featured speakers at the 2020 convention include *Jay Rosen*, press critic and author of *PressThink.org*, *What Are Journalists For?, *and countless articles and essays on American journalism; and *Maryanne Wolf, *international advocate for children and literacy and author of *Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World, Tales of Literacy for the 21st Century*, and *Dyslexia, Fluency, and the Brain*. We invite all papers, thematic panels, roundtable discussion panels, creative projects, performance sessions, and other proposals of interest to media ecologists. We also encourage submissions that explore the convention theme. For example, we are interested in submissions that address choices and challenges related to · the construction of identity and the presentation of self on social media · the use of media to establish and/or maintain relationships (among individuals, in families, between political leaders and their constituents, in between celebrities and fans, etc.) · representation and storytelling by producers of news and entertainment · promotional and strategic communication—the choices involved in designing strategic messaging, as well as the impact on audience attitudes, decisions, and behaviors · the erosion or illusion of choice due to the concentration of media ownership · the 2020 U.S. presidential election, which will take place just months after the convention *GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION:* Please submit paper and panel proposals, in English, by November 1, 2019 to *MEA2020Convention(a)gmail.com* <MEA2020Convention(a)gmail.com>*. *A maximum of two submissions per author will be accepted. Authors who wish their papers to be considered for the Top Paper or Top Student Paper award must indicate this on their submission(s). *Submission Guidelines for paper and panel proposals: * 1. Include title(s), abstract(s) (maximum 250 words), and contact information for each participant. 2. Outline, as relevant, how your paper or panel will fit with the convention theme. 3. Authors with papers submitted as part of a panel proposal or as a paper proposal that wish to be considered for Top Paper or Top Student Paper must send the completed paper to the convention planner by May 15, 2020. *Submission guidelines for manuscripts eligible for MEA award submissions: * 1. Manuscripts should be 4,000-6,000 words (approximately 15 to 25 double-spaced pages) 2. Include a cover page with your institutional affiliation and other contact information. 3. Include an abstract (maximum 150 words). *INFORMATION:* Please direct questions to Peggy Cassidy, MEA2020Convention(a)gmail.com. For more on the Media Ecology Association, visit www.media-ecology.org -- Peggy Cassidy, Ph.D. Professor and Chair Communications Department [image: Adelphi University] Blodgett Hall, Room 113 One South Avenue Garden City, NY 11530 cassidy(a)adelphi.edu / adelphi.edu 516.877.4914

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Request for syllabi for Intro Course to Social Media (Gen Ed)
by Andrea Guzman 21 Oct '19

21 Oct '19

Hello everyone, We are drafting a proposal for an "Introduction to Social Media Course" that will serve as a general education course (200 level). We would greatly appreciate any syllabi or other teaching materials you all would be willing to share in helping to create this course. Please e-mail me off-list at alguzman(a)niu.edu. Thank you. Andrea _______________ Andrea L. Guzman, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Dept. of Communication Northern Illinois University alguzman(a)niu.edu Recent Publications: Artificial Intelligence and communication: A Human-Machine Communication research agenda (with Seth C. Lewis) New Media & Society: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1461444819858691 Automation, journalism, and Human–Machine Communication: Rethinking roles and relationships of humans and machines in news (with Seth C. Lewis & Thomas R. Schmidt) Digital Journalism: https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2019.1577147 <https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2019.1577147> Human-Machine Communication: Rethinking Communication, Technology, & Ourselves: https://www.peterlang.com/view/title/64309?format=PBK

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Job Announcement: TT Asst Professor in Social Media and Digital Cultures, Florida Atlantic University
by Gerald Sim 21 Oct '19

21 Oct '19

The School of Communication and Multimedia Studies at Florida Atlantic University invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in Social Media and Digital Cultures to begin in Fall 2020. We are an interdisciplinary program committed to connecting critical studies, historical research, and media practice. We value candidates who can build on those ties and whose scholarship and teaching can engage multiple areas of the School. The search committee is receptive to scholars whose teaching and research or creative production addresses the relationship between technology and society, such as digital inequalities and algorithmic bias. We are open to a range of specializations, including: * Platform studies * Infrastructure studies * Data and algorithms * Digital publics and networks * Rhetorical and strategic uses of social media * Human-computer or computer-mediated interaction * Game studies We particularly encourage applicants from groups that are underrepresented in higher education, who can demonstrate excellence and leadership in research and teaching, towards an equitable culture and diverse scholarly environment. Minimum Qualifications PhD from an accredited institution in media studies, communication studies, science and technology studies, or a related field at the time of appointment. All applicants must apply electronically to the currently posted position (Assistant Professor of Social Media and Digital Cultures) on the Office of Human Resources' job website (https://fau.edu/jobs) Go to Apply Now(REQ07542) to see the complete ad. Please upload the following: * Letter of Application * Curriculum vitae with contact information for three references * Scholarly writing sample of less than 25 pages * Unofficial transcripts from most recent degree/program reflecting graduate coursework. Initial Review of Applications will begin after Dec 6, 2019.

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Call for (ICA) panelists: dead and dying platforms
by Muira McCammon 21 Oct '19

21 Oct '19

Hi, all, I'm organizing and proposing a panel submission to ICA 2020 in Australia for the Communication History division on the topic of "dead and dying platforms" with a special focus on the ethical, technological, and theoretical challenges that come with studying them. This panel aims to grapple with some of the following questions: What are dead and dying platforms? What are their futures, their pasts? What forces and factors kill a platform, and what actors and architectures help bring a platform back to life? What might a political economy of dead and dying platforms look like? What laws, economic forces, and social trends might we consider in the historical analysis of platforms that have survived? What narratives and counter-narratives of dead platforms have surfaced, and how can we tease out commonalities between them? Where does data on dead platforms go? What role do web archives play in helping us remember and forget dead platforms and their users? What memory narratives do users invoke, as they reflect on the affordances of former platform? What can we learn from comparative analyses <https://twitter.com/castrojade/status/821428461747085312> of platform death? What does platform death provoke online and offline? And, what is gained/lost by framing a platform's end as a "death" ? What does it mean to "update" a platform? What memory narratives have developed around platforms' (former) affordances? What emotions surround a platform's life and death? Has platform death prompted certain kinds of resistance? Our interpretation of this term ("platform death") is broad. Maybe you've been sitting on a paper on Vine <https://www.theverge.com/2016/10/28/13456208/why-vine-died-twitter-shutdown>, Backpage <https://slate.com/technology/2019/02/backpage-sex-workers-fosta-sesta-switt…>, FireEagle <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Eagle>, Google Reader <https://www.cnet.com/news/google-reader-is-done-here-are-five-alternatives/>, StumbleUpon <https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/24/17389230/stumbleupon-shut-down-internet-…>, AIM <https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/15/aim-is-officially-dead/>, or Rdio <https://www.theverge.com/2015/11/17/9750890/rdio-shutdown-pandora> and are looking for a home for it? Maybe you're obsessed with a platform that was designed millions of miles away from Silicon Valley that lived a short life or is currently on the verge of death? Maybe you have been searching for an opportunity to dig into web archives from years and years ago? Maybe, like me, you missed out and weren't able to go to The Web That Was? Maybe you think "platform death" is a total sham term and want to tear it apart? If so, please do consider joining us and drop me an email with any questions. Panelists would need to submit an abstract of 150 words to me by October 31st at the very latest, and I'm happy to provide more info via email re: who else is on the docket and what we're hoping to achieve in Australia. Thank you, Muira McCammon -- *Muira McCammon* *Annenberg School for Communication * *@muira_mccammon <https://twitter.com/muira_mccammon>* Recently out: "After DeepNude, ideas for more conscientious coverage of synthetic media <https://www.cjr.org/watchdog/deepnude-ai-synthetic-media-ethics.php> <https://www.cjr.org/watchdog/deepnude-ai-synthetic-media-ethics.php>" in *Columbia Journalism Review *

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Public Seminars in London: Interfacing Data (23 Oct); 'Digital Subjects' (14th Nov); Algorithmic Politics (18th Dec)
by Gray, Jonathan 21 Oct '19

21 Oct '19

In case of interest for those in/around London, here are the public seminars organised by the Department of Digital Humanities at King’s College London this semester. These are public events so please feel free to forward details to friends, colleagues and anyone else you think might be interested in joining - all are welcome! Details and abstracts copied below. Jonathan ## Public Seminar: Interfacing Data: Dashboards as Media Formats ## With Nate Tkacz (Warwick) and Caroline Bassett (Cambridge) ## When? Wed, 23 October 2019, 5-7pm ## Where? Safra Lecture Theatre, King's Building, Strand Campus, King's College London ## Register: https://dashboards-data.eventbrite.co.uk<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdashboard…> ## Public Seminar: Who are we online? On the ‘Digital Subject’ and online personhood ## With Patrick ffrench (KCL), Olga Goriunova (Royal Holloway) and Scott Wark (Warwick) ## When? Thu 14th November 2019, 6-8pm ## Where? Anatomy Lecture Theatre (King's Building K6.29), King's College London, Strand Campus, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS ## Register: https://digital-subjects.eventbrite.co.uk<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdigital-s…> ## Public Seminar: Algorithmic Politics: Analyzing Strategies of Disruption and Mainstreaming in the Canadian Alt-Right ## With Greg Elmer (Ryerson University) and Ganaele Langlois (York University) ## When? Wednesday 18 December 2019, 5-7pm ## Where? Safra Lecture Theatre, King's Building, Strand Campus, King's College London, London, WC2R 2LS ## Register: https://algorithmic-politics.eventbrite.co.uk<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Falgorithm…> *** ## Public Seminar: Interfacing Data: Dashboards as Media Formats ## With Nate Tkacz (Warwick) and Caroline Bassett (Cambridge) ## When? Wed, 23 October 2019, 5-7pm ## Where? Safra Lecture Theatre, King's Building, Strand Campus, King's College London ## Register: https://dashboards-data.eventbrite.co.uk<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdashboard…> Join us for a discussion on dashboards, interfaces, formats and data politics with Nate Tkacz (Warwick) and Caroline Bassett (Cambridge). This event will feature a talk by Nate Tkacz (University of Warwick) titled "On data and formatting: Or, how to think about dashboards", a talk from Caroline Bassett (University of Cambridge) titled "Driversity: What the Dashboard promises?", followed by discussion. This event is part of an ongoing seminar series on "critical inquiry with and about the digital" hosted by the Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kcl.a…>. If you tweet about the event you can use the #kingsdh<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.c…> hashtag or mention @kingsdh<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.c…>. If you'd like to get notifications of future events you can sign up to this mailing list<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmailman.k…>. On data and formatting: Or, how to think about dashboards Nate Tkacz (University of Warwick) Abstract: Data are tricky stuff. They can be the content of a medium, or a medium in their own right. They can be configured in any number of ways -- through numbers, code, colour, line, even sound -- while still retaining their status as data. There is a sense that data are ontologically fluid. In this presentation, I reflect on how I have approached data through the notion of the format and formatting. I present the format as a way to deal with some of the challenges of understanding data's mediations. I use the format of the dashboard as the basis of the inquiry. Dr Nathaniel Tkacz is a Reader in Digital Media and Culture at The University of Warwick and currently visiting researcher at the Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fblogs.kcl…>. His work investigates the political, cultural and methodological dimensions of digital media. This has led to studies of political openness in online communities, practices of ‘mass collaboration’, experimental economic platforms, software forking, trolling, apps, banking and payment services, interfaces, user experience design, digital public services, and environmental situation rooms, among other things. With Geert Lovink, he co-founded the Critical Point of View network for Wikipedia research as well as the MoneyLab research network, and he recently joined the App Studies Initiative. Tkacz is author or editor of a number of books, including Wikipedia and the Politics of Openness (University of Chicago Press, 2015). He is currently working on a book on dashboard interfaces. Driversity: What the Dashboard promises? Caroline Bassett (University of Cambridge) Dr Caroline Bassett is Professor in Digital Humanities at the University of Cambridge where she is currently leading Cambridge Digital Humanities. She was formerly Professor of Media and Communications at the University of Sussex, as well as Director of the Sussex Humanities Lab. Her research is centred on investigating and critically analysing the relationship between communication technologies, cultures and societies. Professor Bassett’s extensive publications include work on digital transformation, mobile and pervasive media, gender and technology, medium theory, digital humanities, science fiction, imagination and innovation, and sound and silence. Her current research is exploring anti-computing. Her latest book ‘Furious: Technological Feminism and Digital Futures’, co-authored with Sarah Kember and Kate O’Riordan, will be out this Autumn. *** ## Public Seminar: Who are we online? On the ‘Digital Subject’ and online personhood ## With Patrick ffrench (KCL), Olga Goriunova (Royal Holloway) and Scott Wark (Warwick) ## When? Thu 14th November 2019, 6-8pm ## Where? Anatomy Lecture Theatre (King's Building K6.29), King's College London, Strand Campus, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS ## Register: https://digital-subjects.eventbrite.co.uk<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdigital-s…> When accessing online services, our subjectivity becomes a mediated construct. A panel with Patrick ffrench, Olga Goriunova and Scott Wark About this Event What exactly is happening to our subjectivity when it moves online? While we have come to value the rights of a subject regarding its data and understand that the storage of personal data needs to be regulated, a more philosophical understanding of the digital subject’ had long been lacking. Recent publications by Olga Goriunova (Royal Holloway) introducing the concept of a ‘digital subject’ now close this gap. Taking up the question of online personhood, this panel will start with exploring some of the theoretical underpinnings of the concept of 'the subject' and the 'person' (Patrick ffrench, KCL) to turn from there to ‘the Digital Subject’ (Olga Goriunova, Royal Holloway), and further on to the subject of personalising techniques (Scott Wark, Warwick). What happens to the idea of personhood, when digital hybridity is the de facto mode of contemporary existence? In what way is Goriunova’s ‘digital subject', which comes into being when going online, linked to us? Or, as she suggests, it is instead marked by a profound disconnection? Patrick ffrench is Professor of French at King's College London. His research focuses on 20th-century French thought, literature and film, and more specifically on critical theory. He is the author of The Time of Theory: A History of Tel Quel (OUP, 1996): The Cut: Reading Bataille's Story of the Eye (British Academy 2000), After Bataille: Sacrifice, Exposure, Community (Legenda 2007); Thinking Cinema with Proust (Legenda 2018), Roland Barthes and Film: Myth, Eroticism, Poetics (Bloomsbury, 2019). Olga Goriunova is Reader and Director of Research at the Department of Media Arts, Royal Holloway University of London. Her concept of ‘the digital subject’ is explored in the articles ‘The Digital Subjects: Persons as Data as People',<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fjournals.…> in Theory, Culture and Society (2019) and a special issue she edited, which includes her article ‘Face Abstraction! Biometric Identities and Authentic Subjectivities in the Truth Practices of Data’,<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2…> Subjectivity 12(1), 2019 Scott Wark is a Research Fellow for the Wellcome-funded project, ’People Like You: Contemporary Figures of Personalisation’. He is based at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies at the University of Warwick. He researches online culture, amongst other things. Chaired by Mercedes Bunz, Senior Lecturer in the Digital Humanities, King’s College London. ** Olga Goriunova, "The Digital Subjects: Persons as Data as People"<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fjournals.…> in Theory, Culture and Society (2019) *** ## Public Seminar: Algorithmic Politics: Analyzing Strategies of Disruption and Mainstreaming in the Canadian Alt-Right ## With Greg Elmer (Ryerson University) and Ganaele Langlois (York University) ## When? Wednesday 18 December 2019, 5-7pm ## Where? Safra Lecture Theatre, King's Building, Strand Campus, King's College London, London, WC2R 2LS ## Register: https://algorithmic-politics.eventbrite.co.uk<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Falgorithm…> A seminar on Algorithmic Politics with Greg Elmer (Ryerson University) and Ganaele Langlois (York University). Algorithmic Politics: Analyzing Strategies of Disruption and Mainstreaming in the Canadian Alt-Right This panel focuses on the rise of “fringe” internet platforms and actors and their impact on political discourse. Focusing on the 2019 Canadian Federal Election campaign, which is dominated in large part by the rise of far-right anti-immigrant populist discourse and protests online and off, we examine the insinuation of fringe platforms into mainstream political discourse via more established social media platforms and news properties. Greg Elmer will present on how political memes, language, and shared political objects (videos, photos, images, graphics, posts, etc) originate from fringe platforms such as 4-Chan and circulate to disrupt and shape the political discourse, imaginaries and landscape. Ganaele Langlois will present on how a new qualitative digital method – the research persona – enables tracking the affective triggers through which one can identify with specific types of misinformation and disinformation objects and end up being profiled and curated as a alt-right member. Greg Elmer is Bell Media Research Chair and Director of the Catalyst Research Hub at Ryerson University. Greg is a digital media scholar and documentary film maker. His next film investigates the plight of 'no media' communities in S.Africa, the Netherlands and Russia. And his next book will trace the history of financialization in 'new' media companies. Ganaele Langlois is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies as York University. Her work focuses on digital methods and critical theory to examine questions of power and subjectivity through digital media platforms and infrastructures. She is the author of Meaning in the Age of Social Media (Palgrave, 2014). These events are part of an ongoing seminar series on "critical inquiry with and about the digital" hosted by the Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kcl.a…>. If you tweet about the event you can use the #kingsdh hashtag or mention @kingsdh. If you'd like to get notifications of future events you can sign up to this mailing list<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmailman.k…>. -- Jonathan Gray | jonathangray.org<http://jonathangray.org/> | @jwyg<http://twitter.com/jwyg> Lecturer in Critical Infrastructure Studies Department of Digital Humanities King’s College London Recent publications and projects: * Gray, J. (2019). Data Witnessing: Attending to Injustice with Data in Amnesty International’s Decoders Project<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2019.1573915>. Information, Communication & Society. * Gray, J. & Bounegru, L. (eds.) (forthcoming) The Data Journalism Handbook: Towards a Critical Data Practice<http://bit.ly/ddjbook-aup-toc-preview>. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. * Gray, J., Gerlitz, C., & Bounegru, L. (2018) Data Infrastructure Literacy<https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951718786316>. Big Data & Society. * Gray, J. (2018). Three Aspects of Data Worlds<http://krisis.eu/three-aspects-of-data-worlds>. Krisis: Journal for Contemporary Philosophy. * Bounegru, L., Gray, J., Venturini, T., & Mauri, M. (2018). A Field Guide to “Fake News” and Other Information Disorders<http://fakenews.publicdatalab.org/>. Amsterdam: Public Data Lab.

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CFP: Media representations and narratives of masculinities across Europe
by Inês Amaral 21 Oct '19

21 Oct '19

*Call for papers: Media representations and narratives of masculinities across Europe* The journal Social Studies is announcing a call for papers for a monothematic issue with a working title Media representations and narratives of masculinities across Europe. The editors of the issue are Inês Amaral and Sofia José Santos (University of Coimbra). This special issue aims to bring together critical analysis focusing on media representations, discourses, narratives and counter-narratives of what it means to be and behave “like a man” in today’s Europe. It wishes to contribute to a comprehensive reflection on the stereotypes that underlie discourses in the mass media and in the online media, and on how cultural productions co-opt, confront, criticize, renegotiate and seek to promote gender alternatives that challenge gender inequality. This special issue welcomes theoretical and empirical articles that use qualitative, quantitative or mixed methodologies and focus on media representations and narratives of men and masculinities, their relation to policy and legislation, counter-narratives to the stereotyped representations of gender roles, the relation between feminism and masculinities and the fallout of the MeToo movement, social media activism, digital literacy, critical media literacy and other related topics. Papers focusing on research methods with which to address these issues are also welcome. Abstracts should be sent to the journal address (socstud(a)fss.muni.cz) and to the editors (ines.amaral(a)uc.pt and sjs(a)ces.uc.pt) More detailed information is available on request. The deadline for abstract submission is 1st November 2019, full papers are expected by 1st March 2020. About the journal Social studies/Sociální studia (print ISSN 1214-813X, online ISSN 1803-6104) is a fully open-access journal, indexed in SCOPUS and ERIH PLUS. The journal is published since 2004 at the Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, both electronically and in print. Starting in 2015, the journal accepts English-language thematic issues and contributions. Website: https://journals.muni.cz/socialni_studia -- Inês Amaral Professora Associada | Associate Professor Diretora do 1.º Ciclo de Estudos em Jornalismo e Comunicação | Director of the Undergraduate Program Studies in Journalism and Communication Universidade de Coimbra • Faculdade de Letras | University of Coimbra • Faculty of Arts and Humanities Largo da Porta Férrea | 3004-530 • Coimbra • Portugal Tel. | Phone: +351 239 410 090 E-mail: ines.amaral(a)uc.pt www.uc.pt | www.uc.pt/fluc

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What is Information? Call for Proposals
by Janet Wasko 21 Oct '19

21 Oct '19

WHAT IS INFORMATION?• University of Oregon Portland • April 30–May 2, 2020 • whatis.uoregon.edu<http://whatis.uoregon.edu> What is Information? (2020) will investigate conceptualizations and implementations of information via material, representational, and hybrid frames. The conference-experience will consider information and its transformational æffects—from documents to data; from facts and fictions to pattern recognition; from physical information to differential equations; and from volatility, uncertainty, and ambiguity to collective intelligence and wisdom. The tenth annual What is…? examines tapestries, temperaments, and topologies of information lenses and practices—including—social and technical, mathematical and semantic, physical and biological, economic and political, cultural and environmental information. Thus, information can be understood as physical (e.g. fingerprints and tree rings), for instruction (e.g. algorithms and recipes), and about epistemic systems (e.g. maps and encyclopedias). Next year’s gathering expands on What is Technology? (2019), which explored technology as tools, processes, and moral knowledge, as well as problem-solving and intelligent inquiry. Scholars, government and community officials, industry professionals, scientists, artists, students, filmmakers, grassroots community organizations, and the public are invited to collaborate. We welcome submissions for papers, panels, roundtables and installations. Presentations / panels / installations may include the following topics (as well as others): • What is information? Are data and information synonymous? Is information material/concrete, symbolic/abstract, or both? What distinguishes information from knowledge and wisdom? • Is information freedom? What is meta-data? What are information systems, flows, and gaps? • What approaches or lenses are used to study information? How do they relate to emerging disciplines? • What are information science and information art? What are relationships between STE(A)M and ICT? • How are the natural sciences and information sciences continuing to converge (e.g. bioinformatics)? • Is information at the core of music, architecture, design, craft, and/or science and technology studies? • Is biology itself information or only a representation? What are data science, machine learning and visualization? How are informatics enhancing medicine and the environment via regenerative systems? • What is the philosophy of information? What are information literacy, ethics, education, & aesthetics? • What are networks? What are relationships between information, technology/media, and message? • What are information ecologies, information environments, and how do/can they facilitate public good? • What is political economy of information? How do information & socio-cultural factors æffect each other? • What are current approaches to the study of information professions, audiences, and psychology? • How does information highlight gender, race, indigenous, and/or global environmental concerns? • How can contemplation, empathy, kindness, and/or responsibility be studied via information? • What are patterns of digital divides? What comes after post-truth (e.g. cyber-physical)? • What are data-mining and threat detection or privacy in the cyber-defense/cyber-security age? • Can apps, games, and immersive media help us to adapt to the ever-changing information landscape? • What laws/regulations/policies are appropriate for information? How are information & value(s) related? Conference Organizers: Janet Wasko and Jeremy Swartz (University of Oregon) Send 150-word abstracts for papers, panels, installations, and exhibits by DECEMBER 20, 2019, to: Janet Wasko • jwasko(a)uoregon.edu<mailto:jwasko@uoregon.edu> • University of Oregon • Eugene, Oregon • 97403-1275 • USA

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Datapoiesis Fall School in Ivrea, Italy
by xDxD.vs.xDxD 21 Oct '19

21 Oct '19

Dear friends and colleagues, please excuse me for any crosspostings, we're getting ready for a very important thing for us: the Datapoiesis Fall School in November 25-30 2019 at the ex Olivetti factories in Ivrea, Italy. http://bit.ly/DatapoiesisFallSchool "Datapoiesis" is a neologism: it points in the direction of the fact that data (and the computation needed to process it) can bring into existence "things" that did not exist before. Probably the only way in which we can gather understandings about the planet's complex phenomena (climate change, migrations, markets, energy, health...) is through enormous amounts of data. But these data are, most of the time, very far from us, living in the separation of data centers, in the spectacularization of dataviz, or at the center of the seriously extractive processes performed by the current data industry. Datapoiesis explores the possibility to transform these dynamics. In Datapoietic processes, we use art and design to create objects and artworks which are the embodiment of science/tech/art collaborations aimed at using data to approach complex phenomena. These objects are totemic, meaning that they are designed to be places around which people can gather for discussion, collaboration, solidarity and participatory action, describing neo-rituals for public space, homes, schools, offices, hospitals etc, in which data and computation become the occasion for augmented, performative sensibility to the world's complex issues, individually and as communities, organizations, institutions. The first object explicitly created to trigger the Datapoiesis phenomenon, named "Obiettivo", deals with the conditions of extreme poverty and uses data from the UN, World Bank, OECD. It also questions all of these data sources, and the strategic, ideological and geopolitical implications of the ways in which these data are collected, interpreted and represented. For example, among the data-rituals which we promote around the artwork, is the possibility to create other copies of it, in which poverty is measured in different ways, or regarding different territories, etc, to enable forms of understandings and awareness that are highly enhanced. After being presented in May 2019, Obiettivo was acquired by the contemporary art collection of the Farnesina, Italy's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, as an example of "diplomacy through art". In the Datapoiesis Fall School, we will bring these concepts to Ivrea, inside Olivetti's ex-factories. Olivetti is Italy's best historically known example of the ways in which business can co-exist together with a positive social and community impact. Furthermore, Olivetti had really interesting strategic intersections with art and design, focused towards these goals. Currently, a series of entrepreneurs are restoring Olivetti's ex-factories to explore the forms in which contemporary businesses can welcome these social and community impacts within their strategies. The first project which will inhabit these factories is Datapoiesis, promoting a new model for the data and computation industry which is not extractive, but, rather, aimed at creating rich relational ecosystems which are able to promote and support people's and communities' rights, freedoms and well being. During the Datapoiesis Fall School, people will come together from a variety of different disciplines to understand what form could be assumed by an organization that "does Datapoiesis for a living". What is its legal form? What is its business/sustainability model? What materials, forms of energy, technologies does it use? What is its process? What kind of products/services/experiences does it produce? What approaches does it use to preserve people's rights and freedoms in relation to data, AI biases, data and AI opacity ..., and to enable people and communities to decide how their data is used? We will also design Obiettivo's next step: the first line of datapoietic objects, which will form a permanent exhibit in the spaces of Olivetti's factories. The people who will participate to the Fall School will also be the first in line, if they want, to be taken into consideration for joining the Datapoiesis organization, which will form in the beginning of 2020. The Fall School is free: you only need to come to Ivrea and pay for your accomodation and food. Feel free to contact me or the team for any further information. http://bit.ly/DatapoiesisFallSchool Thank you very much Best wishes Salvatore Iaconesi

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