The Music and Online Cultures Research Network (MOCReN) presents:

Utrecht University Winter Workshop (13, 14 & 15 January 2027)

Music and (Post-)Truth in the Age of GenAI ‘Slopaganda’

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: https://www.mocren.org/ww27/

Direct link to application form: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/DwUH36DRKH

Supported by a Van Oostrom grant, MOCReN will host its second Winter Workshop at Utrecht University, NL on Wednesday 13, Thursday 14, and Friday 15 January 2027. This is not a traditional conference with paper sessions. The event will provide an opportunity for care-led and playful sessions to discuss research methods, develop work together, and network, this time with the theme of music and (post-)truth in the age of GenAI ‘slopaganda’.

The workshop is prompted by, and will address, questions including:

How should we investigate and theorise various political uses of music online during the post-truth era?
What methodological and epistemological ground truths do we rely on when researching online music cultures?
How do ideas of media literacy, suspicion, and aesthetic value inform our engagements with audiovisual genAI slopaganda?
Why has music become involved in the grey area between fandom and conspiracism?
How do post-truth and populist discourses collide in online music cultures?

The deadline for all participation applications is Friday 21st August 2026. Subsequent correspondence regarding decisions, travel info, and accommodation recommendations will be sent out by Friday 11th September 2026. The final information including a schedule will be distributed in November 2026, and an online pre-workshop meeting will be held via videocall on Friday 11th December 2026.

Questions? mocren.hello@gmail.com

Hartelijks / Sincerely,

The MOCReN Steering Committee

Joana Freitas (NOVA University Lisbon)

Steven Gamble (University of Southampton)

Maria Perevedentseva (University of Salford)

Ed Katrak Spencer (Utrecht University)

Jenessa Williams (Digital Civil Society Lab, Stanford University)