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Registration and Schedule 
If you have already registered for the conference, a registration form for the preconference workshops will be sent shortly to the email address you registered with. If you haven't yet registered, the option to sign up for a preconference workshop has been added to the registration form. With the exception of PC0003, each workshop is three hours. Morning sessions run 9:00 am–12:00 pm and afternoon sessions run 1:00–4:00 pm. All workshops take place at La Casa de la Universidad de California.

Wednesday, 9:00 am–12:00 pm

PC0001. Regenerating Approaches for Qualitative Research in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Organized by: Andrea Guzman (Northern Illinois University), Miriam Sweeney (University of Alabama), Payal Arora (Utrecht University), Stefanie Duguay (Concordia University), Sarah Florini (Arizona State University), Daniela Jaramillo Dent (University of Zurich), Catherine Knight Steele (University of Maryland)

This workshop examines the methodological opportunities and challenges of qualitative approaches to studying artificial intelligence, defined broadly to include generative AI, voice assistants, artificial companions, smart devices, predictive technologies, and recommendation systems. It focuses mainly on AI as a research subject, while also addressing AI as a tool in qualitative inquiry. Facilitators will share their expertise, then attendees will discuss questions from their own research in small groups before the group identifies key considerations for qualitative AI research. The session highlights approaches that challenge dominant epistemologies, including qualitative methodologies from the Global South. Geared toward scholars new to studying AI, though useful to anyone interested in qualitative methods and research ethics. Capped at 35 participants.

PC0002. Technology and Dependency: A Glossary for the Twenty-First Century
Organized by: Luciana Musello (Universidad San Francisco de Quito), Juan Ortíz-Freuler (University of Southern California), Guilherme Cavalcante Silva (York University), Agustín Ferrari Braun (University of Amsterdam), Miriam Millán (Centro de Cultura Digital), Raúl Zambrano (Independent Researcher)

This workshop revisits the work of Latin American dependency theorists and reinterprets their ideas about unequal development in light of current technological transformations. Proposed by the "Dependency Theory and Techno-Imperialism" study group of the Non-Aligned Tech Movement (NATM), it surveys key concepts from the dependency literature and evaluates their relevance to contemporary technological dependency. After a 15-minute introduction, participants break into discussion groups, each working from a pre-selected excerpt and building a conceptual map through a collage activity (about 90 minutes), followed by a 45-minute closing plenary. The aim is to produce a first draft of The Dependency Theory Glossary for the Twenty-First Century and to establish a Dependency Theory Network. Open to all backgrounds; of particular interest to those working on digital sovereignty, political economy, internet governance, and infrastructure studies. Maximum 25 participants across 5 groups.

Wednesday, 1:00–4:00 pm

PC0004. Women* in AI Research: A Critical Data Sprint
Organized by: The Women* in AI, Humanities, and Social Sciences (WAIHSS). Facilitated by: Nadja Schaetz (University of Hamburg), Vasilisa Kuznetsova (University of Bremen) 

This half-day workshop turns critical AI inquiry inward, asking how AI research itself is structured by gendered patterns of representation and recognition across citation, funding, and public discourse. It draws on Critical AI Studies and on evidence of persistent inequalities in academic knowledge production: a stalling publishing gender gap, women's work cited less often even when they publish more, and female scholars less often heard as expert voices in public. Participants work in groups on one of three foci — authorship and citation, research funding, or public recognition — in an exploratory data sprint using pre-prepared datasets and visualization tools, with no advanced technical skills required. A 30-minute synthesis closes the session, and outputs feed a paper and a follow-up wikithon aimed at reconfiguring gender imbalances in public knowledge infrastructures. Capped at 24 participants. WAIHSS uses self-identification as a guiding principle and welcomes trans women and non-binary individuals who feel aligned with its mission..

PC0005. Researching Search: Conceptual and Methodological Approaches to the Study of Online Search Practices and Systems
Organized by: Axel Bruns (Queensland University of Technology), Kateryna Kasianenko (Queensland University of Technology), Victoria Vziatysheva (The University of Bern), Mykola Makhortykh (The University of Bern). Additional organizers: Ashwin Nagappa (Queensland University of Technology), Daniel Angus (Queensland University of Technology)

This workshop brings together conceptual and methodological perspectives on the study of search engines, which increasingly merge conventional search with conversational AI overviews and other AI modes. The first hour consists of four short opening talks sketching the state of search studies. The second hour is a set of hands-on exercises on formulating realistic, diverse search queries — simulating the information-seeking practices of distinct social groups and repurposing SEO tools (Google Trends, People Also Ask) and digital trace data from Q&A fora. Participants work in groups and present their observations, which feed into an open-ended brainstorming session in the final hour on new and alternative ways to study search across disciplines. Facilitated by researchers from the QUT Digital Media Research Centre and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S), with invited experts from the University of Bern.

Wednesday, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm (all day) 

DC0001. In Person Doctoral Colloquium

PC0003. In Defense of the Commons
Organized by: Zachary McDowell (University of Illinois – Chicago), Fenwick McKelvey (Concordia University), Nathalie Casemajor (Institut national de la recherche scientifique), Matthew Vetter (Indiana University of Pennsylvania)

This workshop builds capacity in the Critical Commons Research Network (CCRN), an international collective examining the sharing of digital public knowledge through infrastructural, political-economic, and policy lenses. It addresses threats to the internet commons — Wikipedia and its sister projects, open-source software, shadow libraries, and interoperable interfaces like RSS and APIs — including corporate free-riding and the extraction of volunteer labor and open data by large language models. The pre-conference opens with a mentorship workshop pairing graduate students and junior scholars with senior scholars through elevator pitches and feedback sessions, followed by five-minute lightning talks and discussion. Open to all scholars engaging with the commons, including environmental and public commons such as fisheries and forestry.

Once again, if you have any questions, please reach out to the local conference committee chair at aoirconfchair@aoir.org!

We look forward to seeing you in Mexico City!