Dear colleagues, I’d like to point you to an upcoming conference in New York, held at Columbia University: Migration and Mobility in a Digital Age: Paradoxes of Connectivity and Belonging Conference Tuesday, April 10, 2018 - Wednesday, April 11, 2018 The Heyman Center, Second Floor Common Room For more information, see http://heymancenter.org/events/migration-in-a-digital-age-paradoxes-of-conne... The image of Syrian refugees with a smartphone shooting ‘selfies’ upon reaching dry land has captured the international imagination (Chouliaraki, 2017; Kunstman, 2017; Risam, forthcoming 2018). It suggests an image of the ‘connected migrant’ (Diminescu, 2008), which is shaped by a profound ambivalence: migrants are expected to be people fleeing from war, violence, and poverty; they are not expected to be ‘digital natives’, equipped with technologies to navigate their difficult journeys. While smartphones are accessible, affordable, and easy to use, in the realm of the public imaginary the image of the disenfranchised and disconnected migrant remains that of the ‘have nots’, and therefore subject to ‘high tech orientalism’ (Chun, 2006, p. 73). This posits the figuration of the migrant as outside the realm of development and modern forms of communication, disenfranchised and vulnerable in order to be worthy of international aid and pity (Boltanski, 20000; Ticktin, 2008). And yet smartphones are ubiquitous, and migrants have been early adopters and heavy users of technologies for the simple reason that these technologies are ingrained in their daily practices and everyday lives, which often involve perilous crossings but also the need to keep in touch with the home front and their diasporic communities. The promise of connectivity that is guaranteed even under duress becomes fraught with the profound disconnection brought about by the disciplining gaze of Western media and publics. It is, therefore, crucial to focus on the specific way in which digital technologies bridge or magnify the gap in migration between geographical distance and digital proximity. How are affect, intimacy, and belonging negotiated online in the face of forced migration and expulsions (Sassen, 2012) but also of circular migration, expatriation, and transnational movements? This conference aims to cover a broad range of conflict-related issues on migration in a digital age. Using the latest insights from a range of interdisciplinary fields, it will explore theories of displacement such as diaspora, cosmopolitanism, and nomadism, and the transformations brought about by the digital revolution, through the analysis of virtual communities, social media platforms, and digital activism. It will also focus on media production and the regulation of information on forced migrants in a ‘post-truth’ era: fake news; the humanitarianism-securitization nexus, migration management, social and political conflicts related to migrant and diaspora communities, radicalization and online counter-terrorism, hate speech and racism, but also solidarities, activism, and protest. For more info e-mail Sandra Ponzanesi: sp3630@columbia.edu Program: DAY 1 Tuesday, April 10, Heyman Center, Common Room 9.00-9.30 Coffee 9.30-10.00 Opening Sarah Cole (Dean of Arts and Sciences, Division of Humanities) Introduction Sandra Ponzanesi (Utrecht University/Columbia University) 10.00-11.30 Panel I Digital Cartographies ‘in’ Time Moderator: Radhika Gajjala (Bowling Green State University) Alex Gil (Columbia University) “In The Same Boats": Moving Maps and Cartographies of Intersections Roopika Risam (Salem State University) Cartographies of the Living and the Dead: Mapping Global Migration Anne McNevin (The New School) Time, Digital Media, and the Figure of the Migrant 11.30-13.00 Panel II Networks, Affects and Activism Moderator: Jonathan Corpus Ong (University of Massachusetts, Amherst) Claudia Minchilli (Utrecht University) Somali Women in Postcolonial Italy: Identity Construction Through Digital Connectedness Donya Alinejad (Utrecht University) Social Media and Feelings of Presence: Mobile Apps and Emotions in a Context of Transnational and Urban Mobility. Radhika Gajjala (Bowling Green State University) Migration and Mobility in Gendered Indian Digital Social Media Spaces: Revisiting “Ghar and Bahir Break 13.00-14.00 (lunch provided for speakers only) 14.00-15.30 Panel III Digital Migration in Europe Moderator: Radha Hegde (New York University) Melis Mevsimler (Utrecht University) Divided Nation, Divided Diaspora: Crossroads of Gender and Homeland Politics in Everyday Lives of Migrant Women from Turkey in London Myria Georgiou (London School of Economics/Annenberg School of Communication, USC) The Communication Architecture of Humanitarian Securitization: Communicative Politics of Reception at Europe’s Borderland. Koen Leurs (Utrecht University) Connected Migrants and Digital Migration Studies in Europe 15.30-15.45 Coffee break 15.45-17.15 Panel IV Cosmopolitan Interruptions Moderator: Sandra Ponzanesi (Utrecht University/Columbia University) Bruce Robbins (Columbia University) The Refugee and the Beneficiary Frances Negrón-Muntaner (Columbia University) The Emptying Island: Puerto Rican Expulsion in Post-Maria Time Wouter Omen (Utrecht University) Humanitarian Communication, Common Humanities Playground Move to Case Lounge, Columbia Law School 17.30 -18.45 Keynote Chair: Sandra Ponzanesi Mirca Madianou (Goldsmith, University of London) Technocolonialism: Digital Innovation and Data in Humanitarian Practice ____________________________________________________________________ Day 2, Heyman Center Common Room 10.30-12.00 Panel V Technologies for Change: Gaming, Piracy & Conviviality Moderator: Koen Leurs (Utrecht University) Dennis Tenen (Columbia University) Global Book Piracy as Peer Preservation Jonathan Corpus Ong/Maria Rovisco (University of Massachusetts, Amherst/University of Leicester) Curating Conviviality Joost Raessens (Utrecht University/NYU) Life as a Refugee: Games for Change Break 12.00-13.00 (Lunch Provided for speakers only) 13.00-14.30 Panel VI Mediating Migration Moderator: Marianne Hirsch (Columbia University) Laura Candidatu (Utrecht University) Digital Media and Diasporic Mothering: Romanian Diaspora in Amsterdam Radha Hegde (New York University) Diasporic Itinerancy and Remediated Authenticities Ato Quayson (New York University) Modes of the Selfie from Orality to Social Media 14.30-15.00 Coffee break 15.00-16.30 Panel VII Beyond Connectivity and Surveillance Moderator: Myria Georgiou (London School of Economics/Annenberg School of Communication, USC) Sandro Mezzadra (University of Bologna/The New School) The Border Regime as a Black Box? Migration, Logistics, and Digitalization in Europe and Beyond Inderpal Grewal (Yale University) Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants: Racial logics of digital production. Miriam Ticktin (The New School) Re-imagining Border Technologies, Designing New Political Forms Move to Jerome Green Annex 17.00-18.30 Closing Keynote Chair: Sandra Ponzanesi Arjun Appadurai (New York University) Narrative Panic and the Edges of Europe For more information, see http://heymancenter.org/events/migration-in-a-digital-age-paradoxes-of-conne...