Dear AIR list members, Apologies for x-posting, kindly consider applying for the colloquium/masterclass listed below, featuring a number of speakers familiar to the AoIR community. Best wishes, Koen Leurs. “Today, every society is just a collection of diasporas. People join the societies to which they are loyal and pay their taxes, but at the same time, they do not want to give up their identity. The connection between where you live and identity has been broken” – Zygmunt Bauman (http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/01/19/inenglish/1453208692_424660.html) “Most people use social media not to open their horizons wider, but to lock themselves in a comfort zone” – Zygmunt Bauman (http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/01/19/inenglish/1453208692_424660.html) World renown emeritus professor Zygmunt Bauman will assess contemporary formations of the internet, diaspora, migration and multiculturalism on a public lecture on Friday 16, from 15.00-16.30. The KNAW (The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) has granted funding to Prof. Sandra Ponzanesi and Dr Koen Leurs. In December 2016, they will organise a KNAW Academy Colloquium entitled ‘Connected migrants: encapsulation or cosmopolitanism?’ with 16 international experts. The postcolonial and gender scholars will organise a two-day seminar and a one-day masterclass for advanced PhD students and emerging scholars. ENCAPSULATION AND COSMOPOLITANISM In our contemporary world, migrants should be considered as 'connected migrants'. More than ever before, migrants can chose between different technologies to be in contact with loved ones living in their country of origin. This colloquium will innovatively address how digital practices of migrants revolves around the dialectic of 'encapsulation' and 'cosmopolitanism'. Previously, scholars singled out one or another of these processes. 'Homophily', the assumption that 'birds of a feather flock together', is popular among those who argue that transnational communication hinders integration and leads to segregation and radicalisation. Scholars however also contend that migrants can be present in both their host society and their homeland . Seen this way, migrants can connect with their homeland and diaspora, forming bonding capital and developing bridging, cosmopolitan capital by connecting with their host society. Although contested, cosmopolitanism is indispensable as a 'grounded category' to capture everyday reflexive imaginations of openness between self, other and world among elite and subaltern subjects. This colloquium innovatively brings experts in the field together to acknowledge how boundary making and cosmopolitanisation operate simultaneously and grasps social, cultural and political implications of migrant digital practices as grounded in everyday practices. Confirmed speakers include Prof. Zygmunt Bauman, Prof. Miyase Christensen, Dr. Dana Diminescu, Dr. Alexander Dhoest Prof Godfried Engbersen Prof. Radhika Gajjala Dr. Myria Georgiou Prof. Cees Hamelink Dr. Gavan Titley Dr. Nishant Shah Dr. Sanjay Sharma Dr. Kevin Smets Prof. Huub Dijsselbloem Dr. Farida Vis Dr. Roopika Risam Dr Saskia Witteborn Dr. Kishonna Gray We also welcome PhD students, early career researchers and advanced students interested in the topic to apply for this exciting masterclass preceding the colloquium on December 14, 2016 in Amsterdam. International experts Farida Vis, Kishonna Gray & Roopika Risam will equip participants with a solid theoretical grounding and methodological skillset to analyse migrant connectivity practices. See https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/is/staff/vis, http://www.kishonnagray.com<http://www.kishonnagray.com/> and http://roopikarisam.com<http://roopikarisam.com/>. Sign up before October 15, 2016! Questions? Email Koen Leurs @ k.h.a.leurs@uu.nl<mailto:k.h.a.leurs@uu.nl> There is no fee for participating in the masterclass. This is the open call for colloquium participants (150 euro’s fee): http://www.knaw.nl/en/news/calendar/academy-colloquium-connected-migrants?se... This is the open call for masterclass participants (free of charge): http://www.knaw.nl/en/news/calendar/connected-migrants-encapsulation-or-cosm... Thanks for your kind assistance! Best wishes, Koen. -- Koen Leurs, PhD Assistant professor Gender & Postcolonial Studies | Department of Media and Culture Studies | Utrecht University, the Netherlands | Muntstraat 2a, 3512 EV room 0.05 | T. + 31 30 253 7844| www.koenleurs.net<http://www.koenleurs.net/> Research:
2016-2019: Young Connected Migrants * NWO Veni Postdoc Recent publications:

-Digital Passages. Diaspora, Gender & Youth Cultural Intersections. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2015. Open access Download link<http://www.oapen.org/search?identifier=559550>. -Young connected migrants and non-normative European family life. International Journal of E-Politics, 2016, 7(3). Open access Download link<https://www.scribd.com/document/323181937/Young-connected-migrants-and-non-normative-European-family-life-Exploring-Affective-Human-Right-Claims-of-young-E-diasporas>.
-w/ Myria Georgiou Digital makings of the cosmopolitan city. Young people’s urban imaginaries of London. International Journal of Communication, 2016, 10, 3689-3709. Open access Download link<http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/4425/1736>.