Dear all, With apologies for cross-posting, I am happy to share an event about avatars and digital identities that is taking place at Greenwich on 17 June. Please find more info by visiting the website <https://www.animatedigital.co.uk/> and Eventbrite page <https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/animating-digital-identities-tickets-1328324306759> to register. I am also pasting the programme below. The event will also be accessible via streaming on Teams, for those unable to reach our location in London: Join the meeting <https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NGRiMDIwNzYtZTUwNS00YTZjLTkyNDgtZTI2YmEyMmFlNzJk%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%223516f40a-5ae9-4956-bbab-395162e589ce%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%2262a365d8-7ac6-4a23-8c57-81944f9d29f8%22%7d>Meeting ID: 349 170 467 888 4 Passcode: tV7aF94X Looking forward to seeing you there! Best, Nicola Bozzi Lecturer in Critical Media Practice University of Greenwich, School of Design schizocities.com / @schizocities ANIMATING DIGITAL IDENTITIES Diverse Perspectives on the “Avatar” in the Age of Distributed Digital Environments Date: 17 June 2025 Times: 9.30 to 19.30 Location: University of Greenwich, 10 Stockwell St, London SE10 9BD Lecture Theatre - 11_0003 Curated by Nicola Bozzi, Ghislaine Boddington, Tatiana Isaeva and Olive Gingrich. Supported by the Institute for Inclusive Communities and Environments, School of Design, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Greenwich, in collaboration with the Hybrid Presence Research Cluster. This event is supported as the Annual Symposium of the Centre for Spatial and Digital Ecologies. Digital identity has gained unprecedented cultural and social momentum in the last decade - both as an individual concern and far-reaching asset.

From video game avatars to political campaign videos, from family WhatsApp groups to virtual health assistants - in our digital everyday life, the expression and performance of a wider and increasingly accessible range of digital selves and bodies has become commonplace in large parts of the world. This has been amplified and complicated by the accelerating pace of technical innovation across mediated environments - i.e metaverse platforms, AR, XR, generative AI, all linked to increasingly hyper-targeted recommendation algorithms. At the same time, the cost and speed of data in developing (low and middle- income) countries remains a sometimes-existential factor, making sustainability an issue for these evolutions.

*- What implications do these omnipresent platforms for representation have in terms of inclusion, well-being, and overall social good?* *- What kinds of new practices of the “avatar” are emerging, between gaming platforms, social media, and the many metaverses inhabited by our distributed digital bodies?* We need interdisciplinary discussions, not only about the societal repercussions of these technologies, but the opportunities they expand for the creative renegotiation of our relationship with technology, the self, and each other. For this reason, this event approaches digital identity as a prism through which the social and the cultural are refracted, inviting diverse perspectives to examine theories and practices of the “avatar” in the age of distributed digital environments. --- PROGRAMME FOR THE DAY 9.30- 10:00 REGISTRATION 10:00 – 10:15 - OPENING REMARKS by the curators Nicola Bozzi, Ghislaine Boddington, Tatiana Isaeva and Olive Gingrich 10:30 – 12:00 Panel 1: Animating Platformed Identities How are avatars and digital identities becoming a global political-economic asset? This panel explores different theoretical and artistic ways in which gaming technologies and social media affect the expression of identity and how digital identity itself shifts from individual bodies/characters towards distributed commodities and communities. Speakers – Aleena Chia, Alexandra Anikina, Nicola Bozzi, Nina Davies Chair – Jane Frances Dunlop 12.00 - 12:30 - BREAK - Student Showcase 12:30 – 14:00 Panel 2: Animating Avatars for Social Good How are animated digital identities, increasingly connected to real-time data, pushing forward connected access to our individual and group social needs as living beings? This panel focuses on a diverse range of digital bodies working across time and space, rapidly evolving and being adopted in a range of social need sectors, for example education, health, social connectivity and wellbeing. Speakers – Sarah Ticho, Camille Baker, Ghislaine Boddington, Olive Gingrich Chairs – Ghislaine Boddington and Olive Gingrich. 14:00 – 15:00 - LUNCH and SHOWCASE 15:00 – 16:00 Round Tables: Animating Futures Rotating discussion around the themes: *Identity/Representation, Technologies/Infrastructures, Posthuman Creativity * Mediators - Eric Wong, Ryan Flynn, JC Kristensen 16.00 - 16.30 TEA BREAK 16.30 - 17:00 Sharings from Round Tables 17:00 - Keynote 17.30 - 18:00 - Conclusions Student Showcase (running parallel) - curated digital art showcase of works by students and alumni of the School of Design, University of Greenwich Reception and Networking Supported by the Institute for Inclusive Communities and Environments, School of Design, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Greenwich, in collaboration with the Hybrid Presence Research Cluster. This event is supported as the Annual Symposium of the Centre for Spatial and Digital Ecologies.