April 15-16 2027
University of Antwerp (Belgium)
Deadline: November 15, 2026
& International Journal of Communication special issue
Questions? Contact: aaron.hyzen@uantwerpen.be
Full call: https://www.algepi.com/call-for-contributions-epistemic-welfare-role-media-algorithmic-awareness/
Submission site: https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/84043/submitter
About the symposium:
As media organizations incorporate algorithmic systems into the production, curation, recommendation and distribution of content, questions have come to the foreground about how citizens encounter, understand and engage with knowledge. This has been the topic of a four-year international, interdisciplinary research project, Understanding Algorithmic Gatekeepers to Promote Epistemic Welfare (ALGEPI), funded by FWO, FNRS and SNSF. This two-day symposium serves as the project's capstone event.
While valuable research on algorithms, artificial intelligence, platforms and media has largely focused on the risks and harms associated with algorithmic systems, this symposium seeks to broaden that conversation, starting from the notion of epistemic welfare, defined as creating and maintaining the conditions and capabilities that ensure citizens' epistemic agency in the public sphere. We aim to generate a dialogue across disciplinary and professional boundaries that envisions solutions: how can media organizations, regulation and governance, as well as algorithmic design, contribute to citizens' epistemic agency in the digital public sphere?
The symposium therefore welcomes scholars from communication and media studies, Human-Computer Interaction, law and policy studies, philosophy, media management studies and related fields, alongside media practitioners, regulators, policymakers and civil society organizations.
The symposium follows a twenty-four-hour format. The first half day (Thursday 15 April, afternoon) focuses on exchanges between researchers and media stakeholders, while the second half day (Friday 16 April, morning) is devoted to academic presentations and discussion. Keynote speakers include Prof. Anne Kaun (Södertörn University) and Prof. Minna Horowitz (University of Helsinki). An evening event on Thursday will allow for exchange and networking.
Selected papers presented at the symposium will be invited to submit full manuscripts for consideration in a special issue of the International Journal of Communication.
Topics:
We welcome theoretical, empirical, methodological, design and practice-oriented contributions exploring the relationship between algorithmic systems, media, epistemic welfare and citizen awareness. Topics include, but are not limited to:
- Algorithmic awareness, transparency and explainability
- Epistemic agency in algorithmically mediated environments
- Recommender systems and the discovery of epistemically valuable content
- Artificial intelligence in journalism and media production
- Public service media and epistemic welfare
- Media literacy, algorithmic literacy and public understanding of AI
- Governance, regulation and accountability of algorithmic systems
- User agency, trust and knowledge-seeking practices
- Design approaches that support epistemic welfare
- Comparative and cross-cultural perspectives on algorithms and knowledge environments
- Measuring and evaluating epistemic welfare
- Intersections between generative AI and epistemic welfare
- Critical perspectives on the role of media and epistemic welfare
Submission format and deadlines
- Please submit: 1) title and keywords; 2) an abstract (500-750 words); and 3) a yes/no indication of interest in submitting a full paper to the International Journal of Communication special issue.
- The submission form closes on 15 November 2026.
- Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 1 December 2026.
- Authors who indicate interest in the special issue and whose abstract is accepted for the symposium are required to submit a full paper by 31 January 2027. This date serves as the submission deadline for the special issue.
- A registration fee of approximately EUR 60 applies to symposium attendees; it includes the Thursday dinner and social programme. There are no additional fees for papers selected for the IJoC special issue.
Questions? Contact: aaron.hyzen@uantwerpen.be
Full call: https://www.algepi.com/call-for-contributions-epistemic-welfare-role-media-algorithmic-awareness/
Submission site: https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/84043/submitter
