ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

International Journal of Games and Social Impact 

Deadline: June 15, 2025

Guest Editors:  Hugo Barata (Lusófona University, CICANT) & Rui Antunes (Lusófona University, CICANT) 

This special issue of The International Journal of Games and Social Impact invites contributions that delve into the role of artistic practices in shaping game experiences and social narratives. In the same way, it aims to contribute to a multidisciplinary dialogue that examines the convergence of art in game design through its theoretical, practical, and methodological dimensions.

Submissions may address (but are not limited to) the following questions:

• In what ways can games be considered a legitimate form of artistic expression?
  
• How can interdisciplinary approaches enhance our understanding of the relationship between Games and Art?
  
• What potential exists for collaboration between artists and game designers to create innovative and socially impactful experiences?
  
• What role do emerging technologies, such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence, play in shaping the future of games as an art form?
  
• How have advancements in technology transformed the horizon of game design and artistic expression?
  
• In what ways can games challenge stereotypes and promote inclusivity?
  
• How do the mechanics of games contribute to their potential as a medium for cultural critique?
  
• How have historical games been influenced by artistic practices?
  

Publication Timeline

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Dates are indicative.

Full Paper Submission Deadline: 15-06-2025

Notification of Acceptance for Full Paper Submissions: 16-10-2025

Publication Date: First semester of 2026

For more information: https://revistas.ulusofona.pt/index.php/ijgsi/announcement/view/231.

November 13-15, 2025

Institute of Communication and Media Research, German Sport University, Cologne, Germany (conference will be held onsite with inclusion of 1 online panel)

Deadline: June 23, 2025

Conference of the ECREA Temporary Working Group Communication and Sport

Sports media play a crucial role in shaping public discourse, influencing narratives, and determining the visibility of social issues within both the sports industry and wider society. From investigative sports journalism uncovering injustices to strategic communication efforts by athletes, teams, and brands, the role of media in shaping social impact requires critical exploration. Moreover, audiences actively engage with, interpret, and respond to these narratives, shaping the effectiveness and reach of various movements in sports media. Additionally, sports journalism can take on an interventionist role, with journalists advocating for social issues, giving voice to marginalized groups, and driving conversations on equity and justice. Activism within sports communication, whether led by athletes, media professionals, or fans, continues to be a significant factor in addressing societal challenges. Beyond journalism, various forms of engagement—including fan mobilization, community-driven initiatives, and participatory media practices—are shaping the broader landscape of social influence in sports communication.

The Conference of the ECREA TWG “Communication and Sport”, hosted by the Institute of Communication and Media Research at the German Sport University in Cologne, on November 13-15, 2025 (Get Together, Nov 13; Academic Program Nov 14 and 15) invites scholars (not necessarily only from Europe) to submit abstracts that investigate the relationship between sports communication and its broader societal influence. It aims to foster interdisciplinary discussions that deepen our understanding of how journalism, digital platforms, strategic communication, audience reception, engagement, activism, and advocacy intersect with social impact in sports communication.

The conference will feature one online panel that will allow participation of a select number of researchers who are unable to travel to Cologne.

Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Sports Media:
  
• • The role of sports journalism in shaping social change
  • The interventionist and activist role of sports journalists
  • Media framing of social issues and activism in sports
  • Intersectionality and diversity in media portrayals of athletes and social issues
  • Regulation and censorship in sports media
• Sports Actors:
  
• • The role of sociopolitical issues in athletes’ self-presentation
  • Strategic communication in socially responsible and activist sports initiatives
  • Corporate media and its stance to social activism in sports
  • Athletes’ employment of different media channels for activist purposes
  • Sports actors’ responses to online hate
  • Social media’s influence on activism and public engagement in sports
• Sports Audiences:
  
• • Fan engagement, mobilization, and advocacy through media platforms
  • Audience expectations and perceptions of activism in sports communication
  • Community engagement and grassroots movements in sports media
  • Case studies of sports media’s impact on social discourse and activism 

This list is not exclusive, and we call for papers which in a broad sense deal with different forms of engagement, including both theoretical and empirical perspectives on the potential social impact of sports communication

We invite abstracts between 300-500 words (excluding references) submitted in English language by June 23, 2025 via email to the main organiser JProf. Dr. Daniel Nölleke (d.noelleke@dshs-koeln.de). The submission should be anonymized.

The abstracts can be both for individual papers and panel proposals. Each panel proposal must include an abstract of the cover topic and the titles of 4-5 involved papers with the names of the authors. Each paper in the panel needs to be presented by people from different universities. Please indicate clearly whether the abstract is for an individual paper or a panel proposal. 

The TWG (in collaboration with its YECREA representative) particularly invites early career researchers to submit abstracts for the conference. Please indicate on your submission if it is authored exclusively by (bachelor, master or Ph.D.) students. 

To support the integration of as many scholars as possible, we will hold approx. 5 onsite panels and 1 online panel for the colleagues who have difficulties travelling to Cologne on the dates of the conference. Please indicate clearly whether the abstract is for onsite or online presentation. Authors will be notified about acceptance by July 25, 2025.

To cover the expenses for room rental and on-site catering (coffee, cold drinks, finger food), a fee of max. 70 Euro (max. 40 Euro for Early Career Scholars) will be charged for on-site participation. Detailed information on fees, accommodation options and the social program will be sent with the acceptance notification in July.

The Children, Youth & Media Section of ECREA invites proposals from its members to organize and host the 2025 Mid-Term Conference. We welcome institutions or research groups within the section to submit proposals to host this event. 

Interested members should submit their proposals by May 2nd.

Read more: https://cymecrea.wordpress.com/2025/03/17/call-for-organizers-host-the-mid-term-conference-for-ecreas-children-youth-media-section/

April 11, 2025

Online

In 2025, the ECREA sub-committee for Methods is organising a series of workshops on different methods, tools and designs for junior researchers and PhD candidates. The sessions will include: refining a research project, designing a suitable methodological approach, research tools, research ethics, analysing quantitative research data, analysing qualitative research data, and AI. The sessions will be held online and will generally last between 90-120 min, hosted by senior researchers and experts in the respective fields. 

Workshop 1: 11 April 2025, 14:00 (CET) Refining the Research Project (1h 30 min)

This workshop focuses on the crucial process of refining a research topic and developing well-structured research questions. Participants will explore strategies for searching existing literature and narrowing down their research focus to ensure clarity and feasibility. Through guided discussions and practical exercises, they will examine examples of research questions and engage in formulating both qualitative questions and quantitative research hypotheses. This session is aimed at members who are in early stages of their doctoral study/research journey and will help lay the foundation for forming a coherent research design.

If you would like to attend this workshop, please fill out the form HERE. Future sessions will be communicated in the coming weeks.

Workshop 2: 9 May 2025, 14:00 (CET) Designing a Suitable Methodological Approach (1h 30mins)

Lecturer: Dr Herminder Kaur, Senior Lecturer in Digital Sociology in the Department of Criminology and Sociology at Middlesex University, London Building on the previous session, this workshop introduces participants to key areas they need to consider to determine the most suitable methodological approach for investigating their research questions. Through interactive discussions and activities, attendees will explore traditional qualitative and quantitative research methods, as well as innovative approaches emerging in media and communication studies. By critically engaging with different methodologies, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how to align their research design with the objectives of their study.

If you would like to attend this workshop, please fill out the form HERE. Future sessions will be communicated in the coming weeks.

April 15, 2025

Online

The Audience and Reception Studies (ARS) section of the ECREA [European Association of Comunication and Education Research ] and YECREA [ Young Scholars Network of ECREA]; invites everyone to an insightful online discussion about the diverse experience of doing audience and reception studies in diverse contexts.

Reserve a spot in this event for free to receive the link to access the event. You can also get in touch with the organisers mentioned below for more information :

Nivedita Chatterjee (n.chatterjee@surrey.ac.uk )

Paulo Cauraceiro (Paulo.couraceiro@obercom.pt)

Register HERE.

Pedro Jerónimo & Inês Amaral (Eds)

Journalism is facing a crisis of trust. Disinformation, political manipulation, “news deserts”, and the decline of independent media threaten access to quality information. Building Media Trust examines this global challenge and presents tangible solutions—from fostering stronger community engagement with local media to the impact of regulation and transparency in journalism. Featuring case studies from Europe, Latin and North America, and Africa, this book outlines pathways to rebuilding a more resilient and trustworthy media ecosystem.

https://labcom.ubi.pt/building-media-trust/

ISBN: 978-989-9229-26-6

Soapbox 7.0

Deadline: April 30, 2025

To feel like we belong is one of our most common desires. Our bodily relation to home is not a simple one: it is marked by hostile power structures. These structures plunge the body into an interconnected web of demarcations, mediations, and hierarchisation, which determine one’s ability or failure to feel at home. Race, gender, ability, and class are factors that designate one’s sense of home. Labels further differentiate between bodies, some rendered political (“immigrant,” “refugee”), while others insidiously a-political (“expat”). How do we think with the body in ways that address its complicated relationship to home? What are the ways to engage with our bodily positionalities that may allow for a more equitable habitation?

Thinking with aestheSis that privileges sensing over totalising reasoning of aestheTics, María Lugones sees the body through its permeability, which “allows us to reconceive about the world we live in.” Turning towards the sensorial relationality, we discover that the fixed, man-made, ‘rational’ lines that demarcate home and body as separate, contain leaks. Leaks that bring the body home. For its eighth issue, Soapbox: Journal for Cultural Analysis invites (young) researchers, (established) scholars, and creatives alike to submit works that consider practices, experiences, and methodologies that uncover punctures and cavities of structures, lines, boundaries, and borders. What seeps, spills, or flows through these holes? What exists in between home and body that informs who and where we are? What are the moments when the body and home are torn apart? And when do they collapse into one?

Decolonial theory offers one perspective from which we can explore the leaks between homes and bodies. For non-Western subjects, when one has seen oneself as the Other through Western eyes, the decolonial journey begins to return to one’s bodies and homes. Quijano teaches us that the relationship between European and other cultures is one of “subject” and “object,” while Tlostanova, in her seminal paper “Can the Post-Soviet Think?,” reminds us that inventing theory “remains a privilege of the West.” Nevertheless, these man-made divisions only appear as stable and can be questioned through embodied relationality that allows “communities and social movements to defend their territories and worlds against the ravages of neoliberal globalization” (Escobar). Lugones calls for “a resistant permeable sensing” (Calderon). Vasquez speaks of worldhood and earth-hood, the possibility of being at home in and with others and with Earth that stands in opposition to the homelessness of modernity’s artifice. Taking a decolonial lens on Merleau-Ponty’s flesh and Barthes’s notion of punctum, Ortega argues that Latinx art carnally pierces with love that frees from dominant knowledges. Finally, Anzaldúa asks us to stay with the border and perceive it as a wound that offers hybridity.

other possible access points:‍

affective leaks

Sarah Ahmed writes that “being-at-home suggests that the subject and space leak into each other”: home becomes a second skin that allows for a receptive touch. What does it mean to feel at home, and how does the body sense home? Rather than spatiotemporal, can home become an emotion?

phenomenological leaks

Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological attention to the in-between of the body and the world that gives form to a chiasmatic flesh has long entertained cultural scholars, with Baker and Sobchak contributing to understanding cinema as tactile. How can the phenomenological attention to bodies and the world inform our understanding of home?

architectural leaks

Architecture architectures—or builds—a predetermined relationship between subject and structure. Dwellings provide shelter just as much as they violently enclose. Ingold advocates a dwelling perspective that argues it is the surroundings that shape the mind and not the opposite. Where does the body stop and the city start?

posthuman leaks

In Tuana’s concept of viscous porosity, it is the membrane that facilitates the interactions. In what way do the permeable borders mimic membranes when choosing who to accept and who to refuse? Re-thinking the neoliberal ideal, can a better future exist within the membrane?

leaks and memory studies

How do forms of violence pertain to what Ann Laura Stoler theorizes as ‘disabled’ and ‘dissociated’ histories? What does it mean to be-long in that what no-longer exists or never existed? How does nostalgia entail a violent form of be-longing that implicates the present? (Boym).

leaks in everyday life

Marxist sociologist-philosopher Henri Lefebvre tells us that “a revolution will come about when, and only when, people can no longer live their everyday lives.” A leakage, a failure of infrastructure, may precisely set such a process in motion. At what point—while cooking, walking the dog, showering, seeing friends—do we notice the droplets dripping from the ceiling, forming a deep puddle in the centre of the living room?

the details:

We are inviting extended proposals in MLA formatting and referencing style to be submitted to submissions@soapboxjournal.net by April 30th, 2025. Each proposal must include an abstract of 300-500 words and a brief outline of the content and its order (up to 200 words, can be in bullet points!). The outline is meant to indicate the intended structuring and weighing of the various elements of your text; we understand and expect that this will change again during drafting and editing. Submissions should be sent as a file attachment to the email, and the file's content should be anonymised.

Guidelines for creative submissions are more flexible. They can be finished works, word-based or otherwise, but please keep in mind our spatial limitations: we publish and print in book format, and we have a limited number of pages to give to each submission. This year, we are also open to visual submissions (excluding moving image), provided they are accompanied by an artistic statement and an explanation of how the work connects to the theme. A sense of the formatting possibilities can be garnered from previous issues and our Instagram (open-access PDF versions are available on our website).

We will try to send out conditional acceptance emails by May 23rd. Upon acceptance, the authors of the academic essays will be asked to submit a 4000-6000-word full draft by August 25th. The editing and publishing process will span the next academic year (September 2025 - February 2026).

It would be very helpful if you could let us know in your email where you saw our CFP. If you have any questions regarding your submission, do not hesitate to contact us at submissions@soapboxjournal.net.

works referenced

Anzaldúa, Gloria. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. Aunt Lute Books, 1987.

Escobar, Arturo. Designs for the Pluriverse: Radical Interdependence, Autonomy, and the Making of Worlds. Duke University Press, 2018.

Meda Calderon, Denise. “Decolonial Movidas: María Lugones’s Notion of Decolonial Aesthesis through Cosmologies.” The Pluralist, vol. 18, no. 1, 2023, pp. 22–31, https://doi.org/10.5406/19446489.18.1.03.

Ortega, Mariana. Carnalities. Duke University Press, 2024.

Quijano, Aníbal. “Coloniality and Modernity/Rationality.” Cultural Studies, vol. 21, no. 2-3, 2007, pp. 168–178, https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601164353.

Tlostanova, Madina. “Can the Post-Soviet Think? On Coloniality of Knowledge, External Imperial and Double Colonial Difference.” Intersections, vol. 1, no. 2, 2015, pp. 38-58, https://doi.org/10.17356/ieejsp.v1i2.38.

Vazquez, Rolando. “Precedence, Earth and the Anthropocene: Decolonizing Design.” Design Philosophy Papers, vol. 15, no. 1, 2017, pp. 77-91, https://doi.org/10.1080/14487136.2017.1303130.

further suggestions

Ahmed, Sara. “Home and Away: Narratives of Migration and Estrangement.” International Journal of Cultural Studies, vol. 2, no. 3, 1999, pp. 329–347, https://doi.org/10.1177/136787799900200303.

Alaimo, Stacy. Bodily Natures: Science, Environment, and the Material Self. Indiana University Press, 2010.

Barker, Jennifer M. The Tactile Eye: Touch and the Cinematic Experience. University Of California Press, 2009.

Boym, Svetlana. The Future of Nostalgia. Basic Books, 2001.

Deleuze, Gilles and Tom Conley. The Fold: Leibniz and the Baroque. University Of Minnesota Press, 2012.

Fisher, Mark. “What Is Hauntology?” Film Quarterly, vol. 66, no. 1,2012, pp. 16–24, 2012, https://doi.org/10.1525/fq.2012.66.1.16.

Ingold, Tim. The Perception of the Environment. Routledge, 2000.

Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. The Visible and the Invisible. Translated by Alphonso Lingis, edited by Claude Lefort, Northwestern University Press, 1968.

Mogoș, Petrică and Laura Naum. “On Easternfuturism: Imagining Multiple Futures.” Kajet Journal, no. 05, 2022.

Lefebvre, Henri. Everyday Life in the Modern World. Translated by Sacha Rabinovitch, Harper & Row, 1971.

Parvulescu, Anca. “Eastern Europe as Method.” The Slavic and East European Journal, vol. 63, no. 4, 2019, pp. 470-481, https://doi.org/10.30851/634002.

Rancière, Jacques. The Politics of Aesthetics. Edited by Gabriel Rockhill, Bloomsbury Academic, 2004.

Rigney, Ann. “Remaking Memory and the Agency of the Aesthetic.” Memory Studies, vol. 14, no. 1, 2021, pp. 10–23, https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698020976456.

Sobchack, Vivian. Carnal Thoughts: Embodiment and Moving Image Culture. University Of California Press, 2004.

Stoler, A. L. “Colonial Aphasia: Race and Disabled Histories in France.” Public Culture, vol. 23, no. 1, 2011, pp. 121–156, https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-2010-018.

Toop, David. Ocean of Sound: Aether Talk, Ambient Sound and Imaginary Worlds. Serpent’s Tail, 2001.

Tuana, Nancy. “Viscous Porosity: Witnessing Katrina.” Material Feminisms, edited by Susan Hekman and Stacy Alaimo, Indiana University Press, 2008.

August 13-15, 2025

University of Helsinki, Finland

Deadline: April 10, 2025

The 31st Nordic Network for Intercultural Communication Conference will be arranged in Helsinki on 13–15 August 2025. The NIC 2025 conference theme is "Evolutions in intercultural communication: New concepts and methodologies". With this theme, we wish to encourage discussion of conceptual and methodological development in the field of intercultural communication, drawing connections between research, teaching and practice. 

In addition to those addressing the theme, we also welcome proposals that explore related aspects of intercultural communication. These are, for example, 

• Critical evaluations of theories of intercultural communication, education, or management  
  
• Migration and new or alternative forms of language, interaction, and communication 
  
• Challenges of trans/poly/cross/intercultural encounters and relationships 
  
• Decolonization and the knowledge on culture and communication 
  
• Diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in different spaces and settings 
  
• New questions on education and learning in multicultural societies 
  

Intercultural communication is an interest to and researched by scholars in a wide variety of fields and disciplines such as language, media and communication, multilingual and/or multicultural education, sociolinguistics, social interaction, international management, discourse studies, cultural studies, ethnic relations, and cross-cultural psychology. We welcome submissions from all.  

Abstract submission

Please submit your max 250-word abstract using the abstract form below. The abstracts will be anonymously peer reviewed. Note that all submissions should be in English and those submitting the abstract should be prepared to attend the conference in person. The deadline for submitting your abstract is April 10th, 2025. 

SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT HERE

If the abstract includes citations, please provide the appropriate references (the list of references is not included in the word count).  

Welcome to Helsinki in August!

For further details and up-to-date information, see the NIC Helsinki 2025 Conference website.

Organizing committee: Saila Poutiainen (Chair), Mélanie Buchart, Yoonjoo Cho, Niina Hynninen, Janne Niinivaara 

August 28-30, 2025

Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Deadline: April 15, 2025

Co-organised by the Slovene Communications Association 

Mid-term conference of the European Sociological Association, Research Network 18 – The Sociology of Communications and Media Research 

The small-scale and focused mid-term conferences of the European Sociological Association's Research Network 18 seek to ensure that the sociological investigation of media and communications is given full focus, distinguishing its work from that of large international associations, which provide important forums for communications and media research but do not have especially sociological concerns. 

The challenges facing societies today seem daunting even by the most volatile historical standards. These include deepening economic inequalities, class antagonisms, the rise of radical right-wing authoritarianism around the world and violent wars that may soon erupt into even wider international conflicts. Generative AI is increasingly reshaping virtually all relations, and digital tech giants are running amok along with their increasingly unhinged owners. Somewhere behind all this, looming on the horizon, is an ecological crisis. While many of these issues are intricately interlinked and, among other things, speak volumes about the deepening power imbalances and crises of liberal institutions, their causes and trajectories may be divergent and contradictory, with outcomes that seem difficult to predict. 

As the conference title suggests, no social issues can be addressed without recourse to communication or capitalism. For Hanno Hardt, critical scholar and former professor in Ljubljana, communication could be considered "the sine qua non of human existence" (1979, 1). In this sense, the study of communication must always be the first stepping stone, but one that is now influenced and shaped in various ways by digital giants and media-as-industries. Similarly, critical authors have historically regarded capitalism as a system that cannot be ignored in a holistic social analysis. Sociologist Wolfgang Streeck has, for instance, asserted "that contemporary society cannot really be understood by a sociology that makes no reference to its capitalist economy" (2012, 1). In other words, the sociology of communications and media must inevitably include or address these two of the most fundamental social relations in its research. 

In line with these premises, the conference will feature a plenary round table on digital platforms and labour and plenary talks by critical scholars who have addressed the dynamic between communication and capitalism throughout their careers: 

Kylie Jarrett (University College Dublin, Ireland) 

Graham Murdock (Loughborough University, UK) 

and Slavko Splichal (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia). 

The Communication and Capital(ism) conference aims to bring together contributions that explore the unpredictable and unstable social terrain in the era of digital capitalism. It seeks to critically engage with these issues and their consequences by focusing on the role of social communication, media, and journalism. We are looking for theoretical and empirical submissions that may include, but are not limited to, the following topics: 

• Theoretical reflections on political economy and cultural studies; 
  
• The role of critique and criticality for the sociology of media; 
  
• Digital capitalism, imperialism and colonialism; 
  
• Digital platforms and tech giants; 
  
• Labour and platformisation of working conditions; 
  
• Capital, class, gender, and race; 
  
• Global media corporations and media-as-industries; 
  
• Capitalism and journalism; 
  
• Sociology of news; 
  
• The material and ideological impact of advertising; 
  
• Transformations in political communication; 
  
• Democracy and democratic transformations; 
  
• The public sphere; 
  
• (Re-)presentations in journalism and the media; 
  
• Possible alternatives to the existing political/economic malaise and digital capitalism. 

Abstract submission: 

Abstract submission deadline: extended until 15 April 2025 

Notification of selected abstracts: 15 May 2025 

Conference dates: 28-30 August 2025 

Abstracts should be sent to: Conference Organising Committee, 

rn18esasubmission@gmail.com 

Abstracts should be sent as an e-mail attachment (400-600 words including title, author name(s), email address(es), and institutional affiliation(s)). Please insert the words "ESA RN18 Submission" in the subject. Although we do not provide a template for the abstract submission, we expect abstracts that include a rationale, research question(s), theoretical and/or empirical methods applied, and potential results and implications. Each abstract will be independently reviewed by two members of the ESA RN18 Board based on the call for papers.

Limerick, Ireland

We are happy to announce that we have a permanent position on staff here in the Department of Media and Communication Studies in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Ireland.

The title may be confusing “Assistant Professor” but  the grade is that of “Lecturer”.  This is a higher level than the title used in the advertisement may show, it is not a junior position. The salary scale reflects that. It is €63,309 to €101,462.

The job specification and application form are available here: https://www.mic.ul.ie/about-mic/vacancies

The closing date is 22nd April.