ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS)

The Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) funds innovative research on the societal opportunities and challenges of digital transformation. We support individual researchers (fellows) and collaborative projects (working groups).

Fellowships: Time and Space for Focus and Inspiration

A fellowship at CAIS provides the freedom to dedicate yourself to your research and the opportunity to engage with a vibrant interdisciplinary community. Step away from your daily work obligations to gain new perspectives and build connections.

As a fellow, you can spend either six or three months in Bochum, Germany. During this time, we will cover your sabbatical leave from work through financial compensation (e.g. for a teaching substitute) or provide grants of up to 2.000 € per month. You can invite guests for collaboration and receive financial support for research expenses. Private offices and meeting rooms with modern facilities offer optimal working conditions. In addition, we will provide a fully furnished apartment free of charge.

Find out more: https://www.cais-research.de/en/cais-college/fellowships/

Working Groups: Boost Your Research Collaboration

A working group at CAIS enables you to assemble your own team of experts from different locations to collaborate in a stimulating environment.

We provide modern meeting facilities and catering for groups of up to ten members. In addition, we will cover travel and accommodation expenses. You can spend up to three weeks in Bochum or get together for several shorter meetings.  

Find out more: https://www.cais-research.de/en/cais-college/working-groups/

Application

The next deadline for applications is 28 February 2025. The earliest possible start date for new fellowships is April 2026. Working groups can currently apply for meetings in 2026. Please use the application forms provided on our website.

The funding program is open to excellent scholars and practitioners at all career stages and from all disciplines. Both fundamental research and applied projects are welcome.

Questions? Please contact esther.laufer@cais-research.de.

October 9-10, 2025

Vilnius University, Lithuania

Deadline: April 30, 2025

We are pleased to invite you to the International Scientific Conference titled “Information and Communication in Organizations: New Forms of Expression”, which will take place at Vilnius University on October 9-10, 2025.

We welcome researchers exploring the following topics:

New forms of organizational and business communication in traditional and digital spaces:

• Sustainability communication;

• Social responsibility communication;

• Inclusive communication;

• AI, Big Data, and other information technologies in communication;

• Social Listening.

Information and Communication in organizations current trends:

• Communication of social business organizations, NGOs, the public sector, and 

• startups;

• Integrated communication;

• Strategic communication in organization;

• Public opinion and reputation;

• Communication value measurements;

• Sustainable leadership;

• Information management and innovations.

Global communication and intercultural cooperation:

• Communicative aspects of intercultural interaction;

• Climate change communication;

• Change communication;

• Risk and crisis communication;

• Diversity, equality, and inclusion communication.

DOCTORAL WORKSHOP

We also invite PhD students to participate in the Doctoral Workshop, which will be held on October 9, 2025. 

IMPORTANT DATES

• REGISTRATION for conference speakers is open until April 30, 2025. 
  
• REGISTRATION for Doctoral Workshop is open until April 30, 2025. 
  
• May 31, 2025: Notification of accepted abstracts and invitations to participate in the conference.
  

PUBLICATION

Participants will have the opportunity to submit their articles for the conference journal.

CONFERENCE FEE

Conference speakers: 70 EUR. Please ensure that the conference fee is paid by June 30.

Speakers from Vilnius University: Fee waived.

Doctoral Workshop: Free for doctoral students.

CONTACT

For inquiries, please contact: conference@kf.vu.lt

Information about the conference: https://bit.ly/4hcgvDY

Lebanese American University

Department: Communication, Mobility, and Identity

Campus: Beirut/Byblos

Expected start date: Fall 2025

Deadline for applying:  Open until filled

The Department of Communication, Mobility, and Identity in the School of Arts and Sciences at the Lebanese American University (LAU) invites applicants to a tenure-track faculty position at all ranks. The department is interested in applicants able to balance theory, research, critical inquiry, journalistic practice, and civic engagement—with strong emphasis on new forms of multimedia, data journalism, or digital innovation in the Arab region and the Global South. Candidates will teach various undergraduate and graduate courses. The department is interested in applicants who can contribute to developing the Multimedia Journalism program, working with the Institute for Media Research and Training (IMRT), and producing research in the field.

Responsibilities

• Teach on both campuses courses in multimedia journalism, data journalism, and digital innovation.
  
• Evidence of scholarship and research as illustrated in high-impact indexed articles.
  
• Advise and mentor students in the Multimedia Journalism track (MA, BA, Minors), support student production and research projects, and help them connect with academic, research, civic engagement, and industry opportunities.
  
• Engage in service to the university and the department, particularly related to developing the Multimedia Journalism program, building connections with the field and industry.
  

Minimum Qualifications

• Ph.D. degree in journalism or media studies.
  
• Strong theoretical and critical grounding.
  
• Professional background in journalism and/or practical journalistic experience, particularly in new forms of multimedia, data journalism and digital innovation.
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Evidence of successful university‑level teaching and training.
  
• A broad professional and/or academic background with experience working in or researching data journalism.
  
• Experience in producing professional journalistic content, using the latest news forms and technologies, especially data journalism and artificial intelligence.
  
• Mastery of various quantitative or qualitative research methods, preferably both.
  
• Ability to teach data journalism, digital innovation, multimedia journalism, data visualization, media analytics, new media business models, media literacy and other specialized research areas.
  
• Evidence of fund-raising abilities and experience in developing and leading major research projects and international programs, such as conferences, study abroad, and exchange programs.
  
• Knowledge of new digital, AI and data methodologies and approaches, both in research and media production.
  
• Evidence of scholarship and research productivity focused preferably on journalism in Lebanon, the Arab world, and the Global South.
  

The Department:

The Department of Communication, Mobility, and Identity (CMI) embraces interdisciplinary education and research about culture, media, and politics drawing on a range of methods and theoretical approaches to teach competencies and skills in professional and academic practices. Our faculty provide superior undergraduate and graduate instruction across programs in Communication (BA), Interdisciplinary Gender Studies (MA), Migration Studies (MA), and Multimedia Journalism (BA & MA). We offer minors in Advertising and PR, Creative Writing and Journalism, Gender Studies, Migration Studies, Multimedia Journalism, and Sociology. The CMI department is committed to fostering academic excellence, professional ethics, and social justice action in the region and the Global South. Students in CMI are prepared for career advancement within diverse sectors and/or postgraduate studies in a changing world.

The University:

The Lebanese American University is an Equal Opportunity Employer operating in Lebanon under a charter from the Regents of the State University of New York. Information about the University can be found at http://www.lau.edu.lb.

LAU is an equal opportunity employer and encourages candidates of all above mentioned backgrounds to apply. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive research environment; thus women and underrepresented minorities are encouraged to apply

Application requirements:

Prospective candidates should apply electronically by sending a letter of interest including a statement of teaching and research interests, an updated CV by email to: soas.careers@lau.edu.lb . The CV should include the names, emails and phone numbers of three references. The university reserves the right to contact additional references with notice given to the candidates at an appropriate time in the process.

Candidates must refer to position no. AS-26-2 in the subject line of the email.

Lebanese American University

Department: Communication, Mobility, and Identity

Campus: Beirut/Byblos

Expected start date: Fall 2025

Deadline for applying:  Open until filled

The Department of Communication, Mobility, and Identity in the School of Arts and Sciences at the Lebanese American University (LAU) invites applicants to a tenure-track faculty position at all ranks.  The department is interested in applicants able to balance theory, research, critical inquiry, communication practice, and civic engagement—with strong emphasis on advertising, public relations, social and political communication, or organizational communication. Candidates will teach various undergraduate and graduate courses across both campuses. The department is interested in applicants who can contribute to developing the Communication program, building industry relations across diverse sectors, and producing research in the field.

Responsibilities                                                              

• Teach on both campuses introductory and advanced communication courses, across three areas: Social and Political Communication, Interpersonal and Organizational Communication, as well as Advertising and Public Relations.
  
• Actively engage in research focused on digital innovation in social and political communication.
  
• Advise and mentor students in the Communication track, support student research and projects, and help them connect with academic, research, and industry opportunities.
  
• Engage in service to the university and the department, particularly related to developing the new Communication program and building connections with the field and industry.
  

Minimum Qualifications

• Ph.D. in communication or related field.
  
• Strong theoretical and critical grounding.
  
• Background in communication and/or practical communication experience, particularly in digital innovation.
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Evidence of successful university‑level teaching and training.
  
• A broad professional and/or academic background with experience working in or researching the communication industry, especially integrated new and social media campaigns, digital activism, artificial intelligence, political or social communication, advertising, or PR.
  
• Experience in social media, digital activism, integrated and corporate communication campaigns, crisis communication management, strategic communication, analytics for communication, and the integration of traditional and new media communication campaigns.
  
• Evidence of scholarly production focused on the Arab communication scene. Mastery of various quantitative or qualitative research methods, ideally both.
  
• Evidence of fund-raising abilities and experience in developing and leading major research projects and international programs, such as festivals and study abroad and exchange programs.
  
• Knowledge of new digital, AI, and data methodologies and approaches, both in research and media production or communication campaigns.
  

The Department:

The Department of Communication, Mobility, and Identity (CMI) embraces interdisciplinary education and research about culture, media, and politics drawing on a range of methods and theoretical approaches to teach competencies and skills in professional and academic practices. Our faculty provide superior undergraduate and graduate instruction across programs in Communication (BA), Interdisciplinary Gender Studies (MA), Migration Studies (MA), and Multimedia Journalism (BA & MA). We offer minors in Advertising and PR, Creative Writing and Journalism, Gender Studies, Migration Studies, Multimedia Journalism, and Sociology. The CMI department is committed to fostering academic excellence, professional ethics, and social justice action in the region and the Global South. Students in CMI are prepared for career advancement within diverse sectors and/or postgraduate studies in a changing world.

The University:

The Lebanese American University is an Equal Opportunity Employer operating in Lebanon under a charter from the Regents of the State University of New York. Information about the University can be found at http://www.lau.edu.lb.

LAU is an equal opportunity employer and encourages candidates of all above mentioned backgrounds to apply. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive research environment; thus women and underrepresented minorities are encouraged to apply.

Application requirements

Prospective candidates should apply electronically by sending a letter of interest including a statement of teaching and research interests, an updated CV by email to: soas.careers@lau.edu.lb. The CV should include the names, emails and phone numbers of three references. The university reserves the right to contact additional references with notice given to the candidates at an appropriate time in the process.

Candidates must refer to position no. AS-26-1 in the subject line of the email.

Renira Rampazzo Gambarato, Johannes Heuman

This book offers a relevant contribution to the studies of streaming media and transmediality with an original approach of cultural sustainability perfectly intertwined with cultural memory beyond borders.

By critically reflecting on popular streaming media series, the book identifies their impact on the global circulation of cultural memory, their learning potential for educational purposes, and the societal challenges and opportunities that emerge from the ubiquitous streaming media penetration and potential for participatory practices. It also investigates how series available worldwide on commercial platforms such as Netflix and Max contribute to the global circulation of cultural memories, in addition to illuminating the ethical, (un)sustainable, and educational concerns involved in the fictionalization of the past.

Drawing on the authors’ expertise in media studies and history, this transdisciplinary book will interest scholars in the fields of media studies, cultural studies, memory studies, history, transmedia studies, education, postdigital studies, television studies, social communication, sociology, and philosophy.

https://www.routledge.com/Streaming-Media-and-Cultural-Memory-in-a-Postdigital-Society/Gambarato-Heuman/p/book/9781032690834?srsltid=AfmBOorZRLTqkqPoL9CjyH35Nnz905LnS7YCoB8WBh19cYqOookQiRZU

Deadline (EXTENDED): February 14, 2025

Dear colleagues,

We would like to share that the deadline for submitting an abstract to the anthology on Postcolonialism & Imperialism in and around Games has been extended to February 14th. You can find the original Call for Papers below: 

This anthology published by Palgrave-Macmillan looks to evaluate post- and decolonial questions in game studies and identify future research trajectories and underexplored areas pertaining to questions of colonialism and imperialism in and around games. We seek submissions that expand on these questions.

The Deadline for abstracts is: 14th of February 2025. Abstract submissions (250-500 words) should be sent to postcolonialgamestudies@gmail.com

Background

The question of colonialism and its historical background radiation has not been relegated to the past. This is perhaps most noticeable today where a settler colony functioning as the beachhead for western imperial powers is conducting a genocide of the indigenous Palestinian people, while terrorizing and invading its neighbouring populations with extensive military and diplomatic support by Western governments despite massive public protests. The historical analogies to previous colonial occupations and conflicts are evident. Meanwhile, media rhetorics reminiscent of past European colonial empires (Trouillot 1995) are once again resurfacing with the depiction of the Other as misogynist terrorists and wealth-leeching refugees (Lean 2012), barbaric orcs (Shlapentokh 2013), and yellow peril (Tchen and Yeats 2014). The West’s descent into barbarism reflects Aimé Césaire’s Discourses on Colonialism (2000) where fascism at home and colonialism abroad are intertwined and explicated through how colonizers ‘decivilize’ themselves and “proceeds toward savagery” (ibid. 37-38). Concurrently, countries in the so-called Global South face further immiseration; military, economic, technological dependencies; and the unhindered challenges of disastrous climate change (Hickel et al., 2024). Modern games are no stranger to such dialectical movements, as they have reflected and reproduced 'the global color line' in their production, their consumption, and their textual representations (Dyer-Witheford and de Peuter 2021; Hammar et al. 2021; T. Mukherjee 2023; S. Mukherjee 2017; Murray 2017).

Since the special issue on Postcolonialist Perspectives in Games (S. Mukherjee and Hammar 2018) and Souvik Mukherjee’s Empire Plays Back (2017), the issue of postcolonialism and its theoretical traditions have deepened and explored in games research such as technodependencies and platforms (T. Mukherjee 2023; Baeza-González 2021; Falcão, Marques, and Mussa 2020; Nieborg, Young, and Joseph 2020); race and orientalism (Fickle 2019; Patterson 2020; Patterson and Fickle 2024); anti-colonial board games (Mochocki 2023), race and play (Trammell 2023); the status of Northern indigenous culture in and around games (O. Laiti et al. 2021; O. K. Laiti and Harrer 2023); and Indian boardgames (Rizvi and Kar 2024) and their colonial avatars (S. Mukherjee 2025), just to name a few. Game makers have also expanded on issues of colonialism in games (inkle 2021; Nidal Nijm Games 2022), and move towards what LaPensee, Laiti & Longboat (2022) call ‘sovereign games’. While the problem for game studies remains that the primary centers of knowledge production reside in the Global North (Penix-Tadsen and Frasca 2019), we fully acknowledge the contributions in the spaces in and around games and their study by people across the world in bringing fundamental question of history and present-day (post)colonialism as seen in cases such as South America (Falcão, Marques, and Mussa 2020; King 2024), South East Asia (Jiwandono 2024; 2023) and Africa (Opoku-Agyemang 2015; Randle 2024; Amoah and Tawia 2024).

Therefore, additional accounts if not critiques of the (mis)representation of Orientalist attitudes, race, delinking, hybridity, subalternity, Afro- and Indofuturism, notions of space and the fragmented postcolonial identities, dependency theory and unequal exchange, and evaluations of nationalisms in the Global South are consistently required. Indeed, commercial analogue and digital games would not exist in their current forms if not for the global division of the world between North and South. It is therefore imperative that games research inquire and identify aspects of postcolonialism and imperialism in and around games.

We seek submissions that expand on the established research and/or provide new and underexplored topics pertaining to postcolonialism and imperialism in and around games. 

The Deadline for abstracts is: 14th of February 2025. Abstract submissions should be sent to postcolonialgamestudies@gmail.com. 

Possible topics might include, but are not limited to:

·         Colonialism / Neocolonialism / Postcolonialism

·         The Other / Alterity

·         Delinking / decoloniality

·         Decolonization

·         Orientalism

·         Postcolonial praxis

·         Imperialism / global capitalism / political economy

·         Self-representation / voice / agency

·         Third-Worldism

·         Subalternity

·         Nationalisms in the Global South

·         Indigenous culture

·         Religion(s) / Language(s) / Nationalism(s)

·         Thirdspace

·         Unequal exchange and the game industry

·         Eurocentrism

·         Game studies & politics of knowledge

·         Ecology, colonialism, and game production

·         Game platforms and colonialism

·         Dependency theory and games

·         Fascism as colonialism turned inward: Reactionary politics and games

Abstract submissions should comprise of:

Abstract (250-500 words)

Author information (short biographical statement of 200 words)

Abstract submissions should be sent to postcolonialgamestudies@gmail.com. Abstract submissions will then undergo an editorial review process. Authors will be notified of the outcome as soon as reports are received.

Timeline

Deadline for abstracts: 14th of February 2025

Notification of accepted abstracts: End of February 2025

Deadline for full articles: 23rd of May 2025

Chapter submissions should comprise of

Full-length article (5-8000 words) including references and a short bibliography.

Author information (short biographical statement of 200 words)

Best regards,

Dr. Souvik Mukherjee, Department of English, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, Kolkata, India

Dr. Emil Lundedal Hammar, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, Denmark. 

Bibliography

Amoah, Lloyd G. Adu, and Eyram Tawia. 2024. “Africa and the Global Video Games Industry: Ties, Tensions, and Tomorrow.” In Examining the Rapid Advance of Digital Technology in Africa, 42–60. IGI Global. https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/africa-and-the-global-video-games-industry/339981.

Baeza-González, Sebastián. 2021. “Video Games Development in the Periphery: Cultural Dependency?” Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography 103 (1): 39–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/04353684.2021.1894077.

Césaire, Aimé. 2000. Discourse on Colonialism. New York: Monthly Review Press.

Dyer-Witheford, Nick, and Greig de Peuter. 2021. “Postscript: Gaming While Empire Burns.” Games and Culture 16 (3): 371–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412020954998.

Falcão, Thiago, Daniel Marques, and Ivan Mussa. 2020. “# BOYCOTTBLIZZARD: Capitalismo de Plataforma e a Colonização Do Jogo.” Contracampo 39 (2). https://www.academia.edu/download/96394515/pdf.pdf.

Fickle, Tara. 2019. The Race Card: From Gaming Technologies to Model Minorities. New York: NYU Press.

Hammar, Emil Lundedal, Lars de Wildt, Souvik Mukherjee, and Caroline Pelletier. 2021. “Politics of Production: Videogames 10 Years after Games of Empire.” Games and Culture 16 (3): 287–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412020954996.

Hickel, Jason, Morena Hanbury Lemos, and Felix Barbour. 2024. “Unequal Exchange of Labour in the World Economy.” Nature Communications 15 (1): 6298. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49687-y.

inkle. 2021. “Heaven’s Vault.” PC. United Kingdom.

Jiwandono, Haryo Pambuko. 2023. “The White Peril. Colonial Expressions in Digital Games.” Gamevironments, no. 18, 38–74.

———. 2024. “Mobile Game Esports as an Indonesian National Identity.” In Asian Histories and Heritages in Video Games, 159–75. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003461319-10/mobile-game-esports-indonesian-national-identity-haryo-pambuko-jiwandono.

King, Edward. 2024. “Gaming Race in Brazil: Video Games and Algorithmic Racism.” Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies 33 (1): 149–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569325.2024.2307540.

Laiti, Outi, Sabine Harrer, Satu Uusiautti, and Annakaisa Kultima. 2021. “Sustaining Intangible Heritage through Video Game Storytelling - the Case of the Sami Game Jam.” International Journal of Heritage Studies 27 (3): 296–311. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2020.1747103.

Laiti, Outi Kaarina, and Sabine Harrer. 2023. ““A Tale of Two Paths": Approaching Difference in Game Research Collaboration through Gulahalan.” In Race in Games and Game Studies Conference. https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/publications/a-tale-of-two-paths-approaching-difference-in-game-research-colla.

LaPensée, Elizabeth A, Outi Laiti, and Maize Longboat. 2022. “Towards Sovereign Games.” Games and Culture 17 (3): 328–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211029195.

Lean, Nathan Chapman. 2012. The Islamophobia Industry: How the Right Manufactures Fear of Muslims. Edited by John L. Esposito. Pluto Press London.

Mochocki, Michal, ed. 2023. Heritage, Memory and Identity in Postcolonial Board Games. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003356318.

Mukherjee, Souvik. 2017. Videogames and Postcolonialism: Empire Plays Back. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

———. 2025. Indian Boardgames, Colonial Avatars: Transculturation, Colonialism and Boardgames. Oldenbourg: De Gruyter. https://www.degruyter.com/document/isbn/9783110758627/html.

Mukherjee, Souvik, and Emil Lundedal Hammar. 2018. “Introduction to the Special Issue on Postcolonial Perspectives in Game Studies.” Open Library of Humanities, Postcolonial Perspectives in Game Studies, .

Mukherjee, Tathagata. 2023. “Videogame Distribution and Steam’s Imperialist Practices: Platform Coloniality in Game Distribution.” Journal of Games Criticism (blog). August 23, 2023. https://gamescriticism.org/2023/08/23/mukherjee-5-a/.

Murray, Soraya. 2017. On Video Games: The Visual Politics of Race, Gender and Space. London New York: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.

Nidal Nijm Games. 2022. “Fursan Al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.” PC. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1714420/Fursan_alAqsa_The_Knights_of_the_AlAqsa_Mosque/.

Nieborg, David, Chris J. Young, and Daniel Joseph. 2020. “App Imperialism: The Political Economy of the Canadian App Store.” Social Media + Society 6 (2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120933293.

Opoku-Agyemang, Kwabena. 2015. “Lost/Gained in Translation: Oware 3D, Ananse: The Origin and Questions of Hegemony.” Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds 7 (2): 155–68. https://doi.org/10.1386/jgvw.7.2.155_1.

Patterson, Christopher B. 2020. Open World Empire: Race, Erotics, and the Global Rise of Video Games. New York: NYU Press.

Patterson, Christopher B., and Tara Fickle, eds. 2024. Made in Asia/America: Why Video Games Were Never (Really) about Us. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9781478059264.

Penix-Tadsen, Phillip, and Gonzalo Frasca, eds. 2019. Video Games and the Global South. Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University.

Randle, Oluwarotimi. 2024. “An Indigenized Framework for Game Design Curriculum for African Universities.” Jurnal Bidang Pendidikan Dasar 8 (1): 25–33. https://doi.org/10.21067/jbpd.v8i1.9316.

Rizvi, Zahra, and Souvik Kar. 2024. “Curating a Boardgames Museum in India: The Case of the Gautam Sen Memorial Boardgames Museum; An Interview with Souvik Mukherjee and Amrita Sen.” Press Start 10 (2): 52–66.

Shlapentokh, Dmitry. 2013. “Russians as Asiatics: Memory about the Present.” European Review 21 (1): 41–55. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1062798712000269.

Tchen, John Kuo Wei, and Dylan Yeats. 2014. Yellow Peril!: An Archive of Anti-Asian Fear. Verso Books.

Trammell, Aaron. 2023. Repairing Play: A Black Phenomenology. MIT Press.

Trouillot, Michel-Rolph. 1995. Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History. Boston, Massachuetts: Beacon Press.

September 9-12, 2025

Šibenik, Croatia

Deadline: April 1, 2025

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

• Micky Lee, Suffolk University, USA
  
• Mandy Troeger, University of Tuebingen, Germany
  

COURSE DIRECTORS

• Thomas Allmer, Paderborn University, Germany
  
• Paško Bilić, Institute for Development and International Relations, Croatia
  
• Benjamin Birkinbine, University of Wisconsin, USA
  
• Jernej Amon Prodnik, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
  
• Jaka Primorac, Institute for Development and International Relations, Croatia
  
• Toni Prug, University of Rijeka, Croatia
  
• Aleksander Slaček-Brlek, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

ECTS ACCREDITATION:

University of Ljubljana, Slovenia (10 ECTS points for PhD students upon full completion of the course)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The media are central institutions of modern societies, providing channels for corporate and political control and public space for disseminating and consuming communication on systemic changes in politics, culture, and economics to the public. The media underwent massive restructuring through neoliberal policies in the 1970s. Introducing new communication technologies such as satellite and cable television, internet, and web platforms went hand in hand with market liberalisation and communication commercialisation. The multiplication of channels and media outlets was accompanied by concentration and centralisation of ownership. Recently, large transnational digital platforms have solidified their position as core companies within contemporary capitalism, restructuring the distribution of media advertising investments, speeding up the circulation of capital, automating global consumption patterns, avoiding national taxes, and siphoning revenues to offshore entities. At the same time, they benefit from automated management of their diversified and essentially precarious workforces of content moderators, warehouse workers, and gig workers, as well as from software inputs from free and open source communities (FLOSS) communities.

The rise of platforms reshapes traditional institutional mechanisms that broadly safeguard freedom of expression, media pluralism, and public interests. An open political issue is how these mechanisms will be reconsidered and how private interests will shape markets and societies. Alternatives are envisioned in areas ranging from platform cooperatives and commons projects to strategic calls for technological sovereignty and public wealth creation. However, such initiatives usually need broader political support from the public already accustomed to the commercial logic of the media. The commodification of everyday life through data capture, surveillance and privacy intrusion is easily dismissed by citizens as a minor side effect of free usage and flexibility of ubiquitous digital services.

This biennial course aims to explore traditional (e.g. ownership, production, content, consumption, labour, regulation) and contemporary (e.g. algorithms, platforms, data, artificial intelligence) perspectives on the media from the lens of critical political economy. The course will explore how capital and the state(s) control, regulate and form the media (broadly conceived as ranging from traditional printed press to algorithms and software) in societies shaped by persistent social inequalities. The level of analysis can vary from macro phenomena of geopolitics, transnational, national and institutional dynamics, through mid-range phenomena of the structure(s) of the public sphere(s) to micro-phenomena of class-based conditions shaping inequalities of access and skill for using the media in everyday life and for work.

The course will include presentations from keynote speakers and course directors and presentations by advanced MA and PhD students. Through lectures and discussions with international experts, students will gain in-depth knowledge about recent communication, media, and journalism developments from a critical political economy perspective. Methods and analytical tools commonly used in the approach will be explained and discussed. Presentation of the research papers (considered work in progress) will lead to comprehensive feedback that will help students develop their projects further and result in publishable academic writing. Discussions will be carried out collaboratively, with reciprocal assessment by students.

SUMMER SCHOOL VENUE

St. John's Fortress in Šibenik, Croatia, was built in 1646 in just 58 days as the main point of the city's new defence system just before a major attack by the Ottoman army. The city residents built the fortress with their own hands and resources, and it was named after the church that once stood there. The fortress renovation was completed in 2022, with the fortress walls completely restored and new features introduced, including an underground campus below the so-called pliers, the northern part of the fortress. The campus is equipped with interactive classrooms, bedrooms and conference rooms. More info is available at: https://www.tvrdjava-kulture.hr/en/st-johns-fortress/plan-your-visit/

DEADLINES

* The course is open to advanced MA and PhD students. Please submit your CV (maximum two pages), title and an extended abstract of your presentation (maximum two pages with references) by 1 April 2025 to political.economies.of.the.media@gmail.com

* Course directors will review applications and final decisions on acceptance will be sent by 1 May 2025.

* Accepted applicants will be invited to submit 6 to 9,000-word research papers by 1 July 2025. After completing the course, they will be encouraged to submit their manuscripts for review in an international peer-reviewed journal in the field of political economy.

* Note: only PhD students can receive 10 ECTS points upon course completion, which entails a submitted research paper, paper presentation and full-week active attendance participation in the course (more information will be published on the course website).

* Please note that all participants pay a registration fee of 60 EUR. A limited number of partial stipends and registration waivers will be available. If you need participation support, please indicate this in your application.

* All further details about the course will be available at http://www.poleconmed.net/

 Dear Colleagues,

We are conducting a study on the usage and perception of generative AI in research among communication scholars (broadly construed) and the best practices to minimizing the risks of such use. The goal of the study is to write a guideline for best practices in using generative AI in research based on the consensus among the field (if any). 

Link to the survey: https://uva.fra1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0Mwl409scAMC4oS

We expect the survey to take no more than 10 minutes. We will not collect any personal information, but there will be a field to leave your contact details if you are happy for us to contact you for further questions. The survey will remain open until 10 February. 

Please feel free to distribution the survey invitation with any colleagues whom might be interested!

Digital Communication Methods Lab, 

Amsterdam School of Communication Research

Call for Chapters

Deadline (EXTENDED): January 30, 2025

This edited volume seeks contributions from scholars whose subject matter, methods, or researcher identities resonate with what might be considered peripheral in communication studies. We aim to explore how diverse perspectives—often shaped by specific contexts, marginalized identities or cases, or alternative approaches—can challenge, expand or be an alternative to traditional paradigms, perspectives and cases in the field. The concept of the periphery is not defined here as a rigid geographic or socio-political category, nor is it a simple counterpoint to the North or Western paradigms. Instead, we understand the periphery as a space where various ‘ways of being’ and ‘ways of doing’ emerge, offering insights into communication processes and practices. We define the periphery in three interconnected ways. First, it can reflect geographic and contextual realities rooted in specific locations and their challenges. Second, it may describe the researcher's identity, which, while often tied to context, can stand apart from geographic definitions. Third, it relates to the subject matter and theoretical gaze, especially when these are understudied, overlooked, challenge dominant paradigms, or offer alternative epistemologies. The full call text is available at ipcc.bilgi.edu.tr/call-for-chapters/

We welcome submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

Researcher Situatedness and Methodology

- Reflections on how researchers’ contexts, identities, or positionalities influence their approaches, perspectives, and contributions to media and communication studies.

- Explorations of methodologies that embrace situatedness, such as autoethnography or reflective practices, as a means to deepen our understanding of communication phenomena.

Diverse or Transgressive Communication Spaces and Practices

- Analyses of how communicative practices—particularly in less conventional or transgressive spaces like digital sex work, hacktivism, or grassroots art movements—shape identity, expression, and community.

- Studies highlighting understudied or alternative communication practices, including those rooted in indigenous knowledge systems, oral traditions, and embodied performances.

Expanding Theoretical Boundaries in Communication Studies

- Contributions that challenge, extend, or reimagine dominant theories in media and communication studies.

- Theoretical insights from underrepresented regions or traditions, such as Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, or Latin America.

- Understudied areas of communication, including theories or methods from other disciplines—such as ethics, political science, or performative arts.

Non-Human Subjectivity and Communication

- Investigations into the role of non-human subjectivities (e.g., animals, plants, or artificial intelligence) in communication processes and how these subjectivities challenge traditional human-centered paradigms, especially in non-Western contexts.

- Analyses and case studies of embodied, non-verbal, or other-than-human communicative practices that engage with human-animal, human-environment relationships, or offer theoretical and practical implications of decentering the human gaze.

Beyond the Digital Turn

- Explorations of non-digital communication spaces and practices—such as those in architecture, urban spaces, theater, or other embodied forms—and their contributions to the discipline.

- Research that revisits non-digital media to expand the understanding of communication in a digital-first world.

Economic Class and Communication

- Inquiries into how economic class shapes communication practices, representation, and access in varied contexts.

- Perspectives that place economic inequality at the forefront of communication studies, offering alternative ways of thinking about class and media.

Knowledge Production in Communication Studies

- Discussions on the structural biases in academic publishing and scholarship that influence which voices and perspectives are elevated or marginalized. Implications of working in authoritarian contexts.

- Critical engagements with global and local knowledge hierarchies, offering alternatives to reductive binaries and promoting diverse epistemologies.

Perspectives and Challenges of Early-career Scholars

- Considerations of the experiences of early-career researchers in regard to academic and professional challenges, particularly in peripheral or undervalued contexts.

- Innovations in methodology or theory that arise from the particular perspectives of early-career scholars.

Submission Guidelines and Contributions Sought

We aim to hold an online (closed) workshop on March 22, 2025 (subject to change) in order to facilitate discussion among the potential authors. The workshop will be a medium for the authors to debate their argument with each other as well as making themselves familiar with other contributions through informal paper presentations. The target publisher (e.g. Springer, Brill Books, Routledge, Lexington Books) will also be decided during the workshop. After the workshop, the authors will have 4 months to finalize the contributions. Full chapters will be around 6,000 words including the bibliography. There will not be any fee for the workshop nor the publication for the authors.

You can send the abstracts around 500-600 words (including the references) and a 100-word author bio to cansu.koc04@bilgiedu.net by January 30, 2025 (new and final deadline). The abstract should clearly outline the theoretical framework, specific context(s), and the broader implications of the proposed chapter for communication studies. The authors will be notified about the selection results by February 20, 2025.

Editors: Cansu Koç (Istanbul Bilgi University), Ezgi Altınöz (Istanbul Bilgi University), Yusuf Yüksekdağ (Istanbul Bilgi University)

This project is stemming from the Interdisciplinary PhD Communication Conference series at Istanbul Bilgi University. The previous edited collection, Collaboration in Media Studies, was published by Routledge in 2024. 

The Urbanism/Geography/Architecture SIG is seeking submissions for its graduate student writing award to honor the exciting scholarship coming from our graduate student members. The winning article will be published in Mediapolis. Deadline for submission is January 31.

For more details, please see: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15Hg1WmhxmyUp1h3ZSc9GEXwgJHPvDhRM0R-Na7u7Cjo/edit?tab=t.0