ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

November 11, 2025, 14:00 CET

Registration for ECREA members is now open: https://forms.gle/YzAQWM7LoVmGHY3v6

The recent years have been marked by wars and authoritarian repression that have greatly affected the academic community. There have been various responses from academic institutions aimed at supporting scholars at risk, supporting academic freedom, and discussing the role educational institutions should have in responding to conflict and pressure. Wars, persecution, and insecurities have pushed scholars into exile, forcing them to adapt to new academic environments.  

ECREA already started the discussion with a focus on Ukraine and Gaza, which opened many questions about the academic role in responding to mass atrocities and authoritarian threats to academic freedom. For this reason, the EDI subcommittee proposed ECREA to hold a series of webinars to discuss academic freedom, scholars at risk, and strategies for assisting scholars. 

The first webinar will address the issue of scholars in exile and strategies for supporting them. The discussion will focus on the experiences of scholars who were forced to leave their country and adapt to a new academic environment. The webinar will provide an opportunity to reflect on the structures or circumstances that forced scholars into exile, as well as the pressures, expectations, and roles scholars experience while in exile.

In what ways can ECREA protect and support its members, whose physical safety can be at risk if they are in zones of war or violence, or whose academic and civic freedoms might be under attack from repressive governments or institutions, including academic institutions? We hope the webinar series will help ECREA develop a response to these issues, such as recommendations or other practices designed to support academics.

Confirmed Speakers:

Dr. Bermal Aydın, formerly a lecturer at Mersin University in Turkey, was dismissed, banned from public employment, and had her passport cancelled for signing the Peace Petition, “We will not be a party to this crime.” Supported by CARA (Council for At-Risk Academics), she became a postdoctoral fellow and later a guest teacher at the London School of Economics (LSE), researching authoritarian neoliberalism and the politically motivated precarisation of academics and journalists in Turkey. She taught and supervised master’s dissertations at LSE, published in journals such as Globalizations and Turkish Studies, co-edited books, contributed chapters, and continues her work independently.

Dr. Zeina Al Azmeh is political sociologist at the University of Cambridge. Her work examines the cultural sociologies of knowledge production in exile and their impact on diasporic political subjectivities. Her book Syrian Intellectuals in Exile: The Dilemmas of Revolution and the Cost of Leaving will be published this December with Cambridge University Press. She has published in journals such as Theory and Society, Cultural Sociology, Qualitative Inquiry, and IJPCS and chairs the Syrian Academics and Researchers’ Network in the UK.

Dr. Olena Zinenko is a media scholar and senior lecturer at Institute of Sociology and Media Communication, Karazin Kharkiv National University in Ukraine, a feminist peace activist, and currently a PSI Visiting Fellow at the IFHV, Ruhr University, Bochum. Her research focuses on media discourse analysis, investigating the role of media in peace processes and public communication in Ukraine. 

The webinar will be accessible to ECREA members only. 

ECREA is still deeply concerned about the state's pressure on the academic community in Serbia.

See the updated Public Statement HERE.

Please consider signing a letter in support of Associate Professor Jelena Kleut (University of Novi Sad), ECREA Governing Body member, who was targeted in a campaign recently.

You can sign the letter HERE.

On 2 September 2025, Commissioner Ekatherina Zarahieva clarified that the European Commission (EC) proposal from 16 July 2025 aims at strengthening research on Society within Pillar 2. EASSH welcomes the move and invites legislators to confirm the commitment.

EASSH calls for the European Parliament and the EU member states to support the key issues described in the paper in the EC proposal for a new framework programme (FP10).

EASSH also invites member and related organisations to endorse this position paper. Please send your organisation's contact details and logo to executive.secretary@eassh.eu.

Download paper HERE.

October 16-18, 2025

São Miguel, Azores (Portugal)

Deadline: October 8, 2025

Dear colleagues,

We are delighted to announce the International Forum Citizenship through Aesthetics, to be held in São Miguel, Azores (Portugal), from 16 to 18 October 2025.

The Forum is conceived as a space of gathering, reflection, and action at the intersection of art, politics, imagination, and community. It will bring together artists, scholars, curators, cultural programmers, and civic agents to explore how aesthetic practices can shape processes of active and critical citizenship.

Open Call — Public Speech Acts

We invite proposals for short interventions (max. 15 minutes) designed as speech acts: critical and poetic gestures capable of provoking debate and opening shared space.

• Deadline for submissions: 8 October 2025
  
• Notification of results: 10 October 2025
  
• Public presentations: 16 October 2025 · 17:00–20:00 · Ponta Delgada, São Miguel (Azores)
  

Support offered:

Selected participants will receive travel, accommodation, and meals covered, plus a gift bag and a ticket for the closing performance of the POP Festival (May B, by Maguy Marin). All applicants will benefit from special accommodation and meal conditions during the Forum.

More information and the full programme:

www.aestheticivitas.org

internationalforum@aestheticivitas.org

Policy & Internet Journal

Deadline: November 2, 2025

Policy & Internet Journal has launched a special issue call for papers on the topic of “Shaping the Future of the Information Society: WSIS+20 and Beyond”, edited by Prof. Dr. Jonathon Hutchinson (University of Sydney) and Nadia Tjahja (United Nations University-CRIS and Free University of Brussels):

https://internet-policy-meco.sydney.edu.au/2025/09/specialissuewsis20/

We invite papers that explore:

Governance Modalities and Stakeholder Dynamics

We welcome papers that critically examine the evolving architecture of Internet governance, key questions include:

  *   Modes of Governance and Participation: Analyses of the WSIS+20 Review process, including its modalities, elements and drafts.

  *   Stakeholder Inclusion and Participation Models: Reviewing how the Global Digital Compact (GDC) and WSIS have approached multistakeholderism, inclusion and diversity in its processes.

  *   Meta-participation in Digital Governance: Exploring second-order stakeholder engagement – where stakeholders not only participate in processes, but actively shape the process itself

  *   Norm Development and Frameworks: Studies on the alignment and adoption of the SDGs, Sao Paulo Principles, the GDC Frameworks and ROAM-X as normative anchors.

  *   Multilateralism and Multistakeholderism: Reviewing the interplay between multilateralism and multistakeholderism

  *   Global and regional multistakeholderism: Evaluating tensions, synergies and practical implications in decision-making

Institutional Futures in Internet Governance

We invite contributions that address the evolution and future of key institutions shaping Internet governance:

  *   Preserving and Evolving the IGF: The future of multistakeholder governance through the IGF and its potentially renewed mandate

  *   Developing Institutional Architectures: Reevaluating the changing role of different offices such as the UN Tech Envoy’s office/ODET, and proposals for new bodies for future governance.

  *   Evolving institutions: Reflecting on ICANN’s role in the evolving governance ecosystems and its place in future frameworks.

  *   Governing Artificial Intelligence: Proposals for new spaces or mechanisms to coordinate global AI governance across stakeholders.

User-centric Perspectives in Internet Governance: Exploring Internet use and its socioeconomic consequences

We invite contributions that are user-centric and/or address topics related to the WSIS Action Lines:

  *   Digital Inclusion and Equity

  *   User rights

  *   Behavioural and psychological impacts

  *   Economic and labour transformations

  *   Education

  *   Cultural and language diversity

  *   Data sovereignty

  *   Topics related to the WSIS Action Lines

Submission Guidelines:

Please send through your title and 300-word abstract to Jonathon Hutchinson [jonathon.hutchinson@sydney.edu.au] and Nadia Tjahja [nadia.tjahja@vub.be] with the subject line: “Policy & Internet Special Issue” by 2 November 2025.

  *   Abstracts: up to 300 words

  *   Abstract deadline: 2 November

  *   Full papers: 6000-8000 words

  *   Full paper Deadline: 1 March 2026

Kind regards,

Jonathon (on behalf of Nadia Tjahja).

IE University, Madrid

IE University is hiring at least one tenure-track Assistant Professor of Communication & Media, to begin in September 2026. Applications are due on 24 November. The call is open but some of our areas of interest include Media Studies and Political Communication; Strategic, Corporate, and Visual Communication; and Critical, Cultural, and International Communication.

We are a research-intensive institution with an international student body. Salary is competitive. Courses are taught in English. Spanish proficiency is helpful but not required.

Find the full call here: https://apply.interfolio.com/174413

Please don't hesitate to reach out to search chair Dr. Vincent Doyle at vdoyle@faculty.ie.edu if you have any questions.

December 5-6, 2025

Porto, Portugal

Deadline (extended): October 9, 2025

https://videojogos2025.ipmaia.pt/

The call for full papers, short papers, posters, doctoral consortium papers, workshops, demos, and games is open for the 15th International Conference on Videogame Sciences and Arts (Videojogos 2025), organised by IPMaia (Porto) and Sociedade Portuguesa de Ciências dos Videojogos.

Important update:

The submission deadline has been extended - New date: 09/10/2025

The submission platforms and forms are now fully operational.

Main website: https://videojogos2025.ipmaia.pt

Paper submissions: https://pubreview.maieutica.pt

Games, demos & workshops submissions: https://forms.gle/c4ysRzmAChQvhNgj9

All selected papers (short or full) must be submitted in English to be eligible for international publication. The top 40% of research papers—peer-reviewed and evaluated for originality, relevance, and presentation quality—will be published in the annual Springer proceedings volume (Communications in Computer and Information Science – CCIS series).

The conference will be held on the 4th and 5th of December 2025 in Porto, and more information about keynotes and programme will be available soon.

We look forward to receiving your contributions and to seeing you at Videojogos 2025.

November 7-8, 2025

Istanbul, Turkey

Deadline (extended): October 7, 2025

We are pleased to announce that the submission deadline for Istanbul 2025 – EMMA (European Media Management Association) has been extended to 7 October 2025.

This year’s emmahub workshop in Istanbul will focus on the growing complexities of media production, engagement, and sustainability within polarized media systems. Particular attention will be given to the evolving relationship between legacy media institutions and non-legacy actors, including influencers, content creators, and independent digital platforms. The workshops will be held at Istanbul Bilgi University. 

As part of a program that combines workshops, ignite talks, and roundtables, we invite scholars and practitioners to contribute to discussions around key questions such as:

• How do audiences navigate between legacy and non-legacy media, and what drives their trust and engagement?
  
• In what ways do non-legacy actors challenge or reinforce the authority of traditional institutions?
  
• How are legacy media organizations adapting to decentralized ecosystems and shifting audience behaviors?
  
• What new strategies and business models are emerging at the intersection of legacy and digital-native media?
  
• How do platform dependencies and algorithms shape these dynamics within polarized contexts?
  
• Can collaboration across sectors support depolarization and democratic renewal?
  

We warmly welcome your contributions and participation in shaping these timely discussions in Istanbul.

For more details and submission guidelines, please visit: Istanbul 2025 – EMMA

Please send any questions to:  emmahub@bilgi.edu.tr

We look forward to your proposals and to seeing many of you in Istanbul.

With best regards,

On behalf of the organizing committee

Prof. Dr . Eylem Yanardagoglu

Macromedia University of Applied Sciences |EMMA

Email: e.yanardagoglu@macromedia.de 

Edited by: Carola Richter, Melanie Radue, Christine Horz-Ishak, Anna Litvinenko, Hanan Badr, Anke Fiedler

This volume proposes a “deep internationalization” of media and communication studies by offering insights and guidance on how to integrate a cosmopolitan perspective in a variety of subfields of this discipline. Building on debates on de-Westernization and cosmopolitanism, the contributors advocate for the inclusion of both global and local perspectives and context-led approaches. They argue that acknowledging and incorporating epistemologies, topics, and methodologies from diverse regions, contexts, and backgrounds will enhance the comprehensiveness and relevance of their discipline and foster a more inclusive and meaningful understanding in communication studies.

https://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-7677-8/cosmopolitan-communication-studies/?number=978-3-8394-7677-2

The Autumn 2025 list of books available to review in the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television has been updated on the IAMHIST website: https://iamhist.net/journal/#books-review

Should you be interested in reviewing a particular title, please contact the book review editor at Veronica.Johnson@outlook.ie giving details about your own research and why you are interested in reviewing the book you have chosen.