Calls & Grants

The Nuffield Foundation has developed the Grown up? programme to respond to the urgent challenges young people face in navigating the journey to adulthood in the UK today. The project aims to capture both common experiences and issues that this new generation of young people are facing, as well as delving deeper into differences between groups and places. The Ada Lovelace Institute, part of the Nuffield Foundation, is delivering the work focused on digital life within the wider Grown Up? programme framing. The project will aim to explore digital life holistically, considering what it means to grow up digital rather than focusing on the binary harm/opportunity which is often the starting point for research and social commentary around this topic. Our qualitative research will explore the lived experience of young people from different communities and identities as they grow up with digital technologies.

An interdisciplinary, hybrid conference hosted by the University of Amsterdam’s Trust in the Digital Society Research Priority Area. Amsterdam, Netherlands, August 28-29, 2025. We welcome submissions from a wide range of academic fields. We encourage contributions from, but not limited to, the disciplines of law, sociology, political science, experimental economics, communication science, media studies, computer science, and related areas.

Fellows spend either six or three months in Bochum. During this period, CAIS finances their leave from work through compensation or grants. Individual offices and meeting rooms with modern facilities provide optimal working conditions. Comfortable apartments are provided free of charge. Fellows are members of the vibrant interdisciplinary research community at CAIS and of an international network of alumni, working groups, and affiliates. Regular joint activities foster academic and social exchange at the Center. These activities include breakfast on Tuesdays, colloquium and dinner on Wednesdays, as well as occasional workshops on Thursdays. Fellows can invite guests for collaboration and receive financial support for their research expenses. Fellowships of six months usually start in October or April. Fellowships of three months can start in October, January, April, or July. Exceptions are possible after consultation.

Digital Pasts and Futures: Internet Histories, Digital Interculturality and Reimagining Digitality - The Fourth ReDICo Conference Online, 23-24 June 2025. In this conference we would like to bring together scholars who engage with internet histories, digital futures and digital interculturality so as to initiate a discussion regarding the reimagining of digitality, not least its relationship to interculturality. We are, thus, interested in wide and interdisciplinary approaches that go beyond the presentism that often marks media and communication studies, while also engaging with alternative visions of how digitality can be construed, not least from an intercultural perspective. Please send an abstract (250 words) of your intended paper to: redico@uni-jena.de by 28 February 2025. It is intended that a selection of the papers presented will be published following a peer review process in book form, funding pending, with the transcript Publishing House in the Series “Studies in Digital Interculturality”. The conference is without fees, completely online and is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). Keynote speakers that have already been confirmed include Prof. Valérie Schafer (University of Luxembourg), Associate Prof. Helle Strandgaard Jensen (Aarhus University), Prof. Ethan Zuckerman (University of Massachusetts, Amherst) and Prof. Ramesh Srinivasan (University of California, Los Angeles). For more details see the link below.

The book will serve as an indispensable resource for Information Technology (IT) professionals, digital policymakers, and tech enthusiasts alike. It delivers a comprehensive analysis of the role of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in the digital technology and IT sectors from a global perspective. Comprised of six in-depth chapters, the book examines the importance of DEIB in digital spaces, illuminating inherent biases within information systems and strategies for constructing inclusive digital products and services. The book emphasizes the vital necessity of a diverse and inclusive IT workforce that incorporates local, regional, and international perspectives to showcase the various approaches employed by different regions of the world to address these challenges. Additionally, the book discusses how digital technologies and IT solutions can empower marginalized communities on a global scale and contemplates the differing impacts of digital advancements across various societies. The book culminates with a forward-looking outlook on the future of DEIB in digital technology and IT, visualizing a world in which digital innovations function as a unifying force for positive social transformation. With intellectual insights and practical guidance, this book is essential for anyone committed to fostering an inclusive digital future at a global level. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following areas within the domain of diversity, equity, and inclusion in digital technology and IT. We welcome innovative perspectives, emerging research, case studies, and practical applications that align with or expand upon these themes Chapter 1: Introduction to DEIB in Digital Technology and IT Defining DEIB and Its Significance in the Digital Technology and IT Industries Global Perspectives: DEIB in Digital Spaces Across Different Regions Benefits of a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Digital Ecosystem Historical and Current Perspectives on DEIB Challenges in IT and Digital Sectors Chapter 2: Addressing Bias in Technology Understanding the Concept of Bias and Its Global Impact on Digital Technologies Analyzing Types of Bias in Algorithms, Big Data Sets, and Digital User Interfaces Strategies to Mitigate Bias and Promote Fairness in IT Systems and Digital Platforms Case Studies: Bias Identification and Correction in Different Digital Contexts Worldwide Chapter 3: Building Inclusive Technology Products and Services Principles of Inclusive Design in Global Digital Products and IT Services Adapting Digital Technologies to Meet the Needs of Diverse Users Worldwide Incorporating Inclusive Language and Design for Global Digital Accessibility Success Stories of Inclusively Designed Digital Technologies Across Countries Chapter 4: Cultivating a Diverse and Inclusive Tech Workforce Recruitment Practices for Attracting Diverse Talent in Global IT Sectors Building a Culture of Belonging and Inclusion in Digital Organizations Addressing Unconscious Bias and Promoting Inclusive Leadership in IT Best Practices from Leading Diverse Digital Tech Companies Worldwide Chapter 5: Empowering Underrepresented Communities through Technology Bridging the Digital Divide: Global IT Solutions for Underrepresented Communities Digital Technology's Role in Addressing Social and Economic Inequities Promoting Digital Literacy and IT Access in Different Regions Case Studies: Impactful Digital Initiatives in Diverse International Communities Chapter 6: The Future of DEIB in Technology Emerging Trends and Innovations in DEIB-Driven Digital Technologies Globally IT's Role in Shaping a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Digital Future Envisioning a Future Where Digital Technology Catalyzes Positive Social Change Call to Action: Steps Towards an Inclusive Digital World Conclusion Reflections on the Global Journey of DEIB in Digital Technology and IT Synthesizing Key Insights and Future Directions in the Digital Realm A Global Call for Continued Progress and Innovation in DEIB within IT and Digital Spaces

In recent years, European schools and classrooms have become increasingly dependent on Big Tech ecosystems and their promises to seamlessly interconnect physical devices, educational software and apps, and cloud services. With companies such as Google, Microsoft and Apple tightening their grip on classrooms’ transition into digital environments, Big Tech is asserting control over the material infrastructures, discursive framings, and economic logics undergirding educational digitalization. As noted in recent scholarship, the process of platformization provides a useful conceptual tool to describe the implications of this dynamic, namely the transformation of educational content, activities and processes to become part of a (corporate) platform ecosystem, including its economies (data) infrastructures and technical architectures (Kerssens & Dijck, 2021; Srnicek, 2016). In educational research, the broad field of study encompassed under the sociologies of education has proven to provide especially fertile soil for critically analyzing the roles and effects of digital technologies as they become entangled with educational ideas, professional practices, and school materialities (Selwyn, 2019). Applying the analytical lens of platformization, recent work has examined Big Tech influence in public education, including the power of corporate cloud companies and infrastructures in educational governance (Cone et al., 2022; Kerssens, 2024; Kerssens et al., 2023; Williamson et al., 2022). One strand of these studies has engaged specific platform brands such as ClassDojo (Manolev et al., 2019), Google Classroom (Perrotta et al., 2021), as well as various country-specific platforms (Gorur & Dey, 2021; Hartong, 2021), exploring how users and pedagogies are configured in and through the platforms’ technical arrangements (Sefton-green & Pangrazio, 2021). Others have taken up the political economy underpinning platformisation, probing how and to whom data is generated, circulated, turned into assets as it moves across platforms, governmental entities, educational institutions, teachers, and other actors (Birch & Muniesa, 2020; Komljenovic, 2021; Pangrazio et al., 2023). Another strand of research has examined how platformization affects the day-to-day relations of teachers and students in schools and other lived, institutional settings (Apps et al., 2023; Cone, 2023, 2024). Yet as the monetary models, materialities, and embodied effects of Big Tech education come under increasing scholarly, political, and regulatory scrutiny, the apparent disaffection permeating much of the literature on platforms and platformization begs the question of how and where to look for alternatives – both from a practical, administrative, pedagogical, and ethical viewpoint. Specifically, recent years have seen a growing body of calls for critical scholars, activists, and teachers to explore possibilities for reimagining digital education ecosystems that can challenge the status quo of the platform as the infrastructural and pedagogical default for educational digitalization (Selwyn, 2022; Selwyn et al., 2020). With this special issue, we seek to give space for empirical presentations and theoretical frameworks that can nurture such forms of questioning of post-platform education and thereby mobilize the global educational research community around the critical study of platformization – not to reject but rethink the use and potentiality of digital technologies in education (Macgilchrist, 2021). The special issue invites papers that explore possibilities for grounding digital technologies in primary and secondary schooling in other forms of pedagogical and sociological reasoning, infrastructural arrangements, and forms of governance. This can include, but is not limited to studies of: Alternative infrastructures and economic arrangements for digital educational governance of primary and secondary education, hereunder explorations of the promises and pitfalls of alternatives based in open-source or other non-proprietary models for digital design and development Digital degrowth and other critical theoretical resources for thinking with and beyond platforms in ways that foreground other values and criteria of evaluation in schools Studies of power asymmetries and inequality in EdTech development and markets for school education, hereunder alternative forms of market-making and feminist design practices Collective forms of mobilization against big tech across different stakeholders (teachers, unions, politicians) and levels (institutional, sectoral, national, transnational) Countervailing discourses and framings of EdTech, especially in light of current digital backlashes unfolding in different regions Postdigital concepts and design processes that recognize educational realities as messy and historical rather than ahistorical problems to be solved Sociotechnical imaginaries of digital education based in post-platform pedagogies or other models for re-imagining digital ecosystems in schools Institutional interventions based on extending the terms and interests connected to post-platform education Submission Instructions Abstracts of maximum 500 words must be sent to Lucas Cone (lc@hum.ku.dk) and Niels Kerssens (n.kerssens@uu.nl) before January 31st. We encourage original research articles based either on empirical or conceptual analyses of issues pertaining to the call. Authors of accepted abstracts will be invited to join an author workshop before the deadline for full paper submissions. Additional information will be provided for accepted papers about how and where to submit the full paper. All papers should be aligned with the journal's Aims and Scope. The special issue is set for publication during 2027. Accepted articles will be published online first.

Bedrohungen für die Demokratie aus dem digitalen Raum wurden lang unter den Schlagworten von Cyber-Angriffen, Datenspionage, Malware und Identitätsraub verhandelt – das heißt also als äußeres Eindringen in die (staatliche) Sicherheitsarchitektur westlicher Demokratien, zum Beispiel der Hackerangriff auf den Deutschen Bundestag 2015. Eine Pandemie und viele weitere Krisen später steht heute die Rolle digitaler Kommunikationssysteme für den gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt von Demokratien ganz grundsätzlich im Fokus der Debatten. Dieser wird heute zwar immer noch durch (digitale) Einflussoperationen aus dem Ausland herausgefordert, wie die Wahlen in Rumänien und Georgien unter Beweis stellten. Hinzu kommen nun jedoch teils offene, teils undurchsichtige Prozesse der Zersetzung demokratischer Diskurse und Prozesse. Ausgehend sowohl von organisierten Gruppen als auch von schwer vorhersehbaren Schwärmen lässt sich eine Vielzahl von Akteur*innen identifizieren, die Demokratien gefährden: Bewegungen, die zum Sturz der Regierung aufrufen, Influencer*innen und Alternativmedien, die mit Desinformation Politik machen, aber auch Plattformbetreiber, die die politischen Entwicklungen in Demokratien beeinflussen wollen. Sie nutzen die polarisierenden Dynamiken sozialer Medien aus, um ihre Positionen sichtbarer zu machen, und eignen sich neue Technologien an oder nutzen netzkulturelle Phänomene, um ihre Botschaften zu verbreiten. In einer auf den Puls sozialer Medien ausgelegten Öffentlichkeit finden sie unverhältnismäßige Aufmerksamkeit. Eine wichtige Rolle in der Einschätzung der Gefahren von „Fake News”, „Desinformation” und „Künstliche Intelligenz” spielt dabei auch die Frage nach möglicher Vereinfachung, Dramatisierung und Pauschalisierungen in der öffentlichen Debatte. Fragen von demokratischer Resilienz und Prävention müssen daher immer auch eine neue Verhältnismäßigkeit einüben, insofern Empörung in digitalen Debatten oft ins Gegenteil des Beabsichtigten kippt. Insofern soll der 18. Band der IDZ-Schriftenreihe „Wissen schafft Demokratie” auch eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit digitaler Demokratiefeindlichkeit sein. In der Ausgabe sollen aktuelle Entwicklungen und Debatten rund um das Thema digitale Demokratiegefährdung abgebildet und sowohl wissenschaftliche als auch praktische Perspektiven aufgezeigt werden. Hierzu freuen wir uns über Einreichungen zu folgenden Themen und Fragestellungen:  Aktuelle Phänomene und Entwicklungen: Welche neuen Bedrohungen und Herausforderungen für die Demokratie entstehen durch aktuelle Trends und2/2  Neue Technologien und Demokratie: Wie wirken sich Technologien wie Künstliche Intelligenz, Blockchain oder das Metaverse auf demokratische Strukturen aus?  Ausländische Einflussoperationen und Desinformationskampagnen: Wie nutzen ausländische Staaten und Akteur*innen digitale Plattformen, um durch Desinformation demokratische Systeme zu destabilisieren? Welche Mechanismen und Strategien wirken dem entgegen?  Kritische Betrachtung von Desinformation und Social Media: Welche Mythen und gängigen Annahmen zur Wirkung von Desinformation und Online-Radikalisierung sollten kritisch hinterfragt werden?  Medienrezeption und -wirkung: Welchen Einfluss haben Phänomene wie Desinformation oder der Einsatz von KI auf Vertrauen von Bürger*innen in Medien und Politik? Wie wirkt sich Mediennutzung auf die Wahrnehmung von gesellschaftlicher Polarisierung oder Instabilität politischer Institutionen aus?  Politische Einflussnahme durch Eliten: Wie beeinflussen mächtige politische und wirtschaftliche Akteur*innen digitale Plattformen und deren Diskurse? Welche Gefahren entstehen für die demokratische Öffentlichkeit?  Versicherheitlichung der Online-Kommunikation: Inwiefern bedrohen staatliche Eingriffe, z. B. Überwachung und Zensur, die freie Meinungsäußerung und demokratische Diskurse im digitalen Raum?  Digitale Protestmobilisierung: Welche Rolle spielen digitale Plattformen für die Mobilisierung von demokratiefeindlichen Protestbewegungen? Wie beeinflussen sie das politische Klima vor Ort?  Prävention von Demokratiefeindlichkeit: Wie reagieren Präventionsakteur*innen auf den sich ständig ändernden Online-Diskurs und welche Herausforderungen und Chancen bietet der digitale Raum für diesen Bereich?  Weitere Aspekte der digitalen Demokratiegefährdung: weiterführende Fragen und Überlegungen zum Themengebiet sowie Einblicke in die Arbeit von Praktiker*innen. Besonders gewünscht sind zudem Beiträge, die sich auf Thüringen beziehen und die empirisch begründete Handlungsempfehlungen beinhalten. Über die Schriftenreihe Die Schriftenreihe „Wissen schafft Demokratie“ des IDZ ist ein Instrument für den Transfer von Beobachtungen, Erfahrungen, Analysen und Befunden zwischen Zivilgesellschaft, Wissenschaft und Politik. Menschenfeindliche und demokratiegefährdende Phänomene werden von unterschiedlichen Standpunkten beleuchtet. Sie richtet sich an zivilgesellschaftliche und politische Akteur*innen sowie an Wissenschaftler*innen. Sie erscheint zweimal jährlich kostenfrei als Print- und Open-Access-Version mit großer Reichweite (https://www.idz-jena.de/schriftenreihe/ueber-die-schriftenreihe). Die Schriftenreihe richtet sich an Forschende und Praktiker*innen, daher wird ein auch für Nichtakademiker*innen verständlicher Schreibstil erwartet. Interessierte senden bitte bis spätestens 28. Februar 2025 ein Abstract im Umfang von max. zwei Seiten an wsd@idz-jena.de. Die Abstracts werden redaktionell gesichtet. Autor*innen ausgewählter Abstracts werden schnellstmöglich eingeladen, ein Manuskript (max. 20.000 Zeichen ohne Literaturverzeichnis) bis zum 15. Juni 2025 einzureichen. Diese werden anschließend begutachtet. Die positiv begutachteten Beiträge erscheinen voraussichtlich im ersten Quartal 2026. Wir freuen uns auf Ihre Einreichungen!

The GALE research group (Specific Language Analysis Research Group) is pleased to announce the 3rd International Conference of Digital Linguistics, co-organized by the University of Alicante, the University of Granada and the Polytechnic University of Valencia, which will be held at the the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain) on June 26 and 27, 2025. The objective of the conference is to bring together linguistics specialists whose research is related to language analysis, translation, and language teaching and learning from a perspective towards digital transformation and its application through new technological resources. The program will include plenary presentations and parallel sessions. We invite researchers to submit their original and unpublished research (presentations, software demonstrations, R&D projects), as well as posters or proposals for round tables and workshops, on the following topics: Language Teaching and Learning Artificial Intelligence Applied to Teaching Simulators, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Serious Games, Gamification and Game-Based Learning Virtual Exchanges and Telecollaboration Social Networks and Digital Applications in Education Translation and Interpreting Translation and Interpreting in the AI Era Localization of Software, Video Games, and Websites Automatic Translation and Post-Editing Audiovisual, Accessible and Inclusive Translation Discourse Analysis Communication, Language and Society in the Digital Age Tools and Analysis of Multimodality in Digital Contexts Social Networks and the Dissemination of Information in Digital Media AI and Discourse Analysis Research Lines for Publication One of the purposes of this conference is to compile the work of the participants to publish a series of publications in monographs and/or scientific journals in concordance with the following research lines: Gamification in Language Teaching (Serious Games, Gamification, Game-Based Learning) Interaction and Technology in Language Teaching (Virtual Exchanges, Use of AI, Educational Software) Augmented and Virtual Reality in Language Teaching Discourse Analysis and Translation in the Age of Intelligence

OTESSA encourages researchers and practitioners to share their scholarship on the complexities that technology and/or open practice raise for education, society, and scholarship, as well as to come together to build connections, collaborations, and critical conversations at this year’s conference. Scholars, practitioners, graduate and undergraduate students, librarians, designers, makers, policy advisors, and educators or administrators from K12, post-secondary, or workplace settings are all welcome! Whatever your current role and wherever you are located in the world, we invite you to join us and contribute your experience, expertise, and insights to timely discussions about openness and technology in education, society and scholarship.

This special issue seeks to explain what platforms do and contextualize them within colonial history. Looking at the long history of platforms sheds light on why algorithmic grammars always segment populations into exploitable and condemnable differences parsed by granular gradations of marketability. This special issue argues that the very notion of a “platform” is a product of colonial history and an abstraction that accomplishes the erasure of the history that produced it. The papers in this special issue argue that coloniality must be included in the definition of a platform so that platform power can be fully understood through its colonial ontologies of race, gender, disability, and more. This collection intervenes in platform scholarship to demand 400 years of platform studies, not just 50. Expected theoretical contributions: Genealogies of the “Data Industries” including data annotation, cloud infrastructures, and data analytics Eighteenth-century corporate technologies, interfaces, and data practices Intellectual histories of the idea of digital colonialism Modern technological legacies of slavery and indenture systems in biometrics, tracking software, and visa portals New materialist histories of analogue-digital governance Connections between machine learning and scientific racism and ableism Colonial treaties as software Posthumanist theories of eighteenth-century technology; how its intra-acting agencies enact, produce, and come to matter Platforms and territorialization / re-territorialization

There is growing sentiment within new media studies that the work of researchers must not only diagnose current issues around media, but also provide strategies for hope. As a recent issue of the journal Media Theory indicated, critique is not a silver bullet for the concerns of media, as it comes “with its own intellectual and political limitations” (Phelan et al 2024: 3). Nonetheless, critique remains a fundamental and necessary activity to articulate the matters of concern that are the roiling subtext of contemporary life: from surveillance capitalism to data colonisation, from labor exploitation to ecological disaster. Yet how do media studies researchers move with and beyond critique? To what degree is it possible for research to provide meaningful and hopeful perspectives that, at a minimum, enable just forms of coping with the contemporary plurality of crises and sow the seeds of thought and actions that lead to human and non-human flourishing? Special Issue Topics Submissions may include (but are not limited to) explorations of the following topics: Media theorists, collectives, and projects that have contributed to media studies’ utopian tradition. The utopian disciplinary visions of the political economy of communication, feminist media studies, new materialism, cybernetics, the environmental humanities, etc. Media studies collectives / conferences / working groups dedicated to critiquing and reconstituting digitally mediated societies. The genres of utopian media studies research such as the manifesto, participatory research with civil society, new media art and design, the speculative or fabulatory final chapter of monographs, policy recommendations reports. The role of hope, optimism and utopian thinking in the study of technology. The ways a utopian media studies can avoid the traditional perils, risks and exclusionary mechanisms associated with utopian thinking. Reflections on how utopian and hopeful thinking can inform, shape and re-orient media studies methodologies. Distinctions between the planetary and the local when it comes to media utopias. The question of how utopian traditions can be more structurally integrated into media studies programs and curricula.

The role of digital spaces in contemporary literature is becoming increasingly significant. Exiled authors use digital media to voice their work, to stay in contact with their former audiences, and to build international communities. Sometimes, the digital is the only possible place to publish texts that are banned or censored elsewhere. Notable examples include Syrian exile Aboud Saeed, who writes politically critical novels on Facebook; Kurdish author Yavuz Ekinci, who was imprisoned for a pro-Kurdish tweet; and Ugandan poet Stella Nyanzi, who publishes almost exclusively through social media. The conference "Digital Exile Literature" will focus on the role of the digital in contemporary exile literature. In light of the DLA's expansion to include works by exiled authors currently residing in Germany, the event aims to discuss case studies that illustrate the diverse digital practices of exile writers. These include the use of social media platforms and personal blogs for self-representation and exchange, offering not only opportunities for the dissemination of literature but also for networking with communities both in the home country and in exile. Additionally, the conference will examine the role of digital archives. Many contemporary exile authors digitise their works for pragmatic reasons, which affects both long-term preservation and global access. Digital methods of analysis and AI-assisted translations are increasingly available, but these innovations also present challenges such as online harassment or hacking, particularly in relation to politically sensitive texts. Key topics we would welcome submissions on: Digital self-representation and community building: Case studies on how exiled authors use social media, blogs, and other digital platforms to share their work and connect with audiences globally and in exile. Challenges of digital dissemination: Analysis of the unique obstacles faced by exiled authors in digital spaces, such as online harassment, censorship, and hacking, especially for politically sensitive works. Digital archives and preservation: Exploration of the benefits and implications of digital archives, focusing on how exiled authors preserve their works online for accessibility and long-term storage and how archives deal with them Digital tools in literary analysis: Discussion on the use of digital methodologies, AI-assisted translations, and other technologies that influence the interpretation and accessibility of exile literature. Researchers at all career stages in (Comparative) Literature and Culture Studies, Sociology, Book Studies, and related disciplines are invited to submit papers on the questions outlined above. Presentations that combine archive-related research with theoretical and methodological reflection or explore the potential of digital approaches are particularly welcome. Travel expenses and accommodation costs will be covered for presenters of accepted papers through a fixed stipend aligned with the country of travel.

Rupture signifies a break or interruption in continuity. It can also represent a breakdown of social relations. The concept of ruptures connects to diverse fields, such as archeology and genealogy, as methods and tactics that interrogate the relationship between knowledge and power, challenge hierarchies, question dominant discourses, and reactivate local knowledge. This conference theme focuses on the idea of exploring alternative internet histories and theoretical perspectives on the internet and technologies, often overshadowed by the dominance of Western discourses and big tech media. Despite often not being recognized as technology producers due to our colonial history, Brazil’s history of dissidence and breach of norms has fostered innovation, and dissidence creating different time layers in both creating and consuming them, from early tech adopters to movements bridging the digital divide, from social activism to entertainment. These disruptions are processes that deeply influence vernacular and popular cultures, intellectual frameworks, interfaces, social platforms, and networks. An important recent rupture was Brazil’s challenge to the economic and cultural dominance of the platform “X,” defending its political sovereignty in a court of law. The theme of ruptures for #AoIR2025 recognizes these significant contemporary moments and the broader impact of such breaks on society and technology. Brazil has played a pioneering role in developing theoretical frameworks for the study of digital cultures, media, activism, and digital law, as well as in the promotion of open-access science. In the early 2000s, Brazil hosted major international events and key discussions on free software community and culture and initiated programs like “Cultural Points,” a State digital literacy initiative. Additionally, since the 1960s, both Brazil and Latin America have been at the forefront of disruptive uses and reflections on digital technologies. The widespread use of social media platforms in Brazil since the early 2000s, such as Orkut, apart from the intense production and consumption of games and other digital artifacts like memes and fan works plays has also played a crucial role in shaping sociabilities and subjective experiences. However, digital transformations and platformization, coupled with an economic crisis, have also led to challenges, such as the intensification of precarious labor, the proliferation of disinformation, and conspiracy theories became a local and global challenge. Countries from the Global South have become data colonies, as legal frameworks lag behind and platforms from the Global North exploit local labor and data, as many of these countries were unable to approve legislation to avoid data exploration because of different lobbies from these platforms. Queer, Black, Indigenous, Feminist, and other marginalized communities are actively resisting these trends by developing alternative imaginaries, metaphors and uses for digital technologies. Drawing on these reflections, we encourage diverse conceptualizations and approaches to the theme of ruptures in the context of the internet and digital technologies. We ask: How do both ruptures and continuities shape the histories of digital technologies? How can we develop strategies and tactics to address the ruptures caused by platformization? What creative digital experiments have emerged—and disappeared—through the use of these technologies? How can we engage with intersectionality, race, gender, and geography in these discussions and in the future of Internet Studies? How can we dismantle data colonialism and build emancipatory alternatives? We specially seek research that expands critical perspectives and challenges current understandings of digital ruptures and continuities from both local and global perspectives. We welcome submissions on the following topics and beyond: Alternative internet and technology histories Ruptures and continuities of digital media scholarship Digital Humanities methodologies Everyday practices of technological dissidence Internet infrastructures and sustainable futures Disinformation and the public sphere Disruptions in audio/visual models on digital platforms Algorithmic antagonisms Community dynamics in digital platforms Celebrity and fan culture disputes and affects (transformative/toxic fandom, cancel culture, etc.) De-platforming strategies and tactics Intersectional dissidences in social media practices and representations Law, sovereignty and regulation of digital platforms Digital labor ruptures Peripheral creator economies and digital influencers Climate change and scientific digital practices Popularization of science in digital platforms Ruptures in Digital Humanities studies Archiving and collecting as a disruptive practice in Internet Studies Digital solidarity economies Low-tech creativities Tactical ruptures in the history of art and media activism Practices of disconnectionWe also welcome submissions on topics that address social, cultural, political, legal, aesthetic, economic, and/or philosophical aspects of the internet beyond the conference theme. The committee extends a special invitation to students, researchers, and practitioners who have previously not participated in an AoIR event to submit proposals, and to scholars from the Global South, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color globally, LGBTQIA+ peoples, scholars living with disabilities, and people outside or adjacent to the academy. With this in mind, AoIR is committed to investing more than ever before in travel scholarships, as well as other initiatives, to support conference participants. Moreover, we will for the first time experiment with forms of multi/bilingualism to further our mission of diversity and inclusivity within internet research.

The EC2U Alliance invites researchers, lecturers, and game designers submit abstracts for our upcoming webinar on Serious Games which will take place on the 10 April 2025 from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm (CET). This event aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue on the methods of developing serious games and critical reflections on their pedagogical use. The webinar will consist of presentations from 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the number of abstracts selected. Click the link to read the call for papers.

In keeping with a theme of interdisciplinarity, we intend for you to find yourself in conversation with folks from different disciplines than your own. In seeking to bring disparate research areas together in conversation, we have made our theme as broad as possible as we want you to see yourself at this conference. Your research might be situated within the realm of, but is not limited to: - Narrative and storytelling in media culture, including genre studies - Mediated meaning making - Mediated community, society, and culture – broadly - Embodiment, identity, and subjectivities in media - Representations of class, sex, gender, race/ethnicity, age, and ability in media - Mediated power, social movements, and activism - Cinema, Podcast, Porn, Photography, Video Game, Cultural, Legacy, and Digital Studies This list is only suggestive as we welcome research from any discipline that engages with film, media, and communications. Our conference aims to decolonize knowledge creation and sharing and to bring a feminist ethic of inclusivity to our work. We aim to embrace the rough edges of what is considered research and who can participate in knowledge creation. To that end, there are many ways in which you can become involved in this conference. We welcome: - Visual submissions to a gallery space - Traditional paper presentations - Pre-constituted panels - Roundtable presentations - Curator-hosted short films - Research creation projects and community-based research projects.

On 15-16 September 2025, the KU Leuven Digital Society Institute (DigiSoc) will host the International Conference for an Inclusive Digital Society (IDS2025) in Leuven (Belgium). This conference provides a forum to exchange knowledge and inspire each other to contribute to a positive digital society. We invite scholars, citizens, industry professionals, government representatives, and members of non-profit organizations to join us in this crucial conversation, to generate cutting-edge ideas and innovative thinking to properly grasp the polyvocal complexity of our current and future digital society. We welcome abstracts in the following areas: Health & well-being | Learning & education | Media & culture | Democracy & civic engagement | Work & organization

Mit der Nutzung digitaler Technologien verschieben sich grundlegende Merkmale gesellschaftlicher Sozialitäten. Soziale Medien etwa fördern Empörungskommunikation und führen zu zunehmend enthemmten und de-zivilisierten Interaktionen; Technologien der künstlichen Intelligenz lassen die Grenzen zwischen wahr und falsch verschwimmen und bereiten uns zunehmend Probleme mit der Vorstellung, es gäbe noch rein menschliche Tätigkeiten; digitale Kommunikationsmedien erlauben es, uns auch dann miteinander zu treffen und einander nahe zu fühlen, wenn wir tausende Kilometer voneinander entfernt sind. Zusammengefasst lässt sich konstatieren: Digitalisierung, verstanden als ›gesellschaftlicher Mega-Trend‹ (Themenpaper des ÖGS-Kongresses 2025), prägt auch das soziale Klima der Gesellschaft und impliziert neue Spannungsverhältnisse. Eines dieser Spannungsverhältnisse betrifft digital erweiterte Formen der Verkörperung des Sozialen und die Dynamiken, in denen digitale Technologien verkörpert werden. Während solche Spannungsverhältnisse in älteren Forschungsbeiträgen etwa durch den Gegensatz zwischen online vs. offline oder zwischen virtuell vs. materiell zum Ausdruck gebracht wurden, betonen neuere Ansätze die zunehmende Verwobenheit von Online- und Offline-Welten sowie von medial und physisch vermittelten Räumen, Situationen oder Praktiken. Vor diesem Hintergrund fragt die Session nach den facettenreichen Spannungen, die das zunehmende In- und Nebeneinander von Online und Offline bzw. von medialen und physischen Räumen in sozialen Praktiken für menschliche Körper und die Körperlichkeit von Sozialität mit sich bringen. Derartige Spannungen lassen sich in mindestens sechs empirischen Konstellationen verorten: a) Treffen digitaler ›Körper‹, die durch physische Körper animiert werden (etwa Virtual Reality Treffen) b) Gemeinsame Körperpraktiken auf physische Distanz, die durch Digitales medialisiert werden (bspw. Online-Yoga- oder Tanzgruppen) c) Gemeinsame Wissens- und Kommunikationspraktiken auf physische Distanz, die durch Digitales medialisiert werden (bspw. Online-Schulunterricht, Online-Lehre, Online-Team-Meetings) d) Versuche mittels digitaler Technologien zum Körper der:des Anderen zu gelangen (bspw. durch Telemedizin oder Telepsychotherapie) e) Das Online-Stellen des Körpers, in seinem Sein, Aussehen und Praktizieren (Social Media) f) Konstellationen der digitalen (Selbst-)-Vermessung und -Analyse des Körpers (Life Logging) Die Veranstaltung möchte Beiträge versammeln, die anhand der genannten empirischen Konstellationen nach dem Spannungsverhältnis von medialer und physischer Körperlichkeit in digital erweiterten oder gänzlich digital vermittelten Räumen, Situationen oder Praktiken fragen. Die Beiträge sollen nach Möglichkeit empirische und theoretische Perspektiven kombinieren. Mögliche Fragen, die adressiert werden können sind: Wie werden digitale Sozialitäten verkörpert? Wie werden sie körperlich und/oder emotional produziert und von den Teilnehmenden erlebt? Welche (neue) Rollen spielen Körper in ihrer manuellen (Un-)Geschicklichkeit, ihrer Sensorik und Affektivität in Sozialitäten, die von digitalen Medien- und Informationstechnologien geprägt sind? Welche Ansprüche werden dabei an die ›doppelte‹ Mitwirkung von Körpern in medialen und physischen Räumen sozialen Handelns und Interagierens gestellt? Wie kann das Spannungsverhältnis des Körpers, der zugleich in medialen und physischen Räumen ›ist‹, genauer charakterisiert werden? Wie wird dieses Spannungsverhältnis durch die Teilnehmenden praktisch/durch ihre Praktiken bearbeitet? Welche Chancen und Grenzen digitaler Sozialität werden durch diese Polarisierung erlebt, erlebbar und sichtbar? Wie wirkt der menschliche Körper an der Nutzung von Algorithmen, Automatisierung und/oder Künstlicher Intelligenz mit? Wie werden Körper und die Verkörperung des Sozialen wiederum von diesen Technologien (mit)geprägt? Auf welche Weisen adressieren wissenschaftsinterne und -externe Diskurse die Beteiligung von Körpern in digitalen Formen der Sozialität? In welchem Verhältnis stehen dabei etwa Vorstellungen des Zugewinns neuer Möglichkeiten an Autonomie oder aber neuer (bzw. nicht-intendierter) Hürden und Einschränkungen gesellschaftlicher Teilhabe? Mit welchen theoretischen Konzepten, etwa aus den Bereichen der körper-, der emotions-, der interaktions-, der kommunikations-, der medien- und/oder der techniksoziologischen Forschung, lassen sich Formen des Zusammenspiels und der Verflechtung von Analogem und Virtuellem sowie von Körpern, Materialitäten und Technologien zum Gegenstand soziologischer Analysen der digitalen Gesellschaft machen?

In this special issue, we aim to look at the different ways in which text, images, and other information featured in social media content help a movement to communicate its goals, structure, composition, and efforts. We also aim to understand the role that this material plays on mobilisation efforts and the eventual success or failure of protest movements. In particular, we are looking for articles that not only explore the ways in which images and other types of social media data frame difficult political situations, but also provide information about the infrastructure and dynamics of protests.

This conference aims to explore not only how digital tools have radically transformed practices and possibilities in humanities research, but also how the humanist’s critical and reflective approaches influence the Information and Communication Technologies (ITC). This bidirectional exchange favours a reflection on the transformations and connections these dynamics generate in art, languages, cultures, and, more broadly, the humanities. Participants are invited to contribute with abstracts regarding the following three areas of research and their related technologies and methodologies:   1. Multimedia technologies and digitisation for arts, entertainment and cultural heritage 2. Computational methods and technologies for linguistics, literatures, and cultures 3. Education technologies and digital learning environments

We would like to welcome practice-based responses, provocations, lecture-demonstrations, and papers, exploring and reflecting on various readings, approaches and interpretations of the nexus between Posthumanism, AI dramaturgies, Gen Alpha, and the politics of care in mediated and online performance practices. Proposals may respond to, but are not limited by, the following prompts: Posthuman dramaturgies in the AI era Online performances as ecologies of becoming Politics of care in mediated/intermedial performance Performance cultures and Gen Alpha Hyperconnectivity in the experiences of AI- Natives Human agency within AI-driven technologies Performances of survival Transmedia performance/stages AI and performance Augmented reality Virtual augmentation Intersecting IRL and imaginative realities AI alternative spaces of imagination and artistic resilience Archiving online performance practices Proposals, if accepted, may be directed into a range of presentational formats, including traditional panels (with 20-minute papers) or performance-based panels. We also welcome alternative, practice-as-research or performance-based proposals that engage with the theme. As an alternative to a full paper, panel or practice research presentation, PG students who are in the early stages of their research may wish to present short ‘firestarter’ provocations (5 minutes) that can form the basis for wider discussion. While we encourage statements of preference, final decisions will be made by the working group conveners and will be indicated at the time of acceptance. The Working Group also warmly welcomes participants who do not wish to present this year.

How do we write a history of video gaming? As scholars argue (Sicart, 2011; Triclot, 2011; Newman, 2017; Trépanier-Jobin, 2021; Berry, 2022), video gaming should be understood as an ongoing interaction between artifacts—such as games, rules, machines, screens, images, or stories—and players, whose practices are embedded in specific cultural contexts. Moving beyond an inventorying perspective and the history of the video game industry alone, this conference invites participants to explore the history of video games from the players’ perspectives. Since its commercialization during the 1970s, the expansion of video game culture has not only been linked to the diffusion of its artifacts but has also been embedded in broader historical and cultural transformations. Indeed, throughout the 20th century—and particularly in the post-war period and within the context of the Cold War—Western countries experienced the massive development of leisure industries. This shift was supported by increases in free time, educational opportunities, and purchasing power. Such social, economic, political, and ideological transformations helped redefine the role of leisure, including play, in society (Blackshaw, 2015). This period, during which video games emerge as an object, an industry and a set of media practices, corresponds to the advent of what Reckwitz (2020) calls the society of singularities. Although aspects of modernity, such as rationalization, standardization or quantification of society still provide the infrastructure for social processes, Reckwitz argues that late modernity is characterized by the sociocultural construction of the exceptionality of events, social roles, and artefacts that now determine how society is experienced in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This shift is largely driven by the emerging cultural industries and their means of communication, including video games. On the one hand, gaming enables social, communicative, identity and meaning-generating processes between players and society, by offering spaces and tools for social exchange, distinction and communitization. On the other hand, it allows players to withdraw themselves and actively experience diverse narratives, worlds and situations providing a certain distance from their social environment. In short: in late modernity, a sphere of player and gaming cultures is developing that manifests itself in objects, subjects, spaces, temporalities and collectives around the medium “game”. The conference aims to encourage participants from all disciplines to explore the sphere of gaming culture from the players’ perspectives. How has it evolved from its earliest days, and how can today’s phenomena in gaming culture be traced in relation to their historical heritage? How have relationships between objects, subjects, spaces, temporalities, and collectives shaped gaming cultures? How can these phenomena, relationships, and artifacts be categorized phenomenologically and epistemologically? What has been the nature of the connections between producers, consumers, artifacts, and their political and social environments in this developing cultural industry? How can these aspects be analyzed theoretically and methodologically, especially given their volatility and constant transformation?

With this special issue, we want to invite feminist scholars from a variety of disciplines, artists and activists to think with and through digital matters (in both senses of the word) from intersectional, feminist, queer/trans, decolonial, and posthuman perspectives. We encourage submissions from junior scholars as well as more experienced scholars. We welcome submissions that deploy radical and experimental methodologies. In addition to academic articles, we also welcome essays and book reviews. Potential themes include but are not limited to, gendered perspectives on: Digital hate (racism, transphobia, the manosphere, etc) - Algorithms, AI and posthuman performativity - Digital labour and/or entrepreneurship - Internet culture (gaming, memes etc.) - Sex, sexuality, and the deplatforming of sex - Feminist and queer perspective on data - Digital activism and solidarities - Technology-facilitated violence and abuse - Body and embodiment - Digital colonialism - Digital Health and care - Death, dying and mourning in digital times - Digital temporalities

Media and communication research has traditionally focused on the present, often asking: What are the consequences of each “new” medium? How do digital media and their infrastructures impact contemporary cultures and societies? With this conference, however, we aim to shift the perspective—from analyzing present-day impacts to envisioning future possibilities. What can we learn from the current mediatization and datafication of society to imagine possible futures? What roles might media discourses, technologies, and practices play in ongoing and future societal transformations? In raising these foundational questions, the conference is broadly situated within the fields of media, communication and information research. Topics may include: the role of media discourses, technologies, and practices in narrating and shaping the future; the importance of media policy and governance in building better futures; recent technological developments such as communicative AI and their potential role for future media environments; ways in which our narratives of the past, media history, and archeology shape our imaginaries of the future; digital gaming and emerging forms of entertainment; future media-related challenges for future sustainability and quality of life; and methodologies in media and communication research that address emerging media-related developments from a forward-looking perspective. With discussion topics like these, the ZeMKI’s 20th anniversary conference is not about speculative forecasting but is grounded in media and communication research. We aim to explore long-term trends emerging from today’s media-related transformations and reflect on our visions of the future. We invite those who have previously engaged with us—our cooperation partners, ZeMKI fellows, guests, and friends—and those interested in starting new conversations. Presentations may cover any area of media and communication research, provided they also address the question of where a mediatized and datafied society might be heading.

The society is continuously changing with a rapid pace under digital transformation. Taking advantage from a solid transformation of digital communication and infrastructures and with great progress in AI (Artificial Intelligence), IoT (Internet of Thinks), ML (Machine Learning), Deep Learning, Big Data, Knowledge acquisition and Cognitive technologies, almost all societal areas were redefined. Transportation, Buildings, Factories, and Agriculture are now a combination of traditional and advanced technological features. Digital citizen-centric services, including health, well-being, community participation, learning and culture are now well-established and set to advance further on. As counter-effects of digital transformation, notably fake news, digital identity risks and digital devise are also progressing in a dangerous rhythm, there is a major need for digital education, fake news awareness, and legal aspects mitigating sensitive cases. DIGITAL 2025 continues a series of international events covering a large spectrum of topics related to digital transformation of our society. We solicit both academic, research, and industrial contributions. We welcome technical papers presenting research and practical results, position papers addressing the pros and cons of specific proposals, such as those being discussed in the standard fora or in industry consortia, survey papers addressing the key problems and solutions on any of the above topics short papers on work in progress, and panel proposals. Industrial presentations are not subject to the format and content constraints of regular submissions. We expect short and long presentations that express industrial position and status. Tutorials on specific related topics and panels on challenging areas are encouraged. The topics suggested by the conference can be discussed in term of concepts, state of the art, research, standards, implementations, running experiments, applications, and industrial case studies. Authors are invited to submit complete unpublished papers, which are not under review in any other conference or journal in the following, but not limited to, topic areas.

This one-day and in-person workshop seeks to bring together scholars working at the intersection of queer studies and media theory. It is inspired by two interrelated dynamics. First, we recognize a resurgent interest to theorize media practice among scholars working in varying disciplinary contexts. Drawing on a robust history of thought about the characteristics of media and their relation to culture, recent scholarship has brought to bear insights about media operations’ relationships to historically and structurally marginalized communities. Second, the last three decades have seen the emergence of extensive lines of inquiry in queer studies grounded in analyses of media. From discussions animated by an interest in global cultural engagement to microhistories of media usage, scholars have charted a rich cultural terrain of queer media practices. Devised as a venue in which participants can continue to think about the intersection between queer studies and media theory, the Queer Media Theories workshop seeks to catalyze existing interests with a focus on theoretically-oriented projects whose themes and methods have thus far been underexplored.

The workshop will explore and test transfer methods for playful and artistic engagement (arts- based methods and future methods) with AI and digital transformation. Participants will discuss the theoretical foundations of these methodologies, address practical challenges in their application and transfer, and examine the role of arts-based and future methods in fostering civil society participation, enabling citizens to critically engage with the everyday impacts of AI and envision alternative uses, frameworks, and regulations for a citizen- centered digital transformation. Practical aspects of applying arts-based and future methods in the AI context should be illuminated through collaboration with local partners. Stakeholders such as citizens, media education initiatives, and NGOs critical of digitalization are invited to join the conversation and exploration. The workshop also aims to address ethical considerations in applying these methods, documenting how such approaches influence the dynamics between researchers and participants. We welcome contributions from a broad range of disciplines and sectors involving researchers and academics, designers, artists and creative practitioners, community organizers and activists, technologists and developers, as well as policy advocates and educators. We invite arts-based and future methods contributions that: • Demonstrate innovative citizen-led AI applications or projects. • Showcase participatory methods for engaging diverse communities with AI. • Explore alternative narratives and imaginaries of digital futures. • Examine the role of creativity in developing ethical and inclusive AI. • Provide critical reflections on challenges and lessons learned. The Show-and-Tell format is designed to encourage interaction and dialogue. Contributors will present their work in interactive sessions and engage directly with participants through live demonstrations, creative storytelling, or multimedia presentations.

This one-day online Symposium will bring together a range of thought leaders in the field of Artificial Intelligence who will collectively explore the current state of AI as it is applied to a wide range of different aspects of society. The event will feature 4 keynote presentations, each followed by open discussion sessions. Between these keynote presentations there will be a series of sessions where attendees will have the opportunity to present their own work, research, and/or experiences of AI challenges and opportunities in education. Keynote Speakers: Dr Caroline Stockman, University of Winchester, UK Prof. Dr. Andreas Gegenfurtner, University of Augsburg, Germany AI is having a significant impact on how society functions and how it understands its future. Here are some examples as to how this is happening: Understanding the environment including the issues related to climate change. Moving from GenAI that chats, to GenAI that does. Safety, government regulation and internal governance. AI ethics and fraud. The effectiveness of scientific research. Health. National defence. Education from cradle to grave. Productivity improvements especially in the white-collar environment. Professional performers, scriptwriters, and other support roles. Social interaction. Criminal justice policy and practice. Local, national, and international travel. And many other aspects of society. We welcome contributions on these or other relevant topics. We also welcome AI case studies from different settings, e.g., academia, business, project management, digital marketing, design, etc.

The Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) is looking for new members. AGYA promotes research cooperation among excellent early-career researchers (3−10 years after PhD) from all disciplines affiliated with a research institution in Germany or any Arab country. The academy supports the inter- and transdisciplinary research projects of its members who collaborate in Arab-German tandems and working groups on topics such as Health and Society; Dynamics of Transformation; Energy, Water and Environment; Arab and German Education; Common Heritage and Common Challenges; and Innovation. AGYA is based at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW) in Germany and at the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) in Egypt. AGYA is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and several Arab and German cooperation partners. Benefits: A unique opportunity to develop and realise ideas, projects, and visions for the bilateral Young Academy Exclusive access to the AGYA academic network of excellence Support and funding to realise inter- and transdisciplinary research projects Travel grants for AGYA workshops, conferences, and research stays Training in career development and promotion of academic leadership Active membership for five years, followed by a lifelong membership in the AGYA Alumni Network Eligibility: Early-career researchers (3-10 years after PhD) from any field of the Natural Sciences, Life Sciences, Humanities, Social Sciences, Technical Sciences, and the Arts ƒ Affiliation with a university or a research institution in Germany or any Arab country: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen Full command of English, both spoken and written Requirements: Proven record of research excellence in any field of specialisation Strong potential for leadership and advancement in academia High motivation to engage in AGYA activities and to implement collaborative research projects Special interest in exploring research approaches which transcend disciplinary boundaries for innovative solutions and resilient societies

The Queerness and Games Conference is a community-oriented, internationally-recognized event dedicated to exploring the intersection of LGBTQ+ issues and games. In addition to this Call for Presentations, which focuses on talks and other sessions, QGCon releases an annual Call for Games. Accepted games will be featured at our arcade, where they will be playable throughout the conference. Those interested in submitting to the arcade should refer to the Call for Games. Speakers from all backgrounds are encouraged to submit. Because QGCon is a community-oriented event that seeks to foster dialogue across areas of expertise, we especially value sessions that are engaging for a diverse audience. Though the focus of the conference is LGBTQ issues, QGCon takes an intersectional approach to queerness. Sessions that center race, ethnicity, gender, disability, mental health, neurodiversity, socioeconomics, and sexual expression all address important aspects of the queer experience, and are welcomed. We are organizing QGCon 2025 around two themes: Access and Urgency. For more details see the link below.

In the face of major socio-political crises - such as climate change, migration, or military conflicts - the role of digital and social media has become increasingly vital (Zhang, 2023). These platforms offer unparalleled access to information, providing real-time updates and direct communication from both official and unofficial sources (Kumpel, 2021). While this empowers individuals to share and receive information, it also accelerates the spread of diverse, radical non- mainstream narratives, misinformation, conspiracy theories and propaganda (Gago-Ja'afaru & Asemah, 2024). In a world marked by ongoing upheaval, the digital space provides fertile ground for the creation of alternative communities that challenge traditional political systems and mainstream media. Digital platforms act as sorting mechanisms that promote the formation of microidentities characterized by their narrow and emergent nature, marked by distinct epistemic realities, unwavering internal support for their ideology and activities, and in-group self- determination at the expense of the broader society (Kossowska et al., 2023). These identities may range from fragmented narratives that create echo chambers and isolate individuals from the broader societal discourse contributing to polarization (Fukuyama, 2019; Kossowska et al., 2023) to grassroots activism, providing marginalized groups with a platform to campaign for fairness, increased participation, and better representation (O’Brien & Kerrigan, 2023). Thus, social media can encourage a host of non-traditional identities and shared realities that can challenge social integration and existing power structures. Although significant research has explored how social media shapes attitudes, identities and behaviors (e.g., Baldauf-Quilliatre et al., 2017; Gerbaudo & Trere, 2015; Wang et al., 2021), many crucial dimensions remain unexamined. The alarmingly increased levels of misinformation and ideological extremism in the aftermath of recent crises (e.g., COVID-19) or amidst ongoing crises (e.g., climate crisis, wars and military conflicts) necessitate revisiting the dynamics of identity in digital environments and the emergence of alternative identity forms, captured by terms such as the micro-identities in online environments as responses to socio-political, economic and other challenges that contemporary societies face. These highly specific, nuanced, and situational aspects of an individual’s identity constitute newly emerging forms of identities as responses to socio-political challenges, which are more fluid and dynamic than other forms of identity and more tied to specific contexts compared to other broader identity forms that encompass a general sense of self. This special issue seeks to address these gaps by gathering empirical evidence on the formation of identities that arise as precursors or consequences of the spread of ideologically extreme and radical narratives in digital environments. Firstly, it will explain and furnish strategies to grapple with themedia environments which, in turn, initiate and/or exacerbate social segregation and alienation. By gaining a holistic and interdisciplinary understanding of what leads to the emergence of alternative identities in digital environments, we can begin to envision creative ways to use digital and social media, bringing to the foreground many of the upsides and untapped opportunities of digitalization. To this end, our special issue also aims to focus on contexts and examples of radical and propagated narratives in online environments that stem not only from polarized societies or not only constitute manifestations of a segregated society, but also reflect the weaknesses and inequalities of otherwise democratic societies. Secondly, our special issue invites different types of contributions - empirical articles, conceptual and theoretical papers, systematic reviews, meta- analyses, and policy briefs that report theory-solid and evidence-based recommendations (relevant to, for example, mitigation strategies for spreading extreme and propagated narratives in online environments). To this end, it aims to be open to varied submission formats in an effort to reach a wider academic and non-academic audience. Our special issue will center on the emergence of alternative identities and narratives in digital and social media as responses to: 1) major political and societal changes and also 2) structural hierarchies within democratic societies. Thus, it will be in a position to reach out to and engage with audiences from the Global North to the Global South, especially given that recent crises (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic, war and military conflicts) and ongoing emergencies (e.g., climate change) unsettle societies worldwide. Additionally, by proposing a topic that concerns societies across the globe, and calls for interdisciplinary perspectives, this special issue aims to ensure a diversity of authors across gender, geographical location and discipline. Potential research questions that our special issue aims to address, include the following:  How does social media use affect forms of identities relevant to socio-political topics?  What are the contextual, psychological, social or political factors that lead to the spread of radical, extreme and propagated narratives in digital and social media?  Which forms of political participation take place in the digital environment and either precede or follow forms of identification with online groups?  Are there any differences in political participation forms and in manifestations of identification with online groups between mainstream and alternative media outlets?  What are the motivational mechanisms and needs (e.g., need for power, security, and/or significance) that drive spread of radical, extreme and propagated narratives in media environments or precede the formation of alternative identities as responses to socio- political, economic and other challenges? These are some questions that the special issue aims to shed light on, but the list is not exhaustive.

Special Issue Editor(s) Julian Sefton-Green, Deakin University julian.seftongreen@deakin.edu.au Luci Pangrazio, Deakin University luci.pangrazio@deakin.edu.au Andy Zhao, Deakin University xinyu.zhao@deakin.edu.au How edtech is made: Researching an evolving industry-education complex Education(al) technology, or its popular abbreviation edtech, has been framed as an unavoidable solution to many of our contemporary social and educational problems, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic (Williamson et al., 2020). A growing body of research is looking at how edtech apps and software are used in everyday settings; however, what needs more attention is critical investigation into the rapidly developing edtech industries (Decuypere et al., 2024; Williamson, 2022), as a specific institutional form of ‘production culture’ (Caldwell, 2008). Such an investigation should include the roles of investors, companies, distribution networks, governments, schools, and labour, as well as other intermediaries that create digital services and content for schools and education (Hillman et al., 2020; Ortegón et al., 2024; Regan & Khwaja, 2019). This special issue will ask: Where is the evidence that helps us map and understand the edtech industry? How can we collect the evidence? What are the established and new conceptual vocabularies that we can employ in analysing edtech as industry? And what are the opportunities and challenges of researching this industry? Articles in this special issue will contribute to how we can critically think and talk about edtech through a production culture and industry lens. This lens draws attention to how edtech industries are made through both state and corporate policies and cultural practices on the ground. We believe that a focus on edtech as industry allows us to reveal and interrogate the political economy and belief systems that underpin the everyday operation of technology in and for education. We invite empirical, theoretical, and methodological contributions that address the industries of edtech across various educational, geographical and/or sociocultural contexts. We are especially interested in bringing together original empirical case studies. Topics may include but are not limited: edtech ownership and business models how edtech articulates with or is shaped by state-based policies and initiatives edtech brokers and intermediaries forms of labour in the production of and engagement with edtech content and products value creation in edtech modes of financial investment in edtech the assemblage of actors involved in the industry platformisation of learning and education edtech industries in the Global South and non-English speaking countries Submission Instructions Please submit a 300-word abstract, title and author details to Dr Andy Zhao (xinyu.zhao@deakine.edu.au) before the submission deadline. Please note that all abstracts must align with the journal’s aims and scope. Authors will be invited to submit full papers in ScholarOne once their abstracts are accepted. All final papers (expected to be between 6,000 and 8,000 words, including references) will be subject to blind peer reviewing and refereeing processes. Please remember to select the special issue title when submitting your full manuscript in ScholarOne. Papers will be published online as soon as they are accepted with the Special Issue as a whole to follow.

Aus Mitteln der Hans-Böckler-Stiftung werden zum frühesten Beginn im Oktober 2025 bis zu 12 Promotionsstipendien für das Promotionskolleg „Vertretung marginalisierter Interes- sen im Wohlfahrtsstaat (MARGIN)“ (PK 061) an der TH Köln sowie Uni Duisburg-Essen ver- geben. Vielfältige Stimmen im öffentlichen Diskurs und in der Wissenschaft sehen derzeit das Mo- dell der liberalen Demokratien in Gefahr, weil gesellschaftliche Polarisierungen zunehmen und autoritär-populistische Kräfte an Bedeutung gewinnen. Die Thematisierung der politi- schen Interessenvertretung von marginalisierten Bevölkerungsgruppen ist zudem vor dem Hintergrund einer aktuell geringen Responsivität von Sozialpolitik gegenüber den Bedarfen einkommensschwacher Bevölkerungsgruppen relevant, die gleichzeitig seltener politisch partizipieren. Die Promotionsprojekte erforschen, wie sich Interessen formieren und wie die Vertretung marginalisierter Interessen im Wohlfahrtsstaat motiviert und organisiert werden kann. Es wird zudem gefragt, wie diese Interessenvertretung diskursiv gerahmt wird, mit welchen Instru- menten sie stattfindet und unter welchen Bedingungen sie durchsetzungsfähig ist. Marginalisierung wird im Kolleg als Prozess verstanden, der mit einer maßgeblichen Benach- teiligung in mindestens einem von drei Bereichen einhergeht: (1) Existenzgefährdung, (2) Entwürdigung und Stigmatisierung sowie (3) Randständigkeit, d.h. geringe Teilhabe am öko- nomischen, sozialen und politischen Leben. Dabei wird (je nach Themenstellung) an vier Forschungsperspektiven angeknüpft: Gewerkschaftsforschung, Verbändeforschung mit dem Fokus auf ‚schwache Interessen‘, Forschung zu Sozialen Bewegungen sowie zu Sozialer Arbeit als (armutsDer Promotionsverbund nimmt ausgewählte Formen und Akteursebenen der Repräsentation marginalisierter Interessen im Wohlfahrtstaat in den Blick: - Advokatorische Interessenvertretung durch Sozial- und Wohlfahrtsverbände oder einzelne Fachkräfte der sozialen Dienste und Sozialer Arbeit - Selbstvertretung durch Adressat:innen des Wohlfahrtsstaats - Mitvertretung durch Gewerkschaften - Neue Akteure im Feld der Interessenvertretung Dabei wird ein theoriepluraler und multimethodischer Ansatz verfolgt. Es sind qualitative und quantitative Forschungsdesigns möglich. Das Programm des Kollegs mit weiteren Informationen zu Zielen, Fragestellungen und mög- lichen Promotionsthemen finden Sie hier: www.th-koeln.de/margin Die Leitung des Kollegs erfolgt gemeinsam durch Prof. Sigrid Leitner (Technische Hochschu- le Köln) und Prof. Simone Leiber (Universität Duisburg-Essen), die Betreuung erfolgt in Kern durch insgesamt sechs Professor:innen an beiden Hochschulen im Rahmen von Betreu- ungsteams. Eingebettet u.a. in die Kooperation mit dem Promotionskolleg NRW sowie dem Deutschen Institut für Interdisziplinäre Sozialpolitiforschung (DIFIS) bietet das Kolleg eine strukturierte Promotionsförderung, die Sie umfassend bei theoretischen und methodischen Fragen unterstützen wird. Die Arbeitsplätze der Stipendiat:innen sind in Köln oder Essen angesiedelt. Das Kolleg ist interdisziplinär ausgerichtet. Wir freuen uns über Bewerbungen aus den Be- reichen politikwissenschaftlicher und soziologischer Wohlfahrtsstaatsforschung sowie der Sozialen Arbeit und Erziehungswissenschaft.

This special issue will focus on multilingualism as a critical dimension of migration experiences, digital transnationalism, and intercultural communication. It will draw from themes presented at the conference 'Beyond Borders: Creative Methods and Reflexive Approaches to Migration, Media, and Intercultural Dialogue', addressing how multilingual practices shape and are shaped by the intersections of migration, media, and intercultural dialogue. This special issue will aim to explore innovative and reflexive methodologies, along with empirical studies that highlight the role of multilingualism in fostering (or hindering) social cohesion, identity formation, and ethical engagement in global migration contexts. This special issue will contribute to understanding multilingualism not merely as a linguistic phenomenon but as a socio-political and cultural practice deeply intertwined with migration and media. It aligns with the journal's mission to showcase rigorous, theory-driven, and methodologically diverse research that resonates globally. The special issue will welcome articles that could be: • Empirical studies: Case studies on multilingual communication in migration crises, border zones, or diasporic communities. • Theoretical papers: Reflections on multilingualism as a lens to understand migration and intercultural dialogue. • Methodological contributions: Innovative methods for researching multilingualism in migration and digital contexts. • Practitioner perspectives: Working papers from activists, educators, and policymakers engaged with multilingual migrant communities.

The Centre for Postdigital Cultures (CPC) and its Post-Publishing research strand invite applications to a fully-funded PhD studentship that explores alternative publishing practices and formats and discusses their potential to cultivate more supportive, diverse, and equitable publishing cultures. Project Details We invite applications for PhD projects that challenge and intervene into the prevailing systems of scholarly publishing which prioritise research outputs (such as books and papers) as well as competitive, individualistic authorship models as the main metrics for academic recognition and success. This conventional approach often reduces scholarly works to commodities, neglecting the intricate socio-material processes of knowledge creation and sharing, which are inherently collaborative involving both human actors (authors, editors, reviewers, programmers) and non-human ones (digital texts, research cultures, technologies). Doctoral proposals are welcomed that focus on how alternative approaches to publishing can foster collaboration and mutual support over individual competition, social processes over quantifiable outputs, and knowledge equity and diversity in scholarly publishing. This includes but is not limited to applications that explore publishing and editorial collectives in- and outside the university, publishing practices (including joint writing, open peer review, shared annotation, alternative licencing, and collective editorship), as well as open, processual, and versioned books. The members of the supervisory team have expertise in critical, experimental, activist, and academic print and digital publishing; radical open access publishing; social justice, knowledge equity and diversity in academia; as well as in curatorial studies and spatial practices. We welcome applications that focus on specific case studies, engage in practice-research, and/or want to conduct an experimental publishing projects. We encourage projects that critically engage with existing literature in fields such as publishing and communication studies, digital humanities, cultural studies, media studies, and critical university studies as well as with past and current publishing initiatives and publications. Questions of interest include: How can collaborative and processual approaches to publishing displace traditional metrics of scholarly productivity and success? How can these approaches provide alternatives to a scholarly communication system currently focused on books and articles as objects and commodities? How can these approaches create more supportive, diverse, and equitable research and publishing environments Funding Tuition fees and bursary Benefits The successful candidate will receive comprehensive research training including technical, personal and professional skills. All researchers at Coventry University (from PhD to Professor) are part of the Doctoral Researcher College, which provides support with high-quality training and career development activities. The successful candidate will become a member of the Centre for Postdigital Cultures (CPC) and its Post-Publishing research strand. They will benefit from opportunities and resources within the Centre. These include participating in reading groups and team meetings, co-organising events and conferences, and teaching opportunities, which will help the candidate to develop important communication, presentation, and critical thinking skills. Beyond the CPC, the successful candidate will be supported in undertaking networking and knowledge-transfer activities to develop their research and future career: such as (co-)writing academic research articles and participating in conferences, joining relevant professional societies, and participating in professional forums. Entry requirements A minimum of a 2:1 first degree in a relevant discipline/subject area with a minimum 60% mark in the project element or equivalent with a minimum 60% overall module average. PLUS The potential to engage in innovative research and to complete the PhD within 3.5 years. A minimum of English language proficiency (IELTS academic overall minimum score of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in each component). Additional Requirements The successful candidate will have a theoretical and/or practical foundation in fields related to publishing: This includes publishing studies, graphic design, artistic publishing, digital humanities, communication studies, literature studies, or related disciplines. Working with social justice, intersectional feminist, posthumanist, and decolonial approaches is especially desirable.

Media and Communication, peer-reviewed journal indexed in the Web of Science (Impact Factor: 2.7) and Scopus (CiteScore: 5.8), welcomes article proposals for its upcoming issue "Exploring Engagement With Complex Information: Perspectives on Generative AI as an Information Intermediary," edited by Monika Taddicken (TU Braunschweig), Esther Greussing (TU Braunschweig), Evelyn Jonas (TU Braunschweig), Ayelet Baram-Tsabari (Technion—Israel Institute of Technology), Inbal Klein-Avraham (Technion—Israel Institute of Technology), and Shakked Dabran-Zivan (Technion—Israel Institute of Technology). The thematic issue aims to facilitate a multi-perspective reflection on the intricate relationship between generative AI and public engagement with complex information. In the realm of public engagement with complex information, the thematic issue aims to understand how and for what reasons people use generative AI. The focus shall be on the potential benefits offered by generative AI to diverse audiences—evident in enhanced information access, personalized content experiences, and efficiency—and the corresponding risks of misinformation, reinforced biases, polarization, and the erosion of traditional structures of knowledge production. As such, generative AI introduces new complexities that complicate the public’s engagement with information and may challenge conventional notions of well-informed democratic discourse.

Travel and communication are themes that has not been extensively explored by communication scholars. Intercultural scholars have studied travel as encounter but a broader exploration of travel and communication has not been studied in depth. Travel has been extensively studied as it relates to tourism, hospitality, and marketing studies. Philosophers have also explored the meaning of travel and experiences while travelling. Travel includes countless dimensions: vacationing, embodied communication, movement, encountering other cultures, experiencing difference, etc. This topic continues to gain social and cultural currency, as well as in various relevant industries. Paradigmatic shifts such as in how and where people work in a post-pandemic world, Gen Z’s demand for a better work-life balance, and surges in “digital nomad” visas are just a few indicators of why this area of study demands attention. We seek to bring the study of travel alongside our study of communication. The many approaches to reflecting on communication can be brought to bear on the specific context and content of travel. This call for book chapter proposals invites contributors to examine travel and communication using a variety of approaches: including rhetorical studies, philosophical inquiry, narrative, critical, dialogic, semiotic, global, cross-cultural, and media studies. We welcome theoretical and practical approaches to the subject. In this edited volume, we explore multiple dimensions of how travel and communication intersect, interact and inform each other. We communicate about travel as lived experience, as performative expressions, for monetizing purposes, for personal reflection, etc. We seek to explore themes included but not limited to: What does travel mean? How do we talk about or describe our travel experiences? In anticipation of, during or after the travel? Through print, video, or social media?

CLS was first convened in 2018 with the mission to fuel a growing movement of innovators harnessing the power of emerging technology to expand access to participatory, playful, and creative learning. It was launched as a merger between three community events with this shared vision and values: the Digital Media and Learning Conference, the Games+Learning+Society Conference, and Sandbox Summit. With a unique focus on cross-sector connections and progressive and catalytic innovation, the event brings together leading researchers, educators, and developers. The hosting and stewardship of the event has continued to evolve in tandem with the changing conditions of the global pandemic. UC Irvine’s Connected Learning Lab and MIT’s Scheller Teacher Education Program and Education Arcade were the founding hosts of the event. As we have moved online and become a more international event, we are expanding our roster of partners and hosts.

The “manosphere” refers to a heterogenous group of online communities that broadly promotes anti-feminism, misogyny, and hateful ideas about women, trans, and non-binary people. These communities attract, among other others, involuntary celibates (Incels), Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW), pick-up artists (PUA), and Men’s Rights Activists (MRA). Although these communities are different, they share a broad ideology that women are to blame for a society in which men are victims, and that feminism is the cause of societal ills. These communities frequently endorse pseudo-science to justify male supremacy and produce hateful and violent narratives, which can lead to extremist behaviour with dangerous and fatal real-world consequences. First appearing in social media in the late 2000s-early 2010s, these groups are broadly understood to have historical roots from movements in the 1970s and 1980s. Although the numbers of individuals who frequent these online spaces are hard to determine, the communities they have come to represent have become more prominent in the mainstream due to well-publicised violent (and often tragic) actions undertaken by self-proclaimed members. Additionally, some prominent influencers, who share overlapping ideologies with the manosphere, find audiences beyond the online community in the mainstream media. This collection invites research that interrogates the causes, impact, and repercussions of this manosphere and networked misogyny. Research that engages with the following, and other, topics is welcomed: The reasons why and how men enter and exit the manosphere or similar communities What makes men vulnerable to the manosphere ideologies How these communities function and evolve, and network across online spaces The relationship between online groups and real-life violence The mechanics of radicalisation and extremism within networks of misogyny Analysis of memes, trolls, and other online tools used in such communities How influencers and public figures capitalize and cultivate the manosphere Discursive strategies used by members of the manosphere to support their ideology and ideas Overlap between the manosphere and other movements, such as the far right and white supremacy groups Mainstreaming of manosphere ideas and ideologies Counter narratives and movements (e.g., #metoo movement) Toxic narratives and ideologies in other spheres (e.g., arts, culture, politics) We welcome submissions that employ diverse methodologies and draw from a range of disciplines, including: sociology, anthropology, ethnography, gender studies, psychology, media studies, political science, among others.

This proposal aims to reflect on migration studies' contemporary dynamics and histories in their academic and activist practices in knowledge production in these universes. It seeks to aggregate studies that contribute to our thinking on issues relevant to research practices, their modalities, publication, feedback, collaborative processes, and activism. One of the issues that prompted us to organize this dossier, since migration studies are interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, was the relevance of discussing the limits and openings of our methodological, theoretical, and feedback choices in knowledge production, both for interlocutors and for society as a whole. After all, to what extent can we or cannot, in a dialogue between different areas of knowledge, propose broad criteria of scientific objectivity or questions about scientificity or activism? Or even question the various forms of writing and formatting of studies. The aim is also to include studies that reflect on the ethical issues involved in producing knowledge about migrations and that present proposals for “ethical care” that encompass the different Human Sciences. Another important perspective of this dossier is to disseminate research that works with the collaborative proposal and presents negotiated forms of feedback to the groups studied and studies produced and published collectively.

Digital technologies have assumed a multifaceted role in transnational migration, especially for people who migrate to/from a highly platformized society such as China. More than 50 million people of Chinese origin are estimated to live outside China, especially in Southeast Asia, Oceania, and North America, although emigration to other parts of Asia, as well as Africa and Latin America, has also picked up. While the majority identify as Han Chinese, many ethnic minority Chinese also migrate around the world. At the same time, China hosts nearly 1.5 million immigrants. The country’s digital ecosystem creates unique opportunities and challenges for both groups. Researchers have examined the Chinese diaspora’s homeland and ethnic media use from the perspective of identity construction and political intervention. Others have looked at how Chinese emigrants employ homeland platforms, such as WeChat and Sina Weibo, as a migration infrastructure and ethno-transnational media, and how they serve as tools for digitized diasporic governance. Some scholars have also investigated the use of local and global platforms by immigrants arriving in China. Even as Chinese migrants experience racism online, Chinese platforms are not immune to exclusivist narratives targeting immigrants, either. Digital nationalism and populist discourses are important contexts in which immigrants and emigrants are represented by Chinese social media. This special issue of the Chinese Journal of Communication aims to expand our understanding of transnational migration in the digital age, especially as it relates to platforms, publics, and policies. It explores how digital platforms (Chinese and non-Chinese), their sociotechnical affordances, and the discourses they produce (or censor) bear upon transnational migration between China and various parts of the world, including Southeast Asia, Oceania, Africa, and Latin America, as well as North America, Europe and the rest of Asia. We are particularly interested in submissions that draw attention to the implications of digital technologies for migrant communities and the relations of power they (re)produce, user practices that work with or around digital affordances to achieve individual or collective goals, and national or supranational laws and regulations that shape digital industries and ecosystems and their impact on transnational migration.We invite contributions that address questions such as, but not limited to, the following: • What are the ways in which transnational migrants to/from China—or particular ethnicity-, religion-, income-, gender-, or sexuality-based groups within migrant communities—use digital technologies? • How do the sociotechnical affordances of digital devices and platforms, from interface design to algorithmic features such as filter bubbles, shape their use by transnational migrants to/from China? • How do transnational migrants to/from China deal with technological, financial, and/or linguistic barriers to communication through digital devices and platforms? • How do the business models of digital industries bear upon transnational migrant experiences to/from China? Who are its key stakeholders and intermediaries? • How does the attention economy of digital platforms influence transnational migrant experiences to/from China? How do these migrants negotiate their (in)visibility in this attention economy? • What are the discourses about transnational migration to/from China emerging in digital spaces? What are the ideological underpinnings of such discourses, and how do they impact domestic or international politics? • What are the emerging national/supranational laws and policies vis-à-vis digital platforms, and how do they impact transnational migration to/from China or migrant experiences? Who are their key stakeholders and intermediaries? • How will emerging trends in digital society, from augmented reality to the increasing use of artificial intelligence, impact transnational migration to/from China?

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) supports researchers who have fled their home countries by making it easier for them to join research projects and apply for funding under the Walter Benjamin Programme. The following requirements must be met in principle: The person has not been outside their home country for more than three years at the time of application and they have residential status in connection with an asylum procedure within the EU and are recognised as being at risk, or in lieu of proof of residency status, they are able to present credible third-party evidence of being at risk no more than 12 months prior to application. This way, the DFG also underlines its solidarity with researchers from Ukraine and Russia who had to flee their home country due to the current war situation triggered by the Russian attack. By integrating them swiftly in the German research system, the aim is to enable them to maintain continuity in their academic work. Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) unterstützt aus ihrem Heimatland geflüchtete Forschende durch die Erleichterung der Mitarbeit an Forschungsprojekten und die erleichterte Antragstellung im Walter Benjamin-Programm (Option Walter Benjamin-Stelle). Voraussetzungen: - Die Person darf sich noch nicht länger als drei Jahre außerhalb ihres Heimatlandes aufhalten (Zeitpunkt der Antragstellung) und - Es muss ein aufenthaltsrechtlicher Status im Zusammenhang mit einem Asylverfahrens innerhalb der EU vorliegen, aus dem eine anerkannte Gefährdung hervorgeht oder - Statt eines aufenthaltsrechtlichen Staus muss ein glaubwürdiger Nachweis der Gefährdung von einer dritten Stelle vorgelegt werden, der nicht älter als 12 Monate alt sein darf (Zeitpunkt der Antragstellung). (Information available in German and English. The deadline is just a dummy, the grant is open at the moment)

Do you study the past? Perhaps you even do historical research and know the difference between the Internet and the Web, and even how to historically and technically explain them? Chances are this Call for Articles may be of interest to you... Are you conducting groundbreaking research in the field of Internet or web history? Do you spend hours immersed in the archives of the web? You didn't dare but would like to propose an article for a first publication... Would you like to share methodological and critical issues that demonstrate a promising work in progress? Do you want to discuss your project with advanced researchers who will be ready to help you develop your paper and support you in this first experience with friendliness and rigor? This Call is definitely for you! This call for papers is addressed to early career researchers whose research focuses on the history of the internet and/or the web, and histories of digital cultures — or any historical topic within the scope of the Internet Histories journal. We invite any interested early career researchers (masters students, doctoral students, and post-doctoral researchers) to send us an original article, between 6,000 and 8,000 words, by 1 October 2025. If the scholar has a PhD degree this must not have been awarded more than three years prior to the time of submission, exclusive of any leaves (parental, medial, etc.). Co-authored submissions will be accepted if all authors are early career researchers. In this case, the award will be evenly split between all authors. The journal embraces empirical as well as theoretical and methodological studies within the field of the history of the internet broadly conceived — from early computer networks, Usenet and Bulletin Board Systems, to everyday uses of the Internet with the web, through to the emergence of new forms of the internet with mobile phones and tablet computers, social media, and the Internet of Things. The journal is the premier outlet for cutting-edge research in the closely related area of histories of digital cultures. All selected articles will be published in a special issue of the journal Internet Histories in the second half of 2026 and also automatically be nominated for the “Internet Histories Early Career Researcher” Award, which carries a prize of 500 euros. In addition to the prize the winner will be asked to give a brief talk about the article (online or onsite). The winning article will be made free to access for one year.