Make sure your project in research, education, or civil society in the field of digital interculturality becomes better known and check out what projects you can connect to! You can search for projects by name, date, place, keywords and add your own project.
DDGC Queer and Trans German Studies Research Cooperative (aka the Pink Pony Club)
Ervin Malakaj
,
Jonah Garde
The DDGC Queer and Trans German Studies Research Cooperative is an anti-fascist, anti-capitalist academic collective committed to challenging structures of oppression and advancing critical scholarship and teaching on sex, gender, sexuality, and identity within German Studies (broadly conceived). This cooperative serves as a radical intellectual and organizing space for scholars at all career stages, teachers, activists, and artists who resist hegemonic frameworks and seek to produce transformative knowledge and solidarity by sharing resources, supporting each other’s work, and building community within a field that has been historically underrepresented and marginalized by the academy. In the face of global fascism, anti-feminism, anti-trans, and anti-queer violence, the co-op seeks to provide an infrastructure for marginalized voices in German Studies to work collectively, support one another, and develop scholarship that actively resists reactionary forces in both academia and society. The cooperative’s scope is expansive, centering queer and trans perspectives within the study of German-speaking contexts, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, as well as diasporic and postcolonial German contexts. The cooperative encourages diverse methodologies, from literary analysis and archival research to ethnographic and digital humanities and social science approaches with an explicit commitment to decolonial, anti-racist, feminist, and intersectional queer and trans frameworks.
Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group (ASRG)
x7kekmg7@proton.me
The Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group (ASRG) is an ongoing, conspiratorial, aesthetico-political, practice-led research framework focused on the intersection of digital culture and information technology. # It examines the multifaceted manifestations of artistic activism and its role in exposing, critiquing, disrupting and countering the encroachments of algorithmic systems of power, control, and exploitation, with the objective of strengthening, promoting, and defending human rights values and fundamental freedoms by offering interdisciplinary pathways to empower the public. Research Questions # The Algorithmic Sabotage Research Group (ASRG) operates within a rigorously interrogated conceptual framework that foregrounds the in-depth analysis of the critical notion of “algorithmic sabotage.” This concept functions as a foundational lens for the methodical formulation of artistic-activist and prefigurative techno-political strategies and aesthetics, aimed at contesting, subverting, and dismantling necropolitical technologies that perpetuate entrenched structural injustices, entrench algorithmic authoritarianism, and intensify the deleterious impacts of unchecked technosolutionism. The research is organized around the following core inquiries: How can the intersection of “algorithmic sabotage,” art, and activism be strategically harnessed to disrupt and challenge the dominance of pervasive, regulatory technological paradigms, while cultivating subversive aesthetic and political counter-narratives? In what ways does technological disobedience, conceptualized through the critical concept of “algorithmic sabotage,” enable the emergence of novel modalities of collective agency, the design and development of digital tools, and the creation of transformative, militantly content-driven interventions that challenge and disrupt hegemonic technological infrastructures? Given that refusal constitutes a critical form of technopolitical praxis, what are the broader implications of “algorithmic sabotage” as a mechanism for dissent and resistance within political, social, and artistic contexts, particularly in challenging systemic power structures? How can “algorithmic sabotage,” within the context of artistic activism, inform and empower self-organized, technologically-mediated strategies that advance justice, promote accountability, and facilitate the achievement of equitable and inclusive societal outcomes?
Content Creator Scholars Network (CCSN)
keywords: creator culture, industries and economies; creative labor and resistance, platform infrastructure, governance and moderation, identity, inequality, marginalization, social media cultures and communities, algorithms, AI
Aurélie Petit
,
Brandon Harris
,
Brooke Erin Duffy
,
Carolina Are
,
Christine H. Tran
,
Christopher J. Persaud
,
Colten Meisner
,
Jess Rauchberg
,
Jessica Maddox
,
Krysten Stein
,
Sarah Edwards
,
Sophie Bishop
,
Tom Divon
,
Zari A. Taylor
,
Zoë Glatt
CCSN is an interdisciplinary community hub for scholars studying content creators and economies from a wide range of disciplines and approaches, such as Media and communications, sociology, digital humanities, politics, anthropology, and critical cultural studies. Our work spans themes including, but not limited to, industries and economies; creative labor and resistance; platform infrastructure, governance and moderation; identity, inequality and marginalization; social media cultures and communities; algorithms and AI. CCSN’s primary goal is to cultivate an international community of members to promote additional perspectives and studies in the field of creator culture. Members also produce educational resources, participate in journalistic interviews, and organize events and spaces for creator studies research. In addition to critically examining content creators and economies, CCSN strives to create and contribute to dialogue with industry to address concerns of power and in/equalities when possible.
Internet History Initiative
location(s):
Cambridge (United States of America)
Jim Cowie
The Internet History Initiative explores decentralized, community-driven approaches to the preservation, curation, and analysis of Internet History: the accumulated corpus of historical network measurements from many sources that document the day-to-day evolution of today’s global Internet over many decades. Internet History at this level is not about Web content in particular; it’s about the history of the infrastructure that supports all Internet applications, starting with fundamental infrastructure (BGP routing, DNS, traceroute measurement) and ascending over time to capture the emergence of the Internet’s overlay networks (CDNs, P2P content, privacy-protecting services, federated social media). Why do we need it? The Internet underpins much of modern civilization, yet researchers from beyond the Internet’s core technical community have never had good access to well-interpreted data about the evolution of the regional and global Internet over time. If we can put quantitative tools and timeseries into the hands of the relevant researchers who study (for example) violence, employment, public health, and political science, we can help tackle bigger research questions collaboratively.
Against Catastrophe Research Group
location(s):
Dresden (Germany)
Orit Halpern
The aim of this project is to interrogate the concept of catastrophe – how it is defined, analyzed, and deployed – and anti-catastrophic practices in an attempt to envision alternatives to our present. It does so through an edited volume, art and design commissions, and offline and online exhibitions that explore catastrophe and anti-catastrophe in practice around the globe. The focus throughout is on how novel thinking and practice in design, architecture, and technology can open possibilities for more equitably, democratically, and sustainably surviving a catastrophic world, but also expanding epistemic horizons beyond such apocalyptic thinking. The collaborators on the project include international scholars, artists, and journalists, and the project is committed to open collaboration and new partners and participants.
Civil Society Alliances for Digital Empowerment (CADE)
DiploFoundation and expert organisations from different regions
he Civil Society Alliances for Digital Empowerment (CADE) is a project co-funded by the European Union. Civil society organisations (CSOs) have been integral to the development and evolution of the internet. They contribute significantly to technology, open-source software, and frameworks, playing a pivotal role in shaping global norms related to internet governance and digital policy. CSOs are also instrumental in advocating for an open, free, and secure internet, supporting principles like net neutrality, privacy protection, and freedom of expression. However, despite their significance, CSOs face barriers that hinder their impactful engagement in IG processes. Limited voice in discussions and processes: CSOs encounter financial, social, and political challenges to significant participation in digital policy and rights discussions. Fragmentation in approach and priorities and lack of access to global forums pose significant obstacles. Lack of knowledge and capacity: Many CSOs lack the knowledge and capacity to engage effectively in international IG forums. Bridging the gap between the digital aspects of their work and engaging in IG processes is a significant challenge. Lack of participation from the Global South (GS): Even in open forums, CSO participation is often skewed towards the Global North. This imbalance hinders diverse voices and perspectives in crucial discussions. Our four-year project, kickstarted in January 2024 in collaboration with ten diverse organisations, works to overcome these challenges and enhance the capacity of CSOs in IG processes, including in standard-setting forums. The project has three main objectives: Increased capacity of CSOs for meaningful advocacy Increased engagement of CSOs in global, regional, and national IG Forums Strengthened cooperation between CSOs in the Global North and South.
Computational Social Science Research Group
location(s):
Dresden (Germany)
Center Synergy of Systems (SynoSys)
,
Center for Interdisciplinary Digital Studies (CIDS)
,
University of Technology Dresden
We are the research group „Computational Social Science“ within the Center Synergy of Systems and we work empirically on topics of the (causal) mechanisms between democracy and online platforms, the psychology of digital propaganda and on methods of natural language processing,
StrateDie (Strategische Digitalisierung für eine inklusive Schulentwicklung)
keywords: Digital tools, education, language proficiency, collaboration, agency, participation, discrimination, school, teacher training
location(s):
Jena (Germany)
Luisa Conti
,
Virginia Signorini
The StrateDie project (Strategic Digitalization for Inclusive School Development) aims to strategically utilize digital tools to ensure the best possible learning experience for all students. The focus is on integrating digital technologies to promote key aspects such as language, communication, and heterogeneity within schools. The project emphasizes the development of multimedia impulses that support teachers in creating and moderating participatory and cohesion-building learning processes. It works closely with teachers, school leaders, school social workers, and expert advisors throughout both the research and design phases. By adopting an inclusive approach, the project seeks to create a school environment where digital tools serve not only as technical aids but also as catalysts for an equal and supportive learning experience. The StrateDie project is supported by the Thuringian Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports, as well as the Thuringian Ministry of Migration, Justice, and Consumer Protection, highlighting the political and societal relevance of the initiative.
Capacities and Competencies in Dealing with Hate Speech and Hostility towards Science (KAPAZ)
Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
The collaborative project Capacity and Competence in Dealing with Hate Speech and Hostility towards Science (KAPAZ) aims to provide new empirical evidence on the prevalence of hostile and derogatory behaviour towards scientists in Germany. It also develops institutional support and infrastructure to actively protect researchers from attacks online and offline. Aims and services of the project network Currently, there is a significant deficit in understanding the extent of hostility towards science in Germany and many other countries. Furthermore, at both the individual level for researchers and the institutional level for scientific institutions, there is a lack of effective resources, counter-strategies and measures to deal with these attacks. For this reason, the KAPAZ consortium is gathering a substantial knowledge base and comprehensive empirical evidence on scientific integrity. It will also strengthen institutional competencies and capacities to deal with hostility through practical support and educational resources.
Center for Digital Narrative
location(s):
Bergen (Norway)
University of Bergen
Humanities-driven research in electronic literature, games studies, digital culture, and computation to advance understanding of digital narrative. CDN is a Norwegian Centre of Research Excellence funded by the Norwegian Research Council from 2023-2033. CDN focuses on algorithmic narrativity, new environments and materialities, and shifting cultural contexts. We will investigate how the interactions of human authors with non-human agents result in new narrative forms, how the materiality of digital narratives have changed, and how cultural contexts are reshaping the use and function of digital narrative.
Cultural Adjustment Project for Improving Relations in Europe (CAPIRE)
location(s):
Enschede (Netherlands)
University of Twente
The CAPIRE project aims at creating a free digital intercultural training tool and by this means to enhance intercultural competences and an open mindset among students and teachers at institutions of higher education, as well as businessmen, professionals and private persons. The CAPIRE project aims at exchanging knowledge between the partners and jointly developing an innovative method: building a digital training tool that is called a Culture Simulator (or Culture Assimilator). This tool challenges students, businessmen and private persons with realistic intercultural situations on the work floor which they have to solve. It provides them with explanations and further cultural background information. With this (digital) tool we can provide university teachers with an easy method of introducing students to real cultural differences. Our experience is that students like to solve real-life situations more than deal with abstract theories. We expect that this tool will not only raise the knowledge about but also the interest in this important subject, both among teachers and students.
Civics of Technology Project
Allie Thrall
,
Autumm Caines
,
Charles Logan
,
Dan Krutka
,
Erin Anderson
,
Jacob Pleasants
,
Marie Heath
,
Michelle Ciccone
,
Natalie Milman
,
Phil Nichols
,
Punya Mishra
,
Sharla Berry
The Civics of Technology (CoT) project aims to empower students and educators to critically inquire into the effects of technologies on their individual and collective lives. We conduct research, develop curriculum, and offer professional development. Our work seeks to advance democratic, ethical, and just uses of technology in schools and society.
DISCO Network
keywords: digital technology, race, disability, sexuality, gender
location(s):
Ann Arbor (United States of America)
André Brock
,
Catherine Knight Steele
,
Lisa Nakamura
,
Rayon Fouché
,
Remi Yergeau
,
Stephanie Dinkins
A collaborative, intergenerational research group of scholars dedicated to analyzing digital technology, race, disability, sexuality, and gender. The network comprises of six laboratories across five universities (University of Michigan, Northwestern University, The University of Maryland-College Park, Stony Brook University, Georgia Institute of Technology), each of which stands alone and a network node to write, talk, and think about the past, present, and future of technology, Blackness, Asianness, disability, and liberation. The DISCO Network is supported by the Mellon Foundation.
KIDS4ALLL
keywords: e-learning, multilingual, citizenship, transformative education, key competences, buddy-system, EU-project
location(s):
Jena (Germany)
Klara Räthel and many others
,
Luisa Conti
KIDS4ALLL project has been granted in the frame of the Horizon2020 Work Program SC6 entitled ‘Europe in a Changing world – inclusive, innovative and reflective societies’ and with particular reference to topic 5 that focused on integration challenges of migrant children in educational contexts. The KIDS4ALLL learning method draws on knowledge acquisition skills training and attitude transfer to convey lifelong learning competences as a whole within a collaborative and co-creative learning process. As a response to the educational needs of children, in particular of migrant children, and of educators as pathfinders for continuous lifelong and life wide learning, the project is grounded on three Key Inclusive Development Strategies (KIDS) towards LifeLongLearning (LLL), which represent the specific objectives of the project. Main output of the project: https://learn.kids4alll.eu/
Trust in Truth: Digital Literacy in a Post-pandemic Time
location(s):
Neustadt (Germany)
Dr. Wolfgang Ressmann
How to increase the professional competences of youth workers on digital literacy? The answer to this question found partners from Germany, Estonia, Greece, France, Italy and Spain. They have decided to create a curriculum and an easy-to-use Web-app based on experiential learning. Funded by Erasmus+ Programme, the “Trust in Truth: Digital Literacy in a Post-pandemic Time” project aims at advancing both the professional and personal development of youth workers and final beneficiaries – young people. It will support also capacity building of partners’ organisations in the line with the Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027). The project activities provide useful and practical youth-friendly information for navigating the internet during a time in which it is becoming more and more difficult to discern truth and stay ‘cyber-safe’. The project will also contribute to the validation and recognition of competencies gained through non-formal and informal learning.
ReDICo
keywords: Research, digital interculturality, internet studies, postdigital, social media
location(s):
Jena (Germany)
,
Potsdam (Germany)
,
Germersheim (Germany)
Anna Finzel
,
Carmen Pereyra
,
Fergal Lenehan
,
Luisa Conti
,
Lymor Wolf Goldstein
,
Milene Mendes de Oliveira
,
Roman Lietz
ReDICo (“Researching Digital Interculturality Co-operatively”), financed from November 2020 until October 2024 by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) within the program “Kleine Fächer – Zusammen Stark“ (Small Subjects: Strong together), retains both research and strategic goals. The scientific examination of intercultural practices and discourses within digital spaces and their influence upon issues such as identities, group social cohesion and cultural change, remains at its centre. Coupled with this is the strategic aim of strengthening Intercultural Communication as an academic subject with a positive social influence, at both national and transnational levels.
Self assessment instrument on competences in intercultural business contexts. Languages Dutch, English, German, Italian, Polish Head: SIETAR Deutschland Partners: Intercultural Business Improvement b.v. (NL), University of Tilburg (NL), assist international GmbH (Germany), Centrum Wspierania Edukacji i Przedsiębiorczości CWEP (Poland), LABC (Italy) Associated: Fernuniversität Hagen (Germany)
Queer Digital History Project
Avery Dame-Griff
The QDHP is an independent community digital history project documenting pre-2010 LGBTQ digital spaces online. Our current projects include: A catalog of early LGBTQ online communities An archive of transgender-related Usenet newsgroups Interactive maps of TGNet, one of the first international transgender-specific BBS networks Primary documents from early communities, covering the mid-1980s to the late 2000s.
Digital Ethnography Collective
keywords: online culture, Internet/platforms/social media, digital technologies, ethnography
Branwen Spector
,
Zoë Glatt
Invites scholars at all levels to join for regular public lectures, events and workshops. Welcomes those interested in online culture (Internet/platforms/social media), and the ethnographic study of digital technologies. The aim of the group is to establish a global community of scholars of digital ethnography and to work through challenges in this growing subdiscipline.
Digitales Deutschland | Monitoring zur Digitalkompetenz der Bevölkerung
Achim Lauber
,
Anja Hartung-Griemberg
,
Cornelia Bogen
,
Dagmar Hoffmann
,
Kathrin Demmler
,
Kerstin Heinemann
,
Laura Cousseran
,
Laura Sūna
,
Niels Brüggen
Ziel des Projekts „Digitales Deutschland | Monitoring zur Digitalkompetenz der Bevölkerung“ ist es, Grundlagen für die Kompetenzförderung der Gesamtbevölkerung angesichts der Digitalisierung zu schaffen. Digitales Deutschland bereitet Studien und Fachliteratur in einer Datenbank auf und erarbeitet weitere empirische Studien und Expertisen. Das Projektmagazin „kompetent“ beleuchtet aktuelle Debatten und Begriffe – verständlich und kompakt. Seit 2020 liegt darüber hinaus ein besonderer Schwerpunkt auf dem Themenbereich Künstliche Intelligenz.
Intergedi research project for the study of digital discourse in English as part of academic and professional practices
location(s):
Zaragoza (Spain)
based at the University of Zaragoza
InterGedi is a group of researchers devoted to the study of digital discourse in English as part of academic and professional practices, taking varied theoretical and methodological approaches. Current project: SciDis exploring verbal and non-verbal mechanisms and strategies used by scientists to recontextualise and adapt scientific expert digital communication in English for diversified audiences.
Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies
Tampere University
,
University of Jyväskylä
,
University of Turku
The Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies is a joint project between researchers from the Tampere University, University of Turku, and the University of Jyväskylä. Across these institutions, over 30 researchers from the humanities, social sciences and technical sciences are engaged in exploring topics related to the research themes of the centre.
Diversity, Decolonization, & the German Curriculum (DDGC) Collective
Ervin Malakaj
,
Regine Criser
Diversity, Decolonization, & the German Curriculum (DDGC) is a scholarly collective and forum for transnational and transdisciplinary German studies. Members of the collective recognize that oppression persists today around the world and commit to teaching and scholarship in the service of ending oppression. Routinely, this oppression expresses itself as intersectional violence against people, based upon Racialization: through racism, anti-Blackness, colorism, ethnicization, settler practices, Indigenous erasure, and white supremacy; Regimes of embodiment: through normative sex, gender, sexuality, ableism; Elite social distinctions: through class, caste, educational credentialing, deskilling, neoliberal competition, and extreme meritocracy; Regimes of expression: through language, accent, native-speakerism, delanguaging, intellectual pedigree; Regimes of civic order: through citizenship, nationalism, status vulnerability, ascriptions of permanence and impermanence; anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish fear-mongering; Regimes of deprivation: through wealth, debt, impoverishment, structural precarity, involuntary volunteerism, and coercive entrepreneurial individualism.
Digital Methods Initiative (DMI)
location(s):
Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Richard Rogers
The Digital Methods Initiative (DMI) is one of Europe's leading Internet Studies research groups. Comprised of new media researchers and PhD candidates, it designs methods and tools for repurposing online devices and platforms (such as Twitter, Facebook and Google) for research into social and political issues. Digital Methods research themes include: Links, likes and other natively digital objects | Websites as archived objects | Engine critique and search as research | Cross-spherical analysis as comparative media studies | National web studies | Wikipedia as cultural reference | Social media data, post-demographics and platform studies | Digital methods for issue mapping | Digital methods theory | Visual media analysis | Alt-tech network mapping
Netzwerk kritische Migrations- und Grenzregimeforschung (kritnet)
Labor für kritische Migrations- und Grenzregimeforschung am Insitut für Kulturanthropologie / Europäische Ethnologie Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
An der Schnittstelle zwischen Wissenschaft, Aktivismus und Kunst eröffnet das “Netzwerk kritische Migrations- und Grenzregimeforschung” (kritnet) einen interdisziplinären und reflexiven Wissensraum, in dem kritische Perspektiven auf Migrations- und Grenzregime erarbeitet, diskutiert und weiterentwickelt werden.