Welcome to a K3 seminar with Line Henriksen, Post-Doctoral Researcher in Media and Communication Studies, K3.

At the seminar, Line will present the research project she works on while at K3. The title of the talk is: The Digital Gothic. Rethinking Ethics, Media and Monsters in a Digital Age

The seminar will take place at 10.15-12.00 on December 1. It will be an online seminar. Please join here: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/65464972230).

Below you will find an abstract for the talk and a short biography of Line:

Abstract

Recent years have seen a proliferation of online stories that combine the Gothic – a literary genre preoccupied with the supernatural and the unknown, usually expressed through the manifestations of monsters and ghosts – and the digital. Such narratives, here referred to as the Digital Gothic, primarily revolve round the supposed risks of copying, sharing and responding to digital files. Considering how monsters traditionally embody a given moment’s cultural anxieties, what anxieties regarding the uses of digital technologies might the monsters that haunt digital media indicate? Further still, considering how the current moment is marked by vast, abstract events such as climate change and pandemics, can the monsters of digital media teach us how to relate to such anxiety-inducing yet ghostly terrains? Through analyses of digital ghost stories and tales of monsters as well as through the framework of hauntology – an otology of hauntings –  I explore the digital gothic not as a contained phenomenon, but as a product of and response to its contemporary (haunted) moment.

Bio:

Line Henriksen is a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Arts and Communication, Malmö University, and affiliated with MEDEA Lab. She holds a PhD in Gender Studies from Linköping University, and an MA in Modern Culture and Cultural Communication from the University of Copenhagen. She is currently working on the research project ‘The Digital Gothic: Rethinking ethics, media and monsters in a digital age’ funded by The Crafoord Foundation, and she is co-organizer and co-creator of the project ‘Monsters of the Anthropocene’ at the Oslo School of Environmental Humanities. Her research interests revolve around subjects such as monster theory, hauntology, creative methods and digital storytelling, and she is co-founder of the international research and art network The Monster Network.

Welcome to a K3 seminar with Maria Brock, Post-Doctoral Researcher in Media and Communication Studies, K3.

At the seminar, Maria will present the research project she will work on while at K3. The title of the talk is: The Child as Cipher for a Politics of “Traditional Values” in the Anti-Gender movement. A Comparative Study of Russia and Germany.

The seminar will take place at 10.15-12.00 on November 17. It will be possible to take part via Zoom (https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/65428305056), but we hope to also make it possible to attend the seminar in Niagara. More info on this next week.

Below you will find an abstract for the talk and a short biography of Maria:

Abstract

The recent rise of illiberal, conservative and right-wing populist movements poses an acute threat to democracy and equality in Europe. One pervasive but underresearched strand of these movements advocates ‘traditional family values’, in particular conservative sexual and gender politics, in the name of protecting children. l plan to fill this research gap through interdisciplinary research examining the discursive construction of the child as the ultimate site of vulnerability and risk, and hence in need of protection and policy intervention. The irrational or affective component of such discourses calls for an approach capable of accounting for their emotive force or ‘grip’. This proposal aims to develop such an approach, combining insights and methodology from political discourse theory, media studies and psychosocial studies. The research is characterised by a significant comparative dimension, analysing discourses by conservative, ‘pro-traditional family values’ actors, from politicians to activists, in Germany and Russia.

Bio

With a Phd in Psychosocial Studies from Birkbeck (University of London), and a background in Russian Studies, much of my research is preoccupied with the discursive and psychosocial dynamics of transitional and post-transitional societies, often focusing on the former Eastern Bloc. Another, connected strand of my work examines misogynist, anti-feminist and anti-LGBTQ violence. Previous and upcoming publications have for example looked at the material and psychic remains of socialism, Camp and post-Soviet pop, Pussy Riot and negative societal mobilisation, the vicissitudes of queer (in)visibility in Russia, and networked misogyny and right-wing extremism (with our own Tina Askanius!). In my presentation I will give an overview of my Horizon 2020 project, with snapshots of where I am in my research right now.

Welcome to a K3 seminar with David Kadish, artist and research assistant at the Egocentric Interaction Research Group at Malmö University:

The title of the talk is: Endemic Machines. Robots as Ecosystem Agents

The seminar will take place at 10.15-12.00 on November 10. It will be a Zoom meeting: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/61860118757.

More info on David and his talk below:

Bio/Self-Presentation

I am an artist and research assistant at the Egocentric Interaction Research Group at Malmö University. I recently completed my PhD at the IT University of Copenhagen with a thesis titled Endemic Machines: Acoustic Adaptation and Evolutionary Agents. My artwork and academic research engage with feedback, complexity, and the emergence of patterns and relationships, particularly as these topics relate to the intersection of machines and biological ecosystems. The work in this seminar relates to a paper that is in progress and some ideas for future research, so I am looking forward to critical feedback and discussion about the work!

Abstract

Endemic Machines is a research project that explores the conceptualization and design of machines that form a relationship with an ecosystem by evolving within and alongside that ecosystem. The first prototype of such a machine was the Rowdy Krause, an evolutionary acoustic agent that is designed to find its own vocalization that fits and contributes to an existing soundscape. This main portion of this talk examines the concept of endemic machines through the Rowdy Krause, and draws on research in soundscape ecology, artificial life, and artificial intelligence, to build an interdisciplinary view of machine engagement with an existing soundscape.

A second portion of the seminar turns to a proposal for future work on endemic machines. Here, the sonic is substituted for the chemical senses associated with smell as a machine explores the olfactory landscape of an ecosystem. This shift enables a corresponding move away from sonifying animals and towards a broader spectrum of biological life that includes plants, fungi, and animals that sense and produce olfactory and pheromonal signals.

Welcome to a K3 seminar:

Research Impact. A follow-up

In the spring we devoted two seminars to the question of research impact; to what it is and how to make it visible. It is a question with increasing relevance for how research environments are being evaluated, and it is of increasing relevance for the evaluation of research applications. Consequently, this means that the question of impact also will have an impact on what kinds of research we will be able to conduct at all in the future.

Since the spring seminars, The Swedish Research Council (VR) has commissioned an evaluation of the impact of Swedish research environments dealing with political science: Quality and impact of research in political science in Sweden (https://www.vr.se/download/18.7b65b60f17b8a8f26a8200/1630935199411/Quality%20and%20impact%20of%20research%20in%20political%20science%20in%20Sweden_VR2021.pdf). This can be seen as a case study in what it is that can be evaluated, and how it is evaluated. But it has been heavily criticized.

At our seminar, Patrik Hall, professor of political science at MaU, will initially give us his reflections on the evaluation. Please have a look at it beforehand. We will then continue to discuss how we would like to regard the question of research impact at K3, with the goal being to come up with a strategic document.

The seminar will take place at 10.15-12.00 on November 3. It will be a Zoom meeting: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/65606379317.

Welcome to a K3 seminar:

Another year, another research application, part two

At this seminar, Carolina Jonsson Malm from the MaU Grants Office will talk about the support they can give when writing research applications.

But the main topic will be the presentation of pitches for research application ideas. Six K3 researches will give five minute pitches of ideas for research applications, and we will then discuss the ideas.

This will be an online seminar, carried out through Zoom, and it will take place on Wednesday, October 20 at 10.15-12.00. Please join here: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/62789508649

The seminar with Anna Seravalli titled Becoming a Docent (or Trying to): A Seminar to Unravel the Technicalities and Various Dilemmas of Writing a Docent/Associate Professor Application in Design (or Another K3 Field) has been moved from October 27 to December 15 (same time). The seminar with Hugo Boothby, scheduled for that time, is moved to the spring.

Welcome to a K3 seminar with Roel Roscam Abbing. Please not that the seminar has been moved and will now take place on Monday, October 11 at 15.00-17.00.

The title of the seminar is Learning from and designing with federated social networks.

This is Roel’s 25 percent PhD seminar and the discussant is Robert Gehl,  the F. Jay Taylor Endowed Research Chair of Communication at Louisiana Tech University. It is a joint seminar between K3 and the Data Society Research Programme.

This will be an online seminar. Please join here: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/67993683034?pwd=azFKV0g0Zm4xdDRKSEJIN0JkaGREZz09

Below you will find an abstract for the seminar. If you would like a copy of Roel’s manuscript, please mail him at roel.roscam-abbing@mau.se

Abstract

The submitted work presents 25% progress towards a PhD in Interaction Design. The project is an inquiry in to novel architectures for on-line collectivity. In particular, it investigates what lessons can be drawn from federated social networks when it comes to creating alternative platform ecosystems. It does so from an interdisciplinary perspective, combining insights from software studies, media theory and design.

In particular, the work is based on in-depth accounts and engagements with the ‘fediverse’, a network of federated, alternative social media platforms and the communities that sustain them. Although small compared to mainstream platforms, the alternative social media that make up the ‘fediverse’ represent a compelling case where contemporary debates about user agency, content moderation and power distribution in corporate social media can be compared and contrasted to.

Through so-called activations, which are practical engagements of building alternative platforms in collaboration with stakeholders, the research explores how federated social platforms can be used as a design material to build community-owned platforms around. In doing so, it tries to understand the affordances of on-line federation for platform design but also explores how this intersects with the needs of users and institutions.

Welcome to a K3 seminar with Anuradha Reddy, Post-Doctoral Researcher in Interaction Design, K3.

The title of the seminar is Creative Leaps with AI through Critical Making.

This will be an online seminar, carried out through Zoom, and it will take place on Wednesday, September 22 at 10.15-12.00. Please join here: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/68487148015

Anuradha writes:

Based on my postdoc research, in this K3 seminar, I will present the main argument for a journal article I’m attempting titled “Artificial Everyday Creativity: Creative Leaps with AI through Critical Making.” I’m in the process of finalizing the draft, and I would appreciate your feedback! If you’d like to access the complete draft before the seminar, please email me (anuradha.reddy@mau.se).   

Abstract

The capabilities of humans and AI systems to imagine and perform alongside one another has given rise to new practices of ‘artificial creativity’. In this article, I argue that artificial creativity, where creativity is understood in the everyday sense of the term, shows the potential to empower individuals to interface and critically dialogue with computational systems. Reframed as artificial ‘everyday’ creativity, I focus attention on the curious, joyful and queer modes of creativity using hybrid materials for developing alternative pedagogies of code and computation. Through the interdisciplinary approach of ‘critical making’, I engage in hands-on design experimentation, i.e. crafting two unconventionally-coded artefacts that dialogue with AI systems, namely CryptoCrochet-Key and Internet of Towels. These artefacts are analysed through a four-pronged creativity framework to understand and reflect on the material translation processes underlying the artificial everyday creativity experiments. With rising concerns about AI’s role in misinformation, bias and discrimination, the discussion explores the generative value and limitations of artificial everyday creativity towards the broader goals of civic data literacy and user empowerment.

The K3 fall series program is now available. Click on the link on the bar above

The K3 seminar with Anuradha Reddy, scheduled for May 26, is postponed until the fall.