25 November 2024 | University of Amsterdam
Since its inception in the 1950s, the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been nurtured by the dream that it will lead to forms of consciousness and intelligence similar or alternative to human life. Yet, AI might be more accurately described as a range of technologies providing a convincing illusion of intelligence – in other words, not much the creation of intelligent beings, but rather of technologies that are perceived by humans as such.
15 November 2024 | University of Amsterdam
In today’s world of rapid technological change and increasing polarization, humanities skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving have never been more essential. As we seek to translate our value as researchers working across media and cultural studies into broader societal debates, it becomes crucial to reflect on how we actually define and practice these skills within our disciplines. What value do we truly bring with our research? What values are embedded within our own work, and how do these values clash or align with those in other fields, industries, and sectors?
This event is designed to help young researchers, particularly PhDs and RMas, reflect on their role both in society and within the academic community. We will address the question of how to effectively engage with contemporary issues and foster societal change from a humanities-based perspective.
In the sixth episode of Talk Media to Me, PhD Council member Bjorn Beijnon (UvA) talks to Nick van Hummel (RU) about his research on children and their media usage. They discuss how identity is socially and relationally constructed by children when interacting with media. Simultaneously, they also explore how differences in the fields of […]
4 November 2024 | University of Amsterdam
This workshop aims to encourage researchers to consider cultural workers’ – or even individual citizens’ – daily production practices and experiences on digital platforms by combining theories of platform(ised) creative labour and participatory surveillance. The phenomenon of negotiating digital visibility is universal across countries yet contextualised in specific cultural and political conditions. By studying practices that traverse national boundaries and considering how comparable phenomena are manifest in diverging contexts, critical and decentralised analysis can be produced.
1 November 2024 | University of Groningen
Join us for a comprehensive, full-day in-person masterclass that delves into the growing significance of online interviewing as a research method. Tailored to the specific needs of participants, this masterclass will cover key topics such as comparing online and offline interviewing approaches, addressing ethical considerations unique to online research, and providing practical strategies for conducting effective online interviews.
November – December 2025 | Utrecht University
In this ‘Platformisation’ course, we will explore the transformational impact of platformisation on different public and private domains of our digital society. Each afternoon will be dedicated to the analysis, research and discussion of the platformisation of one or two of these domains, based on the expertise of various guest speakers.
November-December 2024 | Leiden University
In this course students examine media theoretical dimensions of practices at the intersection of art, science and technology. Materiality has always been of particular importance for the arts as its qualities contribute actively to perception and hence the ‘work’ of art. Today’s technologies make possible activation of latent capacities of matter in numerous novel and thought-provoking ways. Soft robotics, genetic modification, bio-based materials, and ‘internet of forest’ are among the many examples of hybridity between living and nonliving matter and the realm of information.
29 & 30 January 2025 | Maastricht University
Confirmed keynote speaker: Professor Lauren Klein (Emory University)
The RMeS winter school offers PhD and RMA students the opportunity to present their current work, and receive feedback from their peers and senior scholars. Presentations can be on any topic students are working on and would like to get feedback on, ranging from chapter and article drafts to research proposals. Students will as much as possible be matched with reviewers that have expertise on their topic.
February – March 2025 | Utrecht University
Each spring, the Research School for Media Studies offers a Trending Topics course where faculty members from ten participating universities (UvA, UU, VU, EUR, UL, UM, RUG, RUN, TU, OU) present the latest research in their fields of interest through a series of lectures and workshops. The course invites RMA students to participate in an international, cutting edge research environment, while earning credits towards their degree. It presents a unique opportunity to get to know other students and leading academics from all over The Netherlands, in an open setting of engaging and ambitious exchange that would prove particularly fruitful for students who are aspiring to pursue a future career in academic research or teaching.
April – May 2025 | Erasmus University Rotterdam
This course examines the complex layers of digital activism, with a particular focus on Instagram. As digital technologies become integral to mobilizing for collective action and advocating for political transformation, it is crucial that we critically investigate the impacts of these phenomena upon contemporary forms of political participation and civic engagement.
Masterclass: Machines of deception: Artificial intelligence and social life after the Turing test
/in RMeS News /by Chantal25 November 2024 | University of Amsterdam
Since its inception in the 1950s, the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been nurtured by the dream that it will lead to forms of consciousness and intelligence similar or alternative to human life. Yet, AI might be more accurately described as a range of technologies providing a convincing illusion of intelligence – in other words, not much the creation of intelligent beings, but rather of technologies that are perceived by humans as such.
NICAxRMeS Young Researcher Career Event: Finding Your Value(s) in Society
/in RMeS News /by Chantal15 November 2024 | University of Amsterdam
In today’s world of rapid technological change and increasing polarization, humanities skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving have never been more essential. As we seek to translate our value as researchers working across media and cultural studies into broader societal debates, it becomes crucial to reflect on how we actually define and practice these skills within our disciplines. What value do we truly bring with our research? What values are embedded within our own work, and how do these values clash or align with those in other fields, industries, and sectors?
This event is designed to help young researchers, particularly PhDs and RMas, reflect on their role both in society and within the academic community. We will address the question of how to effectively engage with contemporary issues and foster societal change from a humanities-based perspective.
Talk Media to Me S03E06: Children and Media
/in RMeS News /by Karlijn AchterbergIn the sixth episode of Talk Media to Me, PhD Council member Bjorn Beijnon (UvA) talks to Nick van Hummel (RU) about his research on children and their media usage. They discuss how identity is socially and relationally constructed by children when interacting with media. Simultaneously, they also explore how differences in the fields of […]
RMeS Workshop Cautious labour: Exploring cultural workers’ negotiation of digital visibility in the era of promotional and surveillance culture
/in RMeS News /by Chantal4 November 2024 | University of Amsterdam
This workshop aims to encourage researchers to consider cultural workers’ – or even individual citizens’ – daily production practices and experiences on digital platforms by combining theories of platform(ised) creative labour and participatory surveillance. The phenomenon of negotiating digital visibility is universal across countries yet contextualised in specific cultural and political conditions. By studying practices that traverse national boundaries and considering how comparable phenomena are manifest in diverging contexts, critical and decentralised analysis can be produced.
RMeS Masterclass: Online interviewing as a research method
/in RMeS News /by Chantal1 November 2024 | University of Groningen
Join us for a comprehensive, full-day in-person masterclass that delves into the growing significance of online interviewing as a research method. Tailored to the specific needs of participants, this masterclass will cover key topics such as comparing online and offline interviewing approaches, addressing ethical considerations unique to online research, and providing practical strategies for conducting effective online interviews.
RMeS RMa course: Platformisation: Transforming key economic sectors and spheres of life
/in RMeS News /by ChantalNovember – December 2025 | Utrecht University
In this ‘Platformisation’ course, we will explore the transformational impact of platformisation on different public and private domains of our digital society. Each afternoon will be dedicated to the analysis, research and discussion of the platformisation of one or two of these domains, based on the expertise of various guest speakers.
RMeS RMa Course: Matters of Media in Art-Science: between the organic and the digital
/in RMeS News /by ChantalNovember-December 2024 | Leiden University
In this course students examine media theoretical dimensions of practices at the intersection of art, science and technology. Materiality has always been of particular importance for the arts as its qualities contribute actively to perception and hence the ‘work’ of art. Today’s technologies make possible activation of latent capacities of matter in numerous novel and thought-provoking ways. Soft robotics, genetic modification, bio-based materials, and ‘internet of forest’ are among the many examples of hybridity between living and nonliving matter and the realm of information.
RMeS Winter School & Graduate Symposium 2024-25
/in RMeS News /by Chantal29 & 30 January 2025 | Maastricht University
Confirmed keynote speaker: Professor Lauren Klein (Emory University)
The RMeS winter school offers PhD and RMA students the opportunity to present their current work, and receive feedback from their peers and senior scholars. Presentations can be on any topic students are working on and would like to get feedback on, ranging from chapter and article drafts to research proposals. Students will as much as possible be matched with reviewers that have expertise on their topic.
RMeS RMa Course: Trending Topics – Engaging Objects
/in RMeS News /by ChantalFebruary – March 2025 | Utrecht University
Each spring, the Research School for Media Studies offers a Trending Topics course where faculty members from ten participating universities (UvA, UU, VU, EUR, UL, UM, RUG, RUN, TU, OU) present the latest research in their fields of interest through a series of lectures and workshops. The course invites RMA students to participate in an international, cutting edge research environment, while earning credits towards their degree. It presents a unique opportunity to get to know other students and leading academics from all over The Netherlands, in an open setting of engaging and ambitious exchange that would prove particularly fruitful for students who are aspiring to pursue a future career in academic research or teaching.
RMeS RMa Course: Studying digital activism: Discourses, practices, and politics
/in RMeS News /by ChantalApril – May 2025 | Erasmus University Rotterdam
This course examines the complex layers of digital activism, with a particular focus on Instagram. As digital technologies become integral to mobilizing for collective action and advocating for political transformation, it is crucial that we critically investigate the impacts of these phenomena upon contemporary forms of political participation and civic engagement.