RMeS Summer School 2025: Media Transformations

When: 25, 26 & 27 June 2025
Where: VU University and Open University
Organizers: Prof. Damian Trilling (VU), Dr Tim van der Heijden (OU), Dr Tim Groot Kormelink (VU), Dr Kenza Lamot (VU), Dr Klaas de Zwaan (VU), Dr Sebastian Scholz (VU), Dr Eline Huiberts (OU), Dr Bregt Lameris (OU), Lesley Verbeek, MA (OU)
For: PhD Candidates and Research master students who are a member of a Dutch Graduate Research School (onderzoekschool). Students who are members of RMeS will have first access.
ECTS: 2 ECTS / 5 ECTS

Registration will open on 17 February 2025 VIA THIS LINK
Register before June 1, 2025. When registering, please specify if you intend to obtain 2 or 5 EC.

Confirmed keynote speakers:

• Professor Andreas Hepp (University of Bremen)
• Dr Sarah-Mai Dang (Philipps-Universität Marburg)
• Laurens Vreekamp (Journalist Villamedia and founder Future Journalism Today)

In today’s rapidly evolving digital societies, media are not only ubiquitous but also increasingly reshaping the ways we communicate, create, and understand the world. From the rise of datafication and generative AI to an increased platformization and participatory news production, the media landscape is undergoing profound transformations. This does not only impact people’s lives, but also challenges us as researchers, who are forced to find ways to  navigate a rapidly evolving field. Questions we used to have an answer to seem to be re-opened, and new questions emerge. How can we foster media literacy in an age of algorithmically-curated realities? How can journalism adapt to evolving media consumption habits – and how can we study this? What new possibilities can generative artificial intelligence offer for digital storytelling techniques? But also, how can we tackle the ethical challenges that come with these techniques? And ultimately, how does also the way we do research transform – such as the increasing implementation of principles and practices of Open Science?

This RMeS Summer School on the theme of Media Transformations invites PhD candidates and Research Master students to explore these questions and critically reflect on these media transformations and their societal implications. Through a combination of keynote lectures, interactive workshops, and collaborative activities, participants will engage with leading international scholars and practitioners. The Summer School provides a unique platform for emerging scholars to discuss, critique, and reimagine media’s role in a rapidly changing world, fostering new insights and collaborations. Join us to explore how media transformations are shaping our societies, cultures, and futures!

Reading materials for the keynote lectures and workshops will be distributed beforehand. Participants aiming to earn 5 ECTS credits are encouraged to present their paper ideas during the corresponding workshops. A detailed programme will be accessible in April 2025.

More information will follow soon.