ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Call for book chapters

Deadline: March 31, 2025

Key info:

Abstracts (500-600 words) + bio (100 words) due 31st March 2025.

Chapters (6-8,000 words) due 31st July 2025.

To be published with Amsterdam University Press.

Book editors: Dr Bettina Bódi (University of Birmingham), Dr Agata Waszkiewicz (Catholic University of Lublin).

We are seeking chapter contributions for an edited volume published by Amsterdam University Press, tentatively titled Cozy Media. The book will investigate the various meanings of coziness across media.

Over the last five years, the adjective cozy has become more commonly used to describe comfort brought by media and their users’ experiences. After the global Covid-19 pandemic, the popularity of cozy in journalistic and social media discourse increased. It is now often used to describe video games, novels, playlists of low-fi or otherwise chill music, ASMR videos designed to help one unwind and relax, reality television shows centering crafting, cooking, tinkering, and fishing, or lifestyle social media influencers creating content on pre-digital hobbies, romanticizing the everyday and the mundane, from tradwives to BookTok.

There is currently a lack of research into cozy media’s specific characteristics, origins, design, and experience and its place within contemporary culture. Notably, in videogame discourse journalists (Campbell 2022; The Escapist 2022) and academics (Boudreau, Consalvo and Phelps 2025; Bódi 2023; De Pan and Bosman, 2024; Waszkiewicz and Bakun 2020) have recently begun to explicitly discuss the phenomenon. However, what little research there is beyond these outliers exists in disparate disciplines, and it is generally tangential in its engagement with coziness specifically. There exists, for instance, research on ‘chill’ playlists and watchlists (Anderson 2015; Rekret 2019), ambient media (Burdon 2023; Roquet 2016; Kim-Cohen 2013), ASMR (Gallagher 2016, 2019; Smith and Snider 2019), which often draw upon and intersect with theories of media aesthetics, affect and care (Chun 2016; Clough 2018; Groys 2022; Ngai 2012; The Care Collective 2020). However, there are yet to be substantive attempts to understand and theorize coziness as a popular experience and a distinct characteristic of our media era.

And thus, drawing inspiration from the foundational definition of cozy games as evoking “the fantasy of safety, abundance, and softness” (Short 2018), through this volume, we invite scholars to critically investigate how coziness is conceptualized, represented, and experienced across various media, from literature to film, music, television, social media, and beyond. 

What we’re looking for 

What does coziness mean across media, such as television, film, social media, or music and sound? What core elements of coziness are consistent across media? How do its manifestations differ? How has the proliferation of cozy on social media shaped its cultural and aesthetic meanings since the COVID-19 pandemic? How can we trace the intricate network of influences between different media, but also from outside such as interior design, architecture, and other domains where cozy appears? What are the similarities and differences of coziness across different geographical and cultural contexts?

We invite academics, researchers, students, and industry experts to submit book chapter abstracts of 500-600 words (excluding references) and a 100-word author bio.

Submissions might take inspiration from the following themes:

• Definitions and genealogies of coziness across media
  
• Cozy as an aesthetic quality vs marketing buzzword; cozy art vs cozy advertising
  
• Close readings of cozy (in) media texts
  
• Materiality, crafts, and representation of cozy hobbies in media
  
• The politics of coziness across media: cozy activism; cozy and gender, race, class, and (dis)ability
  
• Coziness as self-care; cozy and mental health across media
  
• Cozy across different national, cultural, and religious contexts
  
• Coziness and nature – romanticisation of and nostalgia for pre-industrial times
  
• Cozification of algorithms – mood-management in streaming platforms
  
• Dark (sides of) coziness
  
• • cozy aesthetics as a vehicle for disinformation, monetization, pacification, radicalisation
  • Cozy horror, cozy and the gothic
• The future of cozy gaming/watching/reading/listening
  

You can also find the call for chapters on the newly launched website for our Cozy Media Network here.

Kind regards,

Bettina Bódi & Agata Waszkiewicz

School of Communications at Dublin City University

The School of Communications at Dublin City University (DCU) has an opening for two funded PhD scholarships (across a four-year duration). As well as a tax-free stipend of €25,000 plus fees, we also support our students with funding for conference travel and paid teaching experience as part of their career development 

Funding amount: €25,000 pa plus fee waiver

Duration: 4 years, full-time

Deadline: 31 March 2025

Start date: September 2025 

In this call, we invite applications in the following thematic areas:

• Identities and Cultural Production in the Digital Age
  
• Hybrid Sounds, Digital Shifts & Global Music Economies
  

Applicants are invited to submit:

• A 2,000-word research proposal 
  
• A brief CV detailing academic qualifications and professional experience to date
  
• A personal statement
  

More details on the thematic areas addressed by the call and on how to apply are available at: https://www.dcu.ie/communications/phd-scholarships-call-2025

Catherine Bouko

Routledge (2024) 

This book explores visual political engagement online – how citizens participate in the dynamism of life in society by expressing their opinions and emotions on various issues of democratic life in image-based social media posts, independently of collective actions.

Looking beyond large digital social movements to focus on the everyday, the book provides a well-documented and comprehensive framework of key notions, concrete methods and examples of empirical insights into everyday visual citizenship on social media. It shows how the visual has become ubiquitous in citizens’ communication on social media, focusing on how citizens use visual content to express their emotions and opinions on social media platforms when they discuss politics in a large sense.

With this book, every reader interested in political communication, visual communication and/or new media is fully equipped to analyse everyday visual citizenship on social media platforms.

You can read or download it via this link: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mono/10.4324/9781003398806/visual-citizenship-catherine-bouko?context=ubx&refId=1fc44635-7e76-45f2-9d1a-5f223398b591

October 29-30, 2025

Madrid (Spain)/Hybrid

Deadline: September 15, 2025

Following the success of the inaugural event in November 2023, the 2nd European Congress on Disinformation and Fact-Checking is back and will take place on 29 - 30 October 2025 to convene experts, scholars, journalists, policymakers, and practitioners to address the evolving challenges of disinformation in Europe and beyond. Building upon the foundation laid by the first congress, which emphasized the multifaceted impact of disinformation and the importance of international collaboration, this year's event aims to further explore innovative strategies for combating false information and enhancing fact-checking practices.

Call for abstracts 

Researchers and professionals from various disciplines are invited to contribute to the discourse on addressing dis/misinformation and proposing solutions for promoting reliable information. Interdisciplinary research that combines the expertise of tech and computer scientists with social scientists, as well as other disinformation-related professionals, is highly encouraged. Topics of interest for paper submissions include, but are not limited to: 

• Assessing the authenticity of online information in the age of deepfakes and synthetic media
  
• Evolving challenges posed by generative AI in disinformation and fact-checking
  
• Advanced strategies for debunking dis/misinformation in an AI-driven information landscape
  
• The role of social media platforms in amplifying fake news, rumors, and their societal impact
  
• New machine learning methods, evaluation techniques, and datasets for detecting dis/misinformation
  
• Enhancing media literacy to fight against manipulated content and deepfake misinformation
  
• Fact-checking automation: Opportunities and risks of AI-driven verification tools
  
• Dis/misinformation, political polarization, and its evolving influence on public opinion
  
• The impact of misinformation on global crises: Health, climate, and geopolitics
  
• Cognitive biases, psychological characteristics, and the spread of misinformation
  
• Ethical considerations in AI-assisted information verification
  
• Techniques for ensuring access to and retrieval of verified, genuine online information
  
• Case studies on disinformation and fact-checking explored across various fields, including the electoral process, public health, climate change, geopolitical conflicts, financial markets, and emerging technologies.
  
• Research and funding opportunities for combating disinformation and enhancing fact-checking

Authors of accepted abstracts will have the opportunity to present their work either online or in person during the congress. Additionally, they will be offered the chance to contribute to the book to be published by a renowned editorial.

For detailed submission instructions and deadlines, please visit the official Call for Abstracts page: https://www.disinformation.es/call-for-papers

About the Organizers

The congress is organized by UC3M MediaLab, with financial support from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities in Spain. This collaboration underscores the commitment to fostering a media ecosystem that upholds transparency, accountability, and democratic values.

For more information about the congress, including program details and registration, please visit the official website: https://www.disinformation.es/2025EUCongressDISINFO 

Contact Information:

UC3M MediaLab - Office 17.2.23

Madrid University Carlos III

Calle Madrid 133

Getafe, Madrid 28903 Spain

Email: info@disinformation.es

Phone: +34 916248608

X: @UC3MediaLab

May 14-15, 2025

University of Sheffield, UK 

Deadline (EXTENDED): February 28, 2025

Over the past decades, digitalization and sustainability have emerged as two of the most significant global trends, yet they have largely developed independently. Digitalization is proposed as a solution to address global sustainability challenges such as climate change, environmental pollution, and biodiversity loss (United Nations 2018; Dwivedi et al. 2022). Nevertheless, technologies such as AI are partial and deceptive solutions to the planetary crises if their sustainability is not addressed.

Alarming figures from scientific research have highlighted the detrimental environmental effects of digitalization and datafication. The environmental impacts of digitalization are significant and growing, with rising electricity consumption, water usage, and emissions from devices, networks, and data centers (Gelenbe, 2023; Lange et al., 2023; Li et al., 2023). Moreover, the extraction of critical minerals for digital devices as well as planned obsolescence and poor recycling cause severe ecological harm, particularly in the Global South (Lange et al., 2023).

Although societies want digital technologies to serve the social good, there has been far more focus on environmental harms of digital technologies than sustainable alternatives. In this symposium, we ask what a sustainable digital society looks like and how we get there. What kind of research is needed to make the digital future more sustainable? 

The interdisciplinary symposium will include paper presentations, a workshop, and keynote talk. We welcome different types of presentations: theoretical, empirical, and methodological research papers, “work-in-progress”, practice-based responses, and “wildcards” (suggest your own presentation type).

Proposals may respond to, but are not limited by, the following themes:

• Conceptual frameworks and vocabularies for studying good digital sustainability
  
• Rethinking digital efficiency from a planetary perspective
  
• The ethics of resource-intensive technologies (e.g. AI)
  
• Alternative visions of sustainable digital society
  
• Sustainable practices in digital industries and digital everyday life
  
• Policy innovations and interventions for addressing digital unsustainability 
  
• Innovative and/or speculative methods for digital sustainability research
  
• Art-science collaboration, design prototypes, or games on digital sustainability
  

Please submit your proposal (200-250 words) with a brief bio via email to minna.vigren@lut.fi by 28 February 2025. 

Details: 

When: 14-15, May 2025

Where: The Edge, 34 Endcliffe Crescent, Sheffield. S10 3ED (University of Sheffield campus). 

Participation fee: £120, or £90 for PhD students.The fee covers symposium attendance, refreshments, lunches and an evening meal on the first day. Travel and accommodation are not covered.

For questions and more information, please contact minna.vigren@lut.fi. 

The symposium is a collaboration between the ESRC Digital Good Network and the Imagining Sustainable Digital Futures project (Research Council of Finland, 2022-2025).

Organizing committee: Minna Vigren, Dorothea Kleine, Preeti Raghunath, and Thomas Wright

September 8-10, 2025 

Deadline (EXTENDED): March 7, 2025

Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey

(ALSO: PhD pre-conference - 7 September 2025 - details to be circulated separately)

ECREA Radio and Sound Section

Media Department, Faculty of Communication, Istanbul Bilgi University, Santral Istanbul Campus 

Abstract Submission site: https://ecrearadioandsound2025.org/

Keynote Speaker: Professor Mia Lindgren, University of Tasmania

Conference theme:

This conference aims to examine the past, present, and evolving role of radio around the world within a dynamic global media landscape. We will highlight the transformation of radio from a static entity to an adaptive component of the larger media ecosystem, continually reshaping itself in response to socio-political, economic, and technological changes. In the early 20th century, radio played an important role in the establishment and development of nation-states — especially militarily, economically, politically, and linguistically. Today, it is ubiquitous in various forms, multi-faceted, and present throughout the world. With the advent of artificial intelligence and non-human presenters, along with rising public mistrust and the prevalence of disinformation, radio faces new pressures to evolve. Nevertheless, radio endures as a critical medium, especially during global conflicts, where it serves as a source or way of communication for the different parties to the conflict as well as for the diaspora communities. 

Starting from this premise, we invite papers that help conceptualise “radio” as a cog in a changing wheel and focus on the dynamics that have shaped, over time and across the globe, the role of radio, be these roles assumed, attributed, or presumed by both broadcasters and listeners and be these radios private, public, university, community, clandestine, political, and more. We seek papers which explore the resilience and ongoing transformation of radio, emphasising its vital role in a shifting media environment and welcome interdisciplinary perspectives. We also welcome papers that contribute to investigating the various roles and forms that radio has occupied, as well as the various topics it has tackled since its inception to the present day across different political, geographical, economic, and cultural contexts. We are particularly interested in exploring the contexts and reasons behind these evolutions.

Furthermore, we aim to understand how the materiality of what is sometimes too quickly labelled as “radio” has evolved. Our goal is to investigate radio's transition from live, real-time broadcasting to a platform that accommodates on-demand audio formats and genres, working alongside podcasts, streaming, and downloadable content. This evolution has rebranded the industry as "audio" or "sound media", showcasing new capacities for audiences to listen almost whenever and wherever they want, thanks to the Internet and associated technologies. 

We particularly welcome conceptual and theoretical proposals that address the place of podcasts, radio and sound studies in academic landscapes. These fields are tackled by researchers from various disciplines, from engineers to art researchers, and are mobilised to explore many topics, from the role they could play in war contexts to their place in the artistic and cultural development of groups and nations. The rise of podcasts has notably transformed how researchers disseminate scientific knowledge and engage in reflection on their methodologies and dissemination processes. The conference will specifically address these ongoing developments.

Lastly, we invite practitioners in the fields of radio and sound studies who are eager to combine their reflections with those of academics. By merging practical insights with theoretical perspectives, we aim to foster a rich dialogue that bridges the gap between practice and research.

The conference will feature keynote speeches, panel discussions, and paper presentations that address the following themes related to the one or many main topic(s) of this conference:

RADIO AND SOUND: PRODUCTION, FORMATS AND PURPOSES

• Production 
• • Practices
  • Studies
  • Podcasting 
  • Ethnographies
  • Broadcast locations (e.g. prisons, hospitals, educational institutions,refugee camps, farms, armed forces, …)
  • …
• Formats
• • Information
  • Storytelling
  • Narratives
  • Musics
  • Sounds
  • Codes (non-talk)
  • Drama
  • Sound Creation
  • Documentaries, 
  • Talk shows, 
  • Podcast typologies
  • …
• Purposes
• • Politics
  • Pedagogy and education
  • Awareness raising
  • Activism
  • Entertainment
  • (Dis)information
  • …

RADIO AND SOUND: MEDIUM IN CONTEXTS 

• Medium
• • Civic radio 
  • Free radio
  • Pirate radio
  • Alternative radio
  • Radical radio 
  • DIY radio
  • Not-for-profit radio
  • NGOs radio
  • Feminist radio 
  • Community radio 
  • Local / national / regional radio 
  • …
• Contexts
• • Radio in the global media landscape
  • Ownership, regulation and governance of radio
  • Freedom of speech
  • Political and economical constraints
  • Policies of broadcasting 
  • …

RADIO AND SOUND: AUDIENCES AND LISTENING 

• Audiences
• • Community
  • National
  • Transnational
  • Diasporas
  • Demographics within audiences
  • …
• ○ Listening
  
• • Poetics of listening
  • Philosophy of listening
  • Politics of listening
  • History of listening
  • Listening as a cultural practice
  • Phenomenology of listening 
  • …

RADIO AND SOUND: TECHNOLOGIES 

• DAB, streaming or LTE broadcasting
• Podcasting distribution
• Sound platforms 
• Internet
• • Social media 
  • Radio as an app
  • (De)materialisation
  • Hybrid radio
  • …
• Artificial intelligence 
• • Radio production and reception
  • Trust, information and disinformation
  • …

RADIO AND SOUND: RESEARCH

• Radio and sound as research fields 
• Theories of radio and sound studies
• Political economy of the radio
• Radio and gender studies
• Methodological approaches to sound research
• Digital ethnography
• Digital methods
• Network analysis
• Archiving and oral history
• Radio history
• Journalism
• Radio journalism
• Radio art
• Sound art
• Aural culture and cultural aural expressions
• Reception studies 
• …

The conference situates radio and sound studies within the broader contemporary media landscape and aims to start a dialogue with, and accept contributions from platform studies, Internet studies, sound studies, social media studies, critical political economy of the media, media history, digital media management, cultural studies, production studies, ethnography, and social sciences.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Deadline for abstract submissions: 17 February 2025

Notification of acceptance (and announcement of Early Bird date): 31 March 2025

Publication of Programme: w/c 28 April 2025 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Proposals for individual papers and panels can be submitted until 17th February 2025 through the conference website’s platform https://ecrearadioandsound2025.org/. Abstracts should be written in English and contain a clear outline of the argument, theoretical framework, and, where applicable, methodology and results. Individual abstracts and panel proposals should be between 300 and 500 words. In the case of a panel, proposals should contain a short summary of the panel and include the 4 or 5 individual contributions (with the title and author’s names of each contribution composing the panel.

SPECIAL ISSUE OF THE RADIO JOURNAL: INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN BROADCAST & AUDIO MEDIA 

We will invite delegates of the Conference to submit their full papers no later than February 2026 to be selected for a special issue of the Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media, edited by Intellect 

(www.intellectbooks.com/radio-journal-international-studies-in-broadcast-audio-media), to be published in the second issue of 2026.

For further information, please contact the organising committee at this email address: radioandsoundconference@gmail.com

University of Stirling

The University of Stirling, Scotland is pleased to invite applications for fully funded PhD opportunities within the IAS Creative Industries Cluster.  Successful candidates will join the Division of Communications, Media and Culture, an internationally renowned centre for research and teaching across screen studies, digital media, creative industries, journalism, public relations and media and cultural policy. 

We welcome research projects for conventional or practice-based PhDs in any of the following interdisciplinary areas:

• Regional innovation, business models, and economic development: projects may focus on the role of local film, TV, social media and/or video game production in regional development; the economic, business and strategic impacts of public investment in the film and TV sector in Stirling and Clackmannanshire region or elsewhere in Scotland; or creative skills development, education, and training in the Stirling and Clackmannanshire region or elsewhere in Scotland.
  
• Sustainable work and labour practices: projects may focus on quality and inclusive work and labour practices at the interface between local/national and transnational creative industries; or the roles of non-traditional employment relationships (e.g., freelance and self-employment), labour organisations (e.g., unions and professional associations), or newer forms of labour (e.g., social media content creation) in creative industries.
  
• Social inclusion and cultural representation: projects may focus on strategies to increase diversity and inclusion in the media industries; the relationship between creative production and representation; or the impact of location-based creative production on the cultural presence and material sustainability of built and natural heritage.
  

Funding: Studentship funding awards provide full fees and a stipend set at the UKRI minimum annual award for 2025/26 (which for 2024/25 is £4,786 and £19,237 respectively). A number of fee waivers are available for international students, and a contribution to stipends for those who have fees covered. In addition, there is funding available to support research training requirements. The funded period for all awards is 3 years FTE (36 months).

Candidate profile: Ideal candidates will have a background in media, communications, film and television studies, cultural policy, cultural studies, cultural geography, media economics, media management, or related fields. A strong academic record is essential, with a master’s degree (preferably at Merit or higher), or equivalent relevant professional experience.

Application deadline: 24 March 2025

Full project and application details: https://www.stir.ac.uk/research/research-degrees/institute-for-advanced-studies-studentships/creative-industries/

For any enquiries, please contact the Co-leads of the Creative Industries Research Cluster Dr Errol Salamon (errol.salamon@stir.ac.uk) and Professor Dario Sinforiani (dario.sinforiani@stir.ac.uk).

September 15-17, 2025

Bucharest (Romania)

Deadline: April 4, 2025

The Risk and Crisis Communication Section conference will take place in Bucharest, Romania, from September 15-17 2025. Crisis8 will be hosted by the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, SNSPA. The conference aims to bring together scholars, researchers, and practitioners to discuss developments in risk and crisis communication within the evolving communication ecosystem. The conference program includes distinguished keynote speakers, opportunities for networking, as well as engaging social activities. Additional highlights are a workshop on memes and crisis communication, a crisis simulation workshop, and a dedicated PhD workshop. PhD candidates whose abstracts are accepted for presentation at Crisis 8 will have the opportunity to submit their presentation to receive the ‘CCTT Best PhD Paper Award’ ($500), sponsored by the Crisis Communication Think Tank (CCTT). 

All information can be found on the conference website. Deadline for submissions is April 4, 2025.

https://commcenter.eu/ecrea-crisis-8/conference-call/

August 13-15, 2025

University of Helsinki, Finland

Deadline: April 10, 2025

The 31st Nordic Network for Intercultural Communication Conference will be arranged in Helsinki on 13–15 August 2025. The NIC 2025 conference theme is "Evolutions in intercultural communication: New concepts and methodologies". With this theme, we wish to encourage discussion of conceptual and methodological development in the field of intercultural communication, drawing connections between research, teaching and practice. 

In addition to those addressing the theme, we also welcome proposals that explore related aspects of intercultural communication. These are, for example, 

• Critical evaluations of theories of intercultural communication, education, or management  
  
• Migration and new or alternative forms of language, interaction, and communication 
  
• Challenges of trans/poly/cross/intercultural encounters and relationships 
  
• Decolonization and the knowledge on culture and communication 
  
• Diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in different spaces and settings 
  
• New questions on education and learning in multicultural societies 
  

Intercultural communication is an interest to and researched by scholars in a wide variety of fields and disciplines such as language, media and communication, multilingual and/or multicultural education, sociolinguistics, social interaction, international management, discourse studies, cultural studies, ethnic relations, and cross-cultural psychology. We welcome submissions from all.  

Abstract submission

Please submit your max 250-word abstract using the abstract form below. The abstracts will be anonymously peer reviewed. Note that all submissions should be in English and those submitting the abstract should be prepared to attend the conference in person. The deadline for submitting your abstract is April 10th, 2025. 

SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT HERE

If the abstract includes citations, please provide the appropriate references (the list of references is not included in the word count).  

Welcome to Helsinki in August!

For further details and up-to-date information, see the NIC Helsinki 2025 Conference website.

Organizing committee: Saila Poutiainen (Chair), Mélanie Buchart, Yoonjoo Cho, Niina Hynninen, Janne Niinivaara

Deadline: February 26, 2025

We are planning to propose a special issue to a peer-reviewed journal on the theme of Digital Authoritarianism in the Global South, and soliciting brief abstracts from scholars working in this field to be a part of our proposal.

We consider Digital Authoritarianism to include all the ways in which digital practices, platforms, and policies contribute to maintaining or exacerbating authoritarianism. These can range from the active use of digital infrastructures by states or related entities against organized opposition or common citizens (e.g., for surveillance, disinformation, or propaganda) to prohibitions on internet access, blocking of content, restrictions on private communication driven by political motivations, and so on.

While recognizing that the Global South is an ambiguous construct, for our SI proposal we consider it to cover all parts of Asia (including the Middle East), Africa, and Latin America that have historically experienced colonialism. Studies that look at interrelations between the Global North and South in the context of digital authoritarianism will also be considered.

Abstracts may focus on states under authoritarian rule or putatively democratic nations that indulge in digital authoritarianism. While country-specific case studies are welcome, we are also interested in comparative or cross-border studies that illustrate digital authoritarianism as a transnational phenomenon. Although we expect most abstracts to be empirically driven (using qualitative, quantitative, or computational methods), conceptual articles and policy-oriented papers may also be submitted.

If you are interested in contributing to our SI proposal, please submit:

1. A 150-word abstract, including your problem statement/research question, methods and materials, and scientific/societal contribution, and

2. A 50-word bio of each author.

All submissions should be sent to Dr. Saif Shahin (s.s.shahin@tilburguniversity.edu) and Dr. Junki Nakahara (junki@stanford.edu)  by Wednesday 26 February.

Please let us know if you have any questions.