[Commlist] CFP: Immersive Media in/of Crisis. International Conference

Call for Papers
International Conference 2027
'Immersive Media in /of Crisis’
  24-26th of May 2027
Utrecht University, Netherlands

Convened by Professor Sandra Ponzanesi, Dr. Jenny Andrine Madsen Evang, 
Laurence Herfs, Lisa Burghardt, and Dr. Wouter Oomen (Utrecht University)

The conference will bring together interdisciplinary scholars to explore 
the various intersections between immersive media and crisis, ten years 
after the much-heralded framing of Virtual Reality (VR) as the “Ultimate 
Empathy Machine.” We invite contributions that thematize the notion of 
crisis across multiple valences—from delineating the imaginaries of 
immersive media as the ultimate apparatus for bringing “crisis” up 
close, to critiquing the spectacularizing temporality of crisis shown in 
immersive media, to analyzing the emerging discourse of immersive media 
as itself a technology in crisis (financial, symbolic, 
distribution-wise, or political). We are especially eager for 
presentations that engage with post- or decolonial critique, queer 
theory, critical race theory, environmental studies, or feminist theory 
to analyze immersive art or media that destabilize hegemonic mediations 
of crises—for example, by staying with the trouble of slow violence in 
the wake of colonialism.

We seek to:
- Interrogate immersive media beyond the empathy machine: If we don’t 
want the “empathy machine” of humanitarian organizations married to the 
tech industry to be the dominant mediator of crisis, then what do we 
want immersive media to (un)do?
- Think about the notion of crisis: What are the crises addressed 
through immersive media? Humanitarian crises, war and conflict, 
sustainability and climate crises, health and pandemic crises? Natural 
disasters and nuclear threats? How are these crises framed and mediated?
- Question the role of the human: What is the role of the Human in these 
new technological constellations? Virtual reality promises the collapse 
of time and space and the embrace of «the Other.» How do immersive 
technologies rethink the role of the human and of common humanity in 
conditions of crisis?

The conference is part of the NWO (Dutch Research Council) Funded 
Project: VR as Empathy Machine. Media, Migration and Humanitarian 
Communication.

*Submission formats:*

*Individual academic papers*
Include a 300-word abstract and a 150-word individual bio.
*Panel submissions*
Include a general title, a short summary of the overall panel theme 
(max. 500 words), 3–4 individual abstracts (max. 300 words each), and 
150-word individual bios.*
*
*Workshops and other interactive formats*
Include a general title, a short summary of the overall 
discussion/workshop (max. 500 words), and 150-word individual bio(s) of 
the workshop facilitator(s).*
*
*Artistic interventions (i.e., readings, performances, screenings)*
Include a 300-word abstract that describes the planned artistic 
intervention and a 150-word bio.

*Practical details:*

The conference will take place in Utrecht from May 24th to 26th, 2027, 
and will consist of panels with three or four 15-minute talks followed 
by a collective Q&A as well as keynote lectures and workshops. Based on 
accepted submissions, we will organize the panels around central themes 
and approaches.

Read the full call for papers here:
https://vrmigration.sites.uu.nl/news-and-events/ 
<https://vrmigration.sites.uu.nl/news-and-events/>

Deadline for submission:
*January 15th, 2027 *
Mail to: *(postcolonialvrlab /at/ gmail.com)* <mailto:(postcolonialvrlab /at/ gmail.com)>

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