[Commlist] CfA Epistemic Welfare and the Role of Media in Creating Algorithmic Awareness, Symposium & Special Issue

CfA: Epistemic Welfare and the Role of Media in Creating Algorithmic 
Awareness
Two-day international symposium, University of Antwerp (Belgium), 15-16 
April 2027
& International Journal of Communication special issue

Questions? Contact: (aaron.hyzen /at/ uantwerpen.be)
Full call: 
https://www.algepi.com/call-for-contributions-epistemic-welfare-role-media-algorithmic-awareness/
Submission site: https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/84043/submitter

About the symposium:

As media organizations incorporate algorithmic systems into the 
production, curation, recommendation and distribution of content, 
questions have come to the foreground about how citizens encounter, 
understand and engage with knowledge. This has been the topic of a 
four-year international, interdisciplinary research project, 
Understanding Algorithmic Gatekeepers to Promote Epistemic Welfare 
(ALGEPI), funded by FWO, FNRS and SNSF. This two-day symposium serves as 
the project's capstone event.
While valuable research on algorithms, artificial intelligence, 
platforms and media has largely focused on the risks and harms 
associated with algorithmic systems, this symposium seeks to broaden 
that conversation, starting from the notion of epistemic welfare, 
defined as creating and maintaining the conditions and capabilities that 
ensure citizens' epistemic agency in the public sphere. We aim to 
generate a dialogue across disciplinary and professional boundaries that 
envisions solutions: how can media organizations, regulation and 
governance, as well as algorithmic design, contribute to citizens' 
epistemic agency in the digital public sphere?
The symposium therefore welcomes scholars from communication and media 
studies, Human-Computer Interaction, law and policy studies, philosophy, 
media management studies and related fields, alongside media 
practitioners, regulators, policymakers and civil society organizations.
The symposium follows a twenty-four-hour format. The first half day 
(Thursday 15 April, afternoon) focuses on exchanges between researchers 
and media stakeholders, while the second half day (Friday 16 April, 
morning) is devoted to academic presentations and discussion. Keynote 
speakers include Prof. Anne Kaun (Södertörn University) and Prof. Minna 
Horowitz (University of Helsinki). An evening event on Thursday will 
allow for exchange and networking.

Selected papers presented at the symposium will be invited to submit 
full manuscripts for consideration in a special issue of the 
/International Journal of Communication./

Topics:

We welcome theoretical, empirical, methodological, design and 
practice-oriented contributions exploring the relationship between 
algorithmic systems, media, epistemic welfare and citizen awareness. 
Topics include, but are not limited to:
- Algorithmic awareness, transparency and explainability
- Epistemic agency in algorithmically mediated environments
- Recommender systems and the discovery of epistemically valuable content
- Artificial intelligence in journalism and media production
- Public service media and epistemic welfare
- Media literacy, algorithmic literacy and public understanding of AI
- Governance, regulation and accountability of algorithmic systems
- User agency, trust and knowledge-seeking practices
- Design approaches that support epistemic welfare
- Comparative and cross-cultural perspectives on algorithms and 
knowledge environments
- Measuring and evaluating epistemic welfare
- Intersections between generative AI and epistemic welfare
- Critical perspectives on the role of media and epistemic welfare

Submission format and deadlines
- Please submit: 1) title and keywords; 2) an abstract (500-750 words); 
and 3) a yes/no indication of interest in submitting a full paper to the 
/International Journal of Communication/ special issue.
- The submission form closes on 15 November 2026.
- Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 1 December 2026.
- Authors who indicate interest in the special issue and whose abstract 
is accepted for the symposium are required to submit a full paper by 31 
January 2027. This date serves as the submission deadline for the 
special issue.
- A registration fee of approximately EUR 60 applies to symposium 
attendees; it includes the Thursday dinner and social programme. There 
are no additional fees for papers selected for the /IJoC/ special issue.

Questions? Contact: (aaron.hyzen /at/ uantwerpen.be)
Full call: 
https://www.algepi.com/call-for-contributions-epistemic-welfare-role-media-algorithmic-awareness/
Submission site: https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/84043/submitter

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