[Commlist] CFP: International conference: "20 Years into the Future: What is our vision of media, data, and society?

ZeMKI’s 20th Anniversary International Conference

*20 Years into the Future: What is our vision of media, data, and society?*

Confirmed Keynote Speakers:
- José van Dijck (Utrecht U, NL)
- Nick Couldry (LSE, UK)
- Alenda Y. Chang (UC Santa Barbara, USA)

Date: 23.-24. October 2025
Street: Sandstraße 4/5, Bremen, Germany
Location: House of Science Bremen
Host: ZeMKI, Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research, 
University of Bremen

Call for Abstracts: Media and communication research has traditionally 
focused on the present, often asking: What are the consequences of each 
“new” medium? How do digital media and their infrastructures impact 
contemporary cultures and societies? With this conference, however, we 
aim to shift the perspective—from analyzing present-day impacts to 
envisioning future possibilities. What can we learn from the current 
mediatization and datafication of society to imagine possible futures? 
What roles might media discourses, technologies, and practices play in 
ongoing and future societal transformations?

In raising these foundational questions, the conference is broadly 
situated within the fields of media, communication and information 
research. Topics may include:

  * the role of media discourses, technologies, and practices in
    narrating and shaping the future;
  * the importance of media policy and governance in building better
    futures;
  * recent technological developments such as communicative AI and their
    potential role for future media environments;
  * ways in which our narratives of the past, media history, and
    archeology shape our imaginaries of the future;
  * digital gaming and emerging forms of entertainment;
  * future media-related challenges for future sustainability and
    quality of life;
  * and methodologies in media and communication research that address
    emerging media-related developments from a forward-looking perspective.


With discussion topics like these, the ZeMKI’s 20th anniversary 
conference is not about speculative forecasting but is grounded in media 
and communication research. We aim to explore long-term trends emerging 
from today’s media-related transformations and reflect on our visions of 
the future.

We invite those who have previously engaged with us—our cooperation 
partners, ZeMKI fellows, guests, and friends—and those interested in 
starting new conversations. Presentations may cover any area of media 
and communication research, provided they also address the question of 
where a mediatized and datafied society might be heading.

*Abstracts of up to 500 words can be submitted by March 15th, 2025 via 
this online submission form: *

https://nc.uni-bremen.de/index.php/apps/forms/s/EP6cLH2Y3eLxbaaC6cLMCNsA 
<https://nc.uni-bremen.de/index.php/apps/forms/s/EP6cLH2Y3eLxbaaC6cLMCNsA>
/
/
/Participation is free of charge./

Download the call as a PDF file: 
https://zemki.uni-bremen.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Call_20-years-into-the-future_en.pdf 
<https://zemki.uni-bremen.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Call_20-years-into-the-future_en.pdf>

Conference website: https://zemki.uni-bremen.de/futures 
<https://zemki.uni-bremen.de/futures>

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