Below are topics for Affinity Sessions based on students’ interests. If you are interested in a topic please leave your name below the topic. If there’s a topic you would like to suggest, please list it below with your name. I am also going to list some topics that I suspect interest students but have not yet been mentioned.

Monday

Coming Together - General Session for all IDST2011 students (Carina): following an initial inquiry done by Karen Gustafson on who would be interested in presenting their work, we have decided that the best format would be an informal session where everyone (those who are interested, obviously) can present their work in 10 minutes and get some feedback on their research. The aim is to get to know each other’s work from very early on in the week. This is an informal session so you don’t need to prepare something more formal… and you can present your research or present a specific aspect you have been working on lately. I hope to see everyone at the session! (We can probably do it on Monday).

Tuesday

Civic Science and Activism (Carina): What models of activism come up when local groups, hardware, software and Internet come together under a common interest? And how can such experiences help us consider issues surrounding openness, access and policy making? With urban environments becoming permeated by algorithm and software running basic urban infrastructure, defining patterns of access and mobility, and collecting massive amounts of data for GIS databases, we can no longer talk solely about Internet, social media or mobile phones when considering the implications of the digital within every realm of daily practices. I would like to propose a session where we can look at few examples of projects of civic science and activism and maybe try to outline (or map out) the different issues and interests tangled up within one of the projects; to finally work on different issues regarding: access and openness, agency and design processes, reverse-engineering practices and possible points of intervention. (Please do not feel intimidated if it sounds too structured… This is just a possible outline for the session.) Anyway, looking forward to it! (time and date TBA)

Andy: Interested. Big fan of publiclaboratory.org.

Social Media and Activism: I (Summer) would like to propose we get together over/after lunch one day to talk about the role of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media sites in recent/ongoing protest movements, such as in the Arab World, Spain, and Latin America. Is there anything new or different about such mobilizations?

Kamran: Sounds good Summer. I’m in.

Eva: I think this is an excellent proposal. Count me in.

Réhab: Please count me in as well. I am living this out so it would great to pick other people’s brains about this issue in particular.

Andy: Interested as well.

Kay: me too

Smári: Sounds good to me.

Laura: Very interested, I’m definitely in.

Music and Social/Political Activism: (Tuesday, 12 - 2 pm, Maus Habitus)I (Kamran) like to propose this session to all of you who see any role that music and musicians have played in creating social and political change. Most of us like various kinds of music from around the globe. But, in the recent uprisings in the Middle East, songs and chants were short condensed messages that could be transformed to protest tools at times directly questioning the status quo, and at other times, indirectly connecting and gathering people around a theme. Music can use metaphor to mask the real message of a song from the authorities, but, speak volumes to the ordinary citizens. These days, music is often broadcast via digital media. How does music engender power via these media? What are the social class relationships between various digital music platforms (one example is between Facebook and MySpace)? Whether you have researched this or not, or are simply interested, or just like certain genres of music with a subversive and transforming message, join me in this session and let’s chat about it! There is also a piano in Maus Habitus so some of us may play a tune or two.

Tiago Videira: Count me in. I want to share the Portuguese experience. “A cantiga é uma arma - homens da luta” (Song is a weapon - the struggle men).

Kay : I am very interested

Walking Tour of Autonomous Spaces in Porto Tiago Assis, Chris

Wednesday

Children, Youth, and Social Media (Jacqueline): Young people continually utilize social media as tools for community, identity, empowerment, learning, and socialization. While there is a lot of great research (both quantitative and qualitative) regarding how young people engage with online spaces, I continually come back to the question of methodology. What are some productive and creative methods for gaining more nuanced understandings of the ways young people utilize social media? How might we employ more participatory and collaborative methodologies in order to provide young people with a voice in our research? What unique ethical issues arise when researching young people’s use of social media? And what are some ways we can ensure our research is used to foster progressive policies which create opportunities for all young people to engage, learn, and create? These are just a few questions I continually come back to as I think about researching young people and social media and I would love to hear from others about creative, diverse, and ethical methodological approaches. (time and date TBA - but definitely let me know if you are interested in participating)

Kay : I am interested, looking forward to it

Maria José: I am interested. Useful data:
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/EUKidsOnline/EU Kids I (2006-9)/MethodologicalResources.aspx
Higgins, Jane, Nairn, Karen, et al. (2007). Peer research with youth: negotiating (sub)cultural capital, place and participation in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Participatory Action Research, Approaches and Methods: Connecting people, participation and place. Sara Kindon, Rachel Pain and Mike Kesby. London and New York, Routledge.

Thursday

Deluded by The Net Delusion? (Chris) One of the threads in the discussion forum got me thinking about Evgeny Morozov’s recent book The Net Delusion, which relates to the themes of ISDT in many ways. It’s got some issues in terms of argumentation and evidence, but the main point of the book is to throw cold water on a lot of the utopian rhetoric that surrounds the potential of social media for positive social change. I thought I would organized a session to discuss the book with folks who have read it or just people who have been interested in it. If you’re interested, it might be good to indicate whether you’ve read the book or are just interested in the topic.

Chris: read the book a few months back & followed the debates online.

M.E.: interested in the book/discussion as counter-balance for utopian notions of citizenship and social engagement. Particularly in relation to culture, cultural production and media.

Carina: I haven’t read the book, but I will try to have a look at it before getting to Porto. I am always interested in what doesn’t work, failure, breaking down, and so on… and in everything else that can come out of it.

Kamran: reading the book now, so, by then, I’ll probably chime in as well.

Alison: I chaired Evgeny’s lecture on the book back in January, and posted a review on it here . So count me in.

Meet one of Porto’s most revolutionary spots:  (Sara)
Documentary on the Spanish Revolution (1930s) “LA REVOLUCIÓN SOCIAL” (includes the “Report of the Revolutionary Movement in Barcelona”, “Barcelona works ahead”) | Thursday, July 21 at 10pm | Free entrance | Taking place at Gato Vadio (Vagrant Cat), a subversive bookshop, a cutural association, a space for social intervention, right across the street of the Hotel.

Democratic Participation and Social Media (Susanna): We know that social media is a powerful force in political campaigns, but what role does it play in governance? I’m interested in talking about recent efforts in crowdstorming policy ideas and crowdsourcing emergency management, to identify what works and what’s limited about these approaches. And, it would be great to dream a bit. What would regular public involvement in pressing policy issues look like if it was augmented by the Internet? (I say augmented in order to emphasize my belief in the need for complementary in-person and online engagement efforts). Looking forward to it!
time and date TBA

Carina: I am in Susanna. Actually I think “crowdsourcing” is a good way to look at the impact of certain technical and design aspects on the outcome of the project. Many issues with geo-crowdsourcing start with the problem to define exactly the notions of “location” or “proximity” for each unique case.

Derek: Count me in. I’m keen to chat about bottom-up local policy innovation and “interfaces” with official policy-making institutions—not just for pressing policy issues, but for everyday life in local communities.

Tiago Videira: This would be a very nice place to discuss my issues with the Lisbon Participatory budget and similar iniciatives!

Maria José: a fundamental discussion. Count me in.

Andy: Me too.

Friday

How the Internet Really Works Derek, Smari, Eva, Alison, Chris

Audio and Internet Radio Skillshare Rui and Graham gave participants an overview on how to produce an audio stream.

“Educational Walk” - a tour along several places in Porto discussing digital transformation on education Ademar (Friday 11h00-15h30)

As a group interested in “digital transformation education”, we will do a walking tour along several interesting places in Porto at walking or public transportation distance that for some reason the participants didn’t see before. During the walk, we will use every excuse to stop and talk about our affinity topic, altogether, or in groups, or with only those walking side-by-side with us. We will enjoy some panoramic points, some historical points, eat and drink, seat, all of this, with one single purpose: to talk about how digital technology may help education and schools to evolve.

 

eDemocracy for the iCitizen (Tiago Videira): a Top-Down approach to a bottom up participation. The design of a centralized system/platform for services that affect today citizens’ lives. Using the Portuguese case as a basic example: The finances (taxes and receipts) online, the Social security and health, the public jobs vacancies and applications, universities and school profiles, participatory budgets, etc.

The pros and cons of a statal centralized system with cross-data. Issues of transparency and online privacy. Issues of meritocracy, the end of parallel economies and corruption, the rise of the “big brother feeling”, the rise of the part of the citizen in the decision making process at every level (local, global).

Possible work out for a paper or a project regarding the system and all of its issues.
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