[Air-l] Call for Papers - Internet Research 4.0: Broadening the Band - 4th Annual AoIR Conference

[Steve Jones]

[please distribute widely]

Call for Papers - IR 4.0: Broadening the Band
International and Interdisciplinary Conference of the Association of 
Internet Researchers in Toronto, Ontario, Canada October 16-19

Lead organizer Knowledge Media Design Institute at the University of Toronto

Submission site opens: January 15, 2003
Deadline for submissions: March 1, 2003

Conference Website:
http://www.aoir.org/2003 | http://www.ecommons.net/aoir


Digital communications networks such as the Internet are changing the 
way people interact with each other, with profound effects on social 
relations and institutions. Yet many remain excluded from access and 
meaningful participation. It is timely to consider who is included, 
who is excluded and what we now know about the composition and 
activities of online communities.

Internet Research (IR) 4.0 will feature a variety of perspectives on 
Internet, organized under the theme Broadening the Band. As in 
previous conferences, the aim is to develop a coherent theoretical 
and pragmatic understanding of the Internet and those that are 
empowered and disenfranchised by it. IR 4.0 will bring together 
prominent scholars, researchers, creators, and practitioners from 
many disciplines, fields and countries for a program of 
presentations, panel discussions, and informal exchanges.

IR 4.0 will take place at the Hilton Hotel in the heart of downtown 
Toronto. The conference is hosted by a team led by the Knowledge 
Media Design Institute (KMDI) and its partners at the University of 
Toronto. The IR 4.0 steering and working committees reflect the 
growing pan-Canadian network of Internet researchers, including 
members from Quebec, Alberta, and New Brunswick, in addition to the 
local contingent from Toronto, York and Ryerson Universities.

This year's theme, Broadening the Band, encourages wide participation 
from diverse disciplines, communities, and points of view. Under the 
umbrella theme, contributors are called to reflect upon, theorize and 
articulate what we know from within the emerging interdisciplinary 
space known as Internet Research.

In a cultural sense, the theme calls attention to the need to examine 
access, inclusion and exclusion in online communities. What role do 
race, gender, class, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, age, 
geography, and other factors play in the degree of online 
participation? What are the indicators of meaningful participation?

In a technical sense, the theme points to the development of 
broadband, wireless and post-internet networks and applications that 
are currently coming on-stream including community, private, public 
as well as national research networks (e.g. CA*net 4, Internet 2). 
We plan to use these technologies to make the conference an 
internet-mediated and internationally accessible event.

In an organizational sense, the theme reflects a widening of AoIR's 
reach to include more researchers and constituencies involved in the 
evolution of the Internet. French language presentations will be 
included in the call for papers for the first time. Researchers and 
practitioners in the arts and culture sectors are encouraged to 
participate alongside social scientists and humanities scholars and 
researchers.

In a thematic sense, "Broadening the Band" suggests widening the 
scope of topics and problematics considered within past conferences, 
while retaining the consistent emphasis on rigorous research work. 
This call for papers thus initiates an inclusive search for 
theoretical and methodological correspondences between this expanding 
theme and the many disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches that 
are required to address it with precision.

Possible Topics:
- Who is bridging what: questions and answers on the digital divide
- New directions in digital art
- E-me, e-you? (E- Health, E-Governance, E-Commerce,E-Business, 
E-games, E-entertainment, E-other)
- Ethnicity, Race, Identity, Gender, Sexuality, Language(s) and 
Diverse Cultural Contexts Online
- Who Decides: Ethics, Law, Politics and Policy of the Internet
- We can't measure that, can we?  Meaningful Indicators for Internet 
Access, Participation, Use and Effects
- Who owns what? Value, Space, and Commons on the Internet
- Is there an Author, a Publisher, or writing on the internet?
- Transformed by Technics: New Technologies and The Post-Internet Age
- Who is watching your computer, when You're not watching it....
- When we are glocal: the internet in global and local manifestations
- I put my lesson plans on the internet, what changed?  Teaching, 
Learning and the Internet
- Digital media and terror/ism: global flows, economies, and surveillance
- Social movements, net-based activism, and hactivism in a global arena
- Which methods, whose theories? determining approaches to internet research
- Why did we digitize that, and what's it worth?  Exploring the value 
of digital content

This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but rather to trigger ideas 
and encourage submissions from a range of disciplines. The organizers 
will take an active role in generating and joining the various 
interests into appropriate formats.


Submission of Proposals

The Association of Internet Researchers invites paper, presentation, 
and panel proposals from AoIR members and non-members on topics that 
address social, cultural, political, economic, and aesthetic aspects 
of the Internet. We welcome interdisciplinary submissions as well as 
submissions from within specific disciplines. French language 
presentations will be included in the call for papers for the first 
time. We especially seek panel proposals that establish connections 
across disciplines, institutions, and/or continents. We also 
encourage creative presentations that will make use of Internet 
technologies and artistic techniques. Proposals for papers should be 
in the form an approximately 500-750 word abstract. Creative 
presentations and demonstration projects should consist of an 
approximately 500-750 word abstract, plus brief illustrative 
material. Panels will generally include three to four papers or 
presentations. The panel organizer should submit an approximately 500 
word statement describing the session topic, include abstracts of up 
to 250 words for each paper or presentation, and indicate that each 
author is willing to participate in the session. Abstracts and 
proposals may be submitted for review in English or in French.

Papers, presentations and panels will be selected from the submitted 
abstracts on the basis of peer review, coordinated and overseen by 
the Program Chair, assisted by sub-chairs with expertise in specific 
areas of scholarly and aesthetic knowledge relating to the Internet.

Proposals can be for three types of contribution to the conference: - 
papers, creative presentations, and panels. Each person is invited to 
submit a proposal for 1 paper or 1 presentation. People may also 
propose a panel of papers or presentations, of which their personal 
paper or presentation must be a part. Average time allotted for a 
paper or creative presentation will be 20 minutes. Average time 
allotted for a panel will be 1 hour and 30 minutes, including 
discussion time.

Detailed information about format of submission and review is 
available at the conference website http://www.aoir.org/2003. All 
proposals must be submitted electronically at 
http://www2.cddc.vt.edu/confman/ (_note_ - submission site opens 
January 15, 2003).

Deadlines:

Submission site available: January 15, 2003
Final date for proposal submission: March 1, 2003
Author notification: April 1, 2003
Presenter's Registration to the conference: September 1, 2003
Student Award: Completed paper: September 1, 2003

Graduate Students:

Graduate students are strongly encouraged to submit proposals. They 
should note their student status with submission in order to be 
considered for a special Student Award.  Students wishing to be a 
candidate for the Student Award must also send a final paper by 1st 
September 2003.

Canadian graduate students outside of central Canada should note that 
funds may be available for travel and subsistence. Notice will be 
sent out to the AoIR list as soon as funding commitments are 
confirmed.

To ensure diverse participation, registration fees will be kept low 
for presenters, and a billeting and room sharing system will be 
established.  Simultaneous French language translation will be 
available (subject to budgetary considerations) in certain sessions.


Pre-Conference Workshops

Prior to the conference, there will be a limited number of 
pre-conference workshops which will provide participants with 
in-depth, hands-on and/or creative opportunities. We invite proposals 
for these pre-conference workshops; local presenters are encouraged 
to propose workshops that will invite visiting researchers into their 
labs or studios or locales. Proposals should be no more than 1000 
words, and should clearly outline the purpose, methodology, 
structure, costs, equipment and minimal attendance required, as well 
as explaining its relevance to the conference as a whole. Proposals 
will be accepted if they demonstrate that the workshop will add 
significantly to the overall program in terms of thematic depth, 
hands on experience, or local opportunities for scholarly or artistic 
connections. These proposals and all inquires regarding 
pre-conference proposals should be submitted as soon as possible to 
the Conference Chair aoir at ecommons.net, and will be accepted up to 
June 15th. Notification of terms and space allocations will be sent 
out as soon as details are confirmed, with final acceptance required 
by June 30, 2003.



CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have questions about the conference, program, or AoIR, please contact:

Program Chair: Matthew Allen, Curtin University of Technology, Australia
m.allen at curtin.edu.au
- All inquiries on review and acceptances

Program Co-chair: David Mitchell, University of Calgary
mitchell at ucalgary.ca
- Inquiries on conference themes and special technology themes

Conference Chair: Liss Jeffrey, Knowledge Media Design Institute and 
McLuhan Program, University of Toronto
aoir at ecommons.net
  - All inquiries on Toronto conference and pre-conference workshops

Associate coordinator:  Katherine Parrish, OISE/University of Toronto
aoir at ecommons.net

AoIR President: Steve Jones
sjones at uic.edu

Association Website: http://www.aoir.org

Conference Website: http://www.aoir.org/2003 | http://www.ecommons.net/aoir