[Air-L] International School on Digital Transformation

[Angela Newell]

*International School on Digital Transformation
*Porto, Portugal
University of Porto and the University of Texas at Austin
July 19-25, 2009


http://colab.ic2.utexas.edu/dm/international-school/


Applications are now open for the first International School on Digital
Transformation, to be held July 19-24, 2009, at the University of Porto in
Porto, Portugal. The School is accepting applications from advanced students
and recent graduates from around the world with an interest in how digital
technologies are changing societies and the world as a whole.


The International School on Digital Transformation will be an intensive
six-day residential program, conducted in English and bringing together
emerging and established scholars and professionals from around the world.
During the week-long session, innovators in digital communications will
serve as teachers and mentors, presenting their current projects and
research and participating in discussions with advanced students and
professionals beginning careers in the field. Presenters and students will
be regarded as peers during the School.


The School will focus on these themes:


• Democratic transformations of society through digital media
• Innovations in transparency and political participation using new online
tools
• Grassroots civic activities using digital technologies
• Building effective communities with the Internet
• Reaching out to new users with mobile and online technologies
• Prospects for digital communication in developing regions
• Digital arts and culture in a globalized, online world


The goals of the International School include:


•  Combining lectures on current research and innovation with practical
experience, using accessible, low-cost digital technologies
•  Providing an informal venue for sharing expertise, perspectives, and best
practices and for mentoring advanced students
•  Fostering a sustainable network of scholars and activists in the field of
digital technology, communication and social change


Program


The basic daily schedule will consist of one 90-minute session of lecture
and discussion in the morning: free time for teachers and students to
interact, converse and explore the city in the afternoon; and two more
90-minute lecture and discussion sessions in the evening, folowed by a
communal meal.


The confirmed speakers for the International School on Digital
Transformation include:


    * Sunil Abraham
      Director of Policy at the Center for Internet and Society, Bangalore,
India; and current board member of Mahiti Infotech
    * Patricia Aufderheide
      Professor, School of Communication, American University; director,
      Center for Social Media at American University
    * Warigia Bowman
      Assistant Professor, Department of Public Policy Leadership,
      University of Mississippi
    * Fiorella De Cindio
      Associate Professor, Computer and Information Science Department,
      University of Milan
    * Martha Fuentes-Bautista
      Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, University of
      Massachusetts at Amherst
    * Stephanie Hankey/Marek Tuszynski (tentative)
      Co-founders and directors, Tactical Technology Collective
    * Lisa Nakamura (associate faculty)
      Professor, Institute of Communication Research; Director, Asian
      American Studies Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    * Tapan Parikh
      Assistant Professor, School of Information, University of California
      at Berkeley
    * Tiago Peixoto
      Researcher, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
    * Alison Powell
      SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford
University
    * Andrew Rasiej
      Founder of Personal Democracy Forum and techPresident
    * Nicholas Reville
      Executive director, Participatory Culture Foundation
    * Scott Robinson
      Professor, Department of Anthropology, Universidad Autónoma
Metropolitana
    * Jorge Martins Rosa
      Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Sciences; Faculty of
Social Sciences and Humanities, New University of Lisbon
    * Christian Sandvig
      Associate Professor, Department of Communication; faculty member,
      Project on Public Policy and Advanced Communication Technology,
      University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    * Doug Schuler
      Program Director, Public Sphere Project, an initiative of Computer
      Professionals for Social Responsibility
    * Leslie Regan Shade
      Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies, Concordia
University
    * Maripaz Silva (associate faculty)
    * Laura Stein
      Assistant Professor, Radio-Television-Film Department, University of
      Texas at Austin
    * Siva Vaidhyanathan
      Associate Professor, University of Virginia, Media Studies and Law;
      Fellow, Institute for the Future of the Book
    * Katrin Verclas
      Co-founder and editor of Mobileactive.org


The International School on Digital Transformation is a program of the
University of Texas Austin-Portugal Colaboratory, or CoLab. The co-directors
of the School are Sharon Strover and Gary Chapman of the University of Texas
at Austin.


The School will be held at the Rectory, a building of the University of
Porto in the center of the city. Student housing will consist of nearby
hotels, and the cost of the School will include a shared hotel room, two
meals per day (breakfast and dinner) and the program itself. The week will
also include a cultural activity offered to all School participants.


The estimated cost of the International School on Digital Transformation
will be between €300 and €400. Travel to Porto, Portugal, is not supported;
students must find and pay for their own travel to Porto.


The student application, and more specific information for students, are
available at this link.


Porto, Portugal


Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996, Porto is known for its
spectacular architecture and medieval alleyways, and it is also compact,
allowing visitors to easily explore the central city on foot. Porto is on
the Douro River and also near the Atlantic Ocean. It is famous for its port
wine from the inland Portuguese wine region along the Douro River valley.


During the free afternoons, students and teachers may explore the sidewalk
café culture on Santa Catarina Street, a nearby pedestrian shopping area, or
walk across the Dom Luís I Bridge spanning the Douro River to the promenade,
restaurants, and port houses in Vila Nova de Gaia, directly opposite central
Porto. Short river cruises may be taken in barcos rabelos, flat-bottomed
boats traditionally used to ferry shipments of port wine.


While Porto is famous for its ancient Roman ramparts and Gothic churches, it
is also home to the Casa da Música concert hall, a superb example of modern
architecture, finished in 2005, that has become an icon of the city. The
Serralves Museum is a major cultural institution which hosts rotating
exhibitions of contemporary art and which features a world-class garden.


In the late evenings, Porto hosts a thriving clubbing culture, and the
city’s nightspots attract DJs from around the world.


Porto has an international airport and is also served by trains from Lisbon
and from Spain. By train, Porto is approximately three and a half hours
north of Lisbon.


Please direct questions regarding the program to Karen Gustafson, at
kegustafson at mail.utexas.edu.