[Air-L] STS reading club retreat (Sept 6-10)

[Ana Visan]

Dear AoIRs,

If you miss being in a class yourself and miss having conversations about
the literature you’re passionate about, here is your opportunity:
STS-Migtec is organizing a writing and reading retreat on the topics of
border technologies, race and colonial/imperial power; border technologies
and the (un)making of (un)knowledge; digital technologies, resistance and
the mobile commons; migration control infrastructures and alternative
infrastructures of resistance; migration control, technopolitics of public
infrastructures, and (lacking) existential provisions and human rights. We
invite you to join us. More details below.

Ana
PhD Candidate at the Balsillie School of International Affairs
<https://www.balsillieschool.ca/>
+1 519 502 3310
________

*First STS MIGTEC Writing & Reading RETREAT*
Call for Applications and Participation

online (September 6-10 2021)

In 2021 the first edition of the STS MIGTEC <http://sts-migtec.org/>Writing
and Reading Retreat will take place online. The 5 days-course aims to
reflect and contribute to a critical understanding of current developments,
shifts and transformations of migration and border control heavily shaped
by the development, implementation and usage of technologies and
socio-material infrastructures. The STS MIGTEC Writing and Reading Retreat
targets PhD students, early career and overall interested researchers from
all academic backgrounds working at the intersection of science and
technology studies (STS) and critical migration, security and border
studies. It seeks to bring researchers from different disciplines and
around the world together and to initiate scientific exchange to produce
synergies for relevant knowledge production.

The STS MIGTEC Writing and Reading Retreat will cover themes like the
following ones: border technologies, race and colonial/imperial power;
border technologies and the (un)making of (un)knowledge; digital
technologies, resistance and the mobile commons; migration control
infrastructures and alternative infrastructures of resistance; migration
control, technopolitics of public infrastructures, and (lacking)
existential provisions and human rights.

It will combine different activities in two separate working groups: a) a
writing group dedicated to presentations and critical peer-discussions of
participants’ ongoing writing projects, b) a reading group dedicated to
thematic readings and discussions. Additionally, there will be social
activities orientated to networking and socializing with peers, roundtable
sessions with renowned international academic experts as well as with
stakeholders and activists, and optional yoga classes.

*a) Retreat Writing Group*
Developing the idea and working on a research paper can be a challenging
and time-consuming task, especially if working alone. This sprint workshop
is designed to promote collaboration among early-career scholars who want
to discuss a still preliminary article draft in a small and intimate
setting. We welcome researchers looking for co-authors to further develop
their ideas together. Workshop participants will be able to discuss
potential common research interests, identify gaps in scientific literature
and try hands-on converting the ideas into research output thanks to the
constant confrontation and peer feedback. The goal is that by the end of
the sprint everyone will have concrete plans on how to develop the article
idea further. The program of the workshop includes during four sessions (à
max. 2,5 hours) the presentation of paper drafts, receiving group feedback
and individual comments, work in pairs, and walkthrough the academic
writing process. Brief insights from the sessions will be shared in a
visual report on the STS MIGTEC blog afterwards.

*b) Retreat Reading Group*
The STS MIGTEC reading club is a digital meeting space where the members
would suggest and discuss literature related and relevant to classic and
contemporary readings coming from Science and Technology Studies, Critical
Migration and Border and Security Studies. The reading club will start
during the STS MIGTEC retreat, and it will continue with monthly meetings.
The first round of the reading club will be dedicated to women scholars and
will touch upon feminist technoscience readings. The scope of the first
round is to bring research on migration together with feminist and postcolonial
reflections, theories and methodologies that have been developed within an
STS context. The Retreat Reading Group will be structured in four sessions,
each covering one to two texts. Each session’s length will be up to 2,5
hours and two/three persons will be in charge for a short introduction of
the proposed texts and the session’s structure in general (that is
preparing structuring questions, taking notes and providing a brief wrap-up
in the end). Brief insights from the sessions will be shared in a visual
report on the STS MIGTEC blog afterwards.

Suggested readings for sessions are so far:

‘’The Cyborg Manifesto’ in an Era of Mobility’ (Donna Haraway); ‘Feminist
STS and the Sciences of the Artificial’ and ‘Technologies of Migration’
(Lucy Suchman); ‘Dark Matters: Racialized Surveillance of Migrants’ (Simone
Browne); ‘Matters of Care’ & ‘Matters of Migrants’ (Maria Puig de la
Bellacasa); ‘Monsters, Catastrophes and the Anthropocene’ (Gaia Giuliani);
’Data Feminism’ (D’Ignazio, Catherine, and Lauren F. Klein); ’Agential
Realism’ (Karen Barad); ’Technofeminism’ (Judy Wajcman).

How to submit your application:

Since the number of participants in each working group is limited, we ask
for applications according to the respective requirements. Please choose to
apply either for the Retreat Writing Group (a) or the Retreat Reading Group
(b):

   1.

   a)  To apply for participation in the Retreat Writing Group, please send
   a short draft of your article idea (3 pages + references) and some
   information about your background to migtec.website at gmail.com and (CC)
   olga.usachova at phd.unipd.it (subject: “STS MIGTEC Retreat Writing
   Group”), indicating the journal(s) you consider suitable for submission (if
   applicable).
   2.

   b)  To apply for participation in the Retreat Reading Group, we ask
   applicants to select 1 to 3 of the suggested readings – or to suggest
   another reading of their interest – and to explain in a couple of sentences
   why they are interested in the reading or/and how it relates to their own
   research interests. Please send the statement of interest and some
   information about your background (can be a CV) to
   migtec.website at gmail.com and (CC) lilimakrygianni at gmail.com (subject:
   “STS MIGTEC Retreat Reading Group”).

Important Dates:
The deadline for applications is the 20th of July. Notification of
acceptance will be given until the 31st of July. The selected participants
will have to register by the 15th of August.

Registration Fee and Financial Support:

There is no registration fee. Yoga classes may require a small donation.

Organization and Contact:

Retreat Writing Group: Olga Usachova (olga.usachova at phd.unipd.it)
Retreat Reading Group: Vasiliki Makrygianni (lilimakrygianni at gmail.com)
STS MIGTEC team: migtec.website at gmail.com (subject: “STS-MIGTEC Retreat”).

STS MIGTEC Writing and Reading Retreat organizing team:
Maria Ullrich, Vasiliki Makrygianni, Silvan Pollozek, Olga Usachova, Ana
Visan, Nina Amelung.