(Dec. 26 update: Paper deadline passed. Thank you to all who submitted their work within the specified timeframe! Our paper applications are currently under review and in the final stages. Thank you to all who submitted their work within the specified timeframe. Programs details will be announced in January. Please stay tuned for further updates from the Event Announcement.)

Dates of the event: January 20-21, 2024
Organized by INSTeM (Inter-field Network for Science, Technology and Media Studies)
Coordinated by Yoshitaka Mōri (INSTeM/Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts)

Keynote Speakers:
Anthony Fung (Professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Eva Tsai (Professor, National Taiwan Normal University)
Shin Mizukoshi (INSTeM/Professor, Kansai University)
and More...

＊ This is an online event. All presentations will be made online (Zoom).

As entering the 2020s, the media landscape is changing dramatically. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the proliferation of various net conferencing applications such as Zoom and Teams, and new subscription services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime have taken off. Meanwhile, new technologies such as new generative AI, represented by Catgut, are fundamentally transforming the relationship between humans and machines.

At the same time, the era of global centralization and homogenization driven by transnational capitalism, which has advanced since the end of the Cold War, is rapidly coming to an end, and the world is becoming increasingly fragmented. The digital media world is no exception. The multinational corporate platforms represented by GAFAM, which seemed to have everything under control, have come in for a variety of criticism, and the evolution of technology in China and other non-Western countries has been remarkable. Under these circumstances, the digital media environment will become more and more a mosaic, unstable, full of connections and disconnections, agreements and disagreements.

What will media studies look like in these times? In the late 1980s, when the Internet was not yet widespread, French philosopher Félix Guattari foresaw the arrival of a new interactive digital media and, in anticipation of its political possibilities, proposed the concept of “post-media”. In light of the current widespread use of the Internet, his vision may seem a bit too optimistic. However, the concept of “post-media,” which advocates a fundamental reformation of the relationship between man and machine, body and media, nature and environment, seems to have a new meaning now that media has spread to every corner of our lives.

“Post-Media Studies in Asia” is an online symposium that seeks to discuss how the media environment is changing in Asia. While strongly influenced by the US, Asian media is developing in its own unique way according to its own culture, economy, and politics. At the same time, globalization is accelerating the flow of transnational cultures. There is an urgent need to construct a new media theory that responds to the new media environment.

We established the Post-Media Research Network (PMRN) in 2020 and have regularly held symposia and workshops with guest speakers including Mike Featherstone, Tomoko Tamari, Scott Lash, Matthew Fuller, Ian Condry, and others. In April 2023, INSTeM has taken over this project and is reorganizing the PMRN.

This symposium will be the first project of the new PMRN. We hope that those who are interested in this field have an opportunity to give a presentation, exchange ideas and develop our network. Possible topics are listed below, but of course other topics are welcome.

・New Media Literacy
・Critical Pedagogy
・Media Technology & Body, Materiality, Space
・Robot & AI as Media
・Civic Technology, Public Interest Technology
・Science, Technology and Society
・Media Practice & Design
・Transformation of Capitalism, Communication and Media
・Digital Media, Gender and Sexuality
・Labor in Communicative Capitalism
・Infrastructural Theories

Please send the title, abstract (400 words) and short bio (200 words) by December 22, 2023. The result will be announced by December 29, 2023.

Please submit your abstract and short bio from this form:
https://forms.gle/2qvsot5EPSRQTNXV9
(Those who have difficulty having access to the form can e-mail your abstract and bio to web@instem.jp )

＊ This is an online event. All presentations will be made online (Zoom).

[Presentation length]
・Time allocated for individual presentation is 20 minutes, with another 5 -10 minutes for Q&A discussion. (Planned schedule subject to potential changes)
・Each session will have a maximum of 4 presentations.
・We recommend that you prepare some PowerPoint slides for your presentation.

[Presentation Registration Fee]
・Student/Part Time/Freelance: ¥2,000 (about 15USD)
・Full Time: ¥3,000（about 20USD)
Payment method for the presentation registration fee will be informed when we contact you to accept your presentation proposal.

＊Presentation dates/times will be announced in early January.

＊If you have any questions regarding the submission, please e-mail INSTeM at web@instem.jp

(updated on Nov. 27, 2023)