CFA: International Conference on 'AI and Society", School of Liberal Arts, Alliance University, Bangalore. Dates: 1-3 March 2024

Concept Note and Submission Details:

The blinding glare of AI makes us squint in a combination of hope and fear. We have to take pause and redirect the glare through the prisms of diverse domains and disciplines, to take advantage of the perhaps still-too-human ability to detach and reflect, immerse, and observe, both at the same time. The reflective part of the conference not only steers away from the enchantment of grand questions and grand paranoia, but invites the best combination of breadth and specificity, accessibility and depth, freedom and discipline. The immersive dimension, on the other hand, asks us to submit to the most eclectic manifestations of AI: whether it is about talking to a therapy bot, co-creating AI art, using AI mechanisms to generate historical narratives and research documents, using AI devices to encounter health and climate hazards, diving into an AI-generated metaverse, and many other aspects. Such immersions are meant to usher in new possibilities of reflection. While recent incarnations like ChatGPT force us to take stock of the disruption brought about by the generative paradigm, we will also acknowledge earlier inflections that AI brought about in recommendation systems, translation engines, image-processing, cultural understandings, socioeconomic growths, among many others. Are some of these inflections such as therapy bots and AI-driven media poised for their own respective singularities? Is there a possibility of building an intersectional alliance with AI so that the singularities do not emerge as all-pervading, imperial, and dictatorial entities around us?

What makes this collective exercise in contemplation unique is the meeting ground it offers for theorists, practitioners, critics, and enthusiasts. Located in Bangalore, which is India’s de facto AI capital, this is envisaged to be a one-of-a-kind exchange involving a thriving AI community of academic experts drawn from the world over. Slicing through the jargon of technological advances, the arcane dialect of academia, and the authentic vernacular of consumers and users, the conference does not presume a pre-existing language for communication, but instead hopes to arrive at one. Concerning these arguments, the conference invites Ph.D. scholars, postdoctoral fellows, independent researchers, and faculties from different educational and research institutions to contribute abstracts on the following sub-themes (but not restricted to):

• AI and philosophy

• AI and Cultural Studies

• AI and Political Science

• AI and Psychology

• AI, Science and Technology, and Science and Technology Studies (STS)

• AI and Media

• AI, Design, and Art

• AI, Translation Studies and Machine Learning

The range and scope of topics have been kept wide enough to enable conversations and inputs from actual stakeholders of AI (technocrats and policymakers). 

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Submissions should be able to underline why the research problems concerned matter beyond their sub-disciplines. Interested contributors need to submit an extended abstract of 800-1000 words and the timeline of submission is 31st January 2024. The contributors will be informed about the outcome of their submission on/by 15th February 2024. 

After the conference, selected presenters would be invited to submit chapters for conference proceedings. 

Please send the abstracts to both 

Dr. Ravi Chakraborty (ravi.chakraborty@alliance.edu.in) and 

Dr. Sayan Dey (sayan.dey@alliance.edu.in).

CFP: International Conference on #Radical Thought in the #Anthropocene – #Theories & #Concepts of #Critical #Theory - University of Graz

 CALL FOR PAPERS

What is critique? What can Critical Theory do for society? Which forms of critique may claim any relevance in late capitalism? How can a critical public opinion manifest itself in the 21st century? How can we distinguish critique from political ideologies and conspiracy theories? (see Fridays for Future, Querdenker, etc.) What characterises critical thinking? How can radical thought be rendered practically relevant?

The conference Theories and Concepts of Critical Theory takes place between 26 and 28 June 2025 at the University of Graz, and it approaches its main theme from various theoretical and practical perspectives. Based at the Faculty of Humanities, this interdisciplinary conference constitutes the second stage of the interdepartmental research project Radical Thought in the Anthropocene. The conference follows on from a first event that took place in 2023 and which was dedicated to different disciplinary approaches to Critical Theory.

We will bring the concept and idea of critique into productive constellations with a variety of concepts and categories pertaining to social and cultural theory. In doing so, and by highlighting fundamental societal and existential challenges of the 21st century, we will reflect upon the possibilities and potentials of a productive critique of society, especially concerning its implications for academic theory and lived practice. In view of the great global, societal, ecological and economic challenges, we will put to the test the social significance and practical relevance of cultural and social theory in the 21st century.

Keynotes

•

Rodrigo Duarte,

Belo Horizonte, Brazil

•

Lydia Goehr,

New York City, USA

•

Sven Kramer,

Lüneburg, Germany

•

Michael Thompson,

New York City, USA

Conference Board (University of Graz)

•

Stefan Baumgarten,

Department of Translation Studies

•

Stefan Brandt,

Department of American Studies

•

Juliane Jarke,

BANDAS Center & Department of Sociology

•

Susanne Kogler,

Department of Art and Musicology

•

Sonja Rinofner-Kreidl,

Department of Philosophy

Format

The conference is held in a workshop format. Incoming abstracts will be assigned to the following three corresponding themes:

Workshop I: Language, Translation, Society

This workshop compares and contrasts diverse forms and concepts of critique and communication, examining their viability in view of current societal challenges such as multiculturalism, multilingualism, migration and modern communication technologies. Amongst other things, we will address cultural readings and language-specific receptions of the first generation of the Frankfurt School, especially concerning their historicity, timeliness and their ‘afterlife’. We will also pay special attention to ideology critique and to critical approaches on technology. Further relevant categories include phenomena such as inter- and transculturality, deconstruction and text, medialisation and multimodality, globalisation and (digital) cultures as well as gender-specific issues.

•

Workshop II: Materialism, Aesthetics, Politics

The question surrounding (artistic) ‘material’ concerns one of the key themes associated with Theodor W. Adorno’s aesthetic theory. It is also of central importance regarding the current reception of Critical Theory. Such questions surrounding the status, nature and conceptualisation of the material world not only challenge the Marxist origins of Critical Theory but also its concrete political and practical relevance. In this workshop, we will compare and contrast approaches in Critical Philosophy and Critical Social Theory, as well as approaches pertaining to (Historical) Materialism and (Neo-)Idealism. Of particular interest here is the relationship between New Materialisms and Critical Theory. Further relevant topics include (world) literature, digitalization and mediatisation, art and freedom (from ideology), (artistic) activism and politics.

•

Workshop III: Humans, Spirit, World Relation

This workshop deals with the relationship between science and critique. Here, the role of the Humanities for critical thinking and the role of lived practice with positive future implications will be debated from self-reflexive and self-critical standpoints. Among other things, we will discuss in what ways scientific and academic thought echoes conceptualisations, theories and arguments from Critical Theory, and how science might be able to adapt them for a better life, for a radical “wild thinking” that may generate alternative realities, art worlds, even anarchist constellations. Dichotomous thinking, post- and transhumanist ontologies as well as Anthropology and History are further possible themes. The relationship between critique, reason and unreason, as well as between critique, indignation and resistance about the state of (world) social affairs will also be up for discussion.

We look forward to receiving abstracts (max. 300 words) for 20-minute presentations on the above-mentioned topics and themes by 20 February 2024 under radikalesdenken(at)uni-graz.at. We are particularly looking forward to receiving contributions from doctoral candidates and early-career researchers! The abstracts must be submitted in anonymised form in English including a mini-biography (approx. 100 words).

The Conference Board will accept abstracts based on an anonymous selection procedure. Acceptance letters will be sent out in spring 2024. The conference will be streamed online. Selected contributions are expected to be published in English by Palgrave Macmillan.

Contact Information

radikalesdenken@uni-graz.at

Contact Email

stefan.brandt@uni-graz.at