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Surveillance Studies Network Arts Prize 2024

The Surveillance Studies Network (SSN) is dedicated to the study of surveillance in all its forms. It promotes innovative and multidisciplinary work on surveillance, including research that bridges different academic fields, furthers the understanding of surveillance in wider society, and informs information policy and political debate. As a registered charitable company, the SSN is committed to the free distribution of scholarly products, including the publication of Surveillance & Society, the leading peer-reviewed journal dedicated to surveillance studies.

As part of its mandate, the SSN seeks to encourage creative and artistic practices engaging with the topic of surveillance. As such, the Surveillance Studies Network Arts Prize is a bi-annual award that recognizes and publicly supports artwork centred on critical readings of surveillance. Following the success of its previous Arts Prizes in 2018, 2020, and 2022, the SSN is delighted to announce the call for nominations to the 2024 competition.

Award

All submissions are adjudicated by a committee composed of members of the SSN board. The award for first prize is £250 and up to three honourable mentions will receive £100. Additionally, the winner and each honourable mention will receive a fee waiver for conference registration at the forthcoming SSN Conference (location and date TBA) in summer 2024, as well as coverage in a Surveillance & Society forum and the blink blog discussing the work. Travel support may also be available, funds permitting. Winning artists will also receive an invitation to showcase their work, or a representation of it, in a virtual exhibition during SSN’s 2024 conference. 

Please note that, due to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the format of the 2024 SSN conference and thus the administration of the Arts Prize may be subject to change to accommodate changing public health measures.

The nominated work must be an original art project that was produced or exhibited in the 2020, 2021, or 2022 calendar years. The following criteria will be used to adjudicate the nominations:

·   demonstrates a thematic fit with the critical orientation of the Surveillance Studies Network and Surveillance & Society;

·   exhibits theoretical sophistication;

·   produces new and unique ways of thinking about modes of surveillance;

·   and promotes audience engagements.

Deadlines and Forms

The call for nominations closes on 15 July 2023 at 11:59pm EST, with the selected artworks announced in December 2023. To nominate an artwork for the upcoming competition, please download and complete the following form: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ENj5aqOI5EBhoZe-4xvk8JJesr930F8lbWT8mmetkPA/edit 

Self-nominations are welcome.

For further information, please contact Julia Chan, Arts Committee Co-Chair at julia.chan@ucalgary.ca and include the heading “SSN Arts Prize.”

*Submission forms are hosted by Google. For a PDF version, please send a request to julia.chan@ucalgary.ca with the heading “SSN Arts Prize form—PDF request.”


Announcement: mentorship progamme

Dear Colleagues, 

The Surveillance Studies Network mentorship program is calling for faculty members and PhD students who are interested to participate as mentors and mentees, respectively. One faculty member mentor will be paired with one PhD student mentee whose research concerns surveillance for a one-year period. 

The time commitment for faculty is minimal, but the program greatly assists surveillance scholars in developing their scholarship and networking with established scholars in the field. 

Over the one-year period, each pair will have a minimum of two discussions via phone or video chat. The focus of the discussions can be determined individually by each pair, but they might cover the mentee’s research or research interests, related literature, the academic job market, or other matters relating to their career. Please note that, as an informal mentorship arrangement, the program is intended only as a supplement and not a replacement to students’ pre-existing supervisor/mentorship relationships. 

If you are interested in participating, please email Mentorship Coordinator Oliver Kayas (o.g.kayas@ljmu.ac.uk) with your name, contact information, and up to five keywords of research interests. We will do our best to match faculty members and PhD students who share similar interests. 

Note: It is expected that PhD students participating in the program will become SSN members if they are not already. 

We look forward to hearing from you. 


Call for tender: SSN 2024

Invitation to host Surveillance Studies Network 10th Biennial Conference 2024 

The Surveillance Studies Network invites expressions of interest to host the 10th Biennial Conference in 2024. The conference brings together scholars, artists, and activists working broadly in the area of surveillance. It has become increasingly popular year on year and always receives a very positive response from the community. Now in its 10th iteration, we are delighted to be inviting expressions of interest to host the next conference in 2024. More information about previous conferences can be found here: https://www.surveillance-studies.net/?page_id=4.

Outlined below is a draft specification for what hosting the conference would require and an indicative budget. If you and your institution would be interested in hosting the conference on this basis, we invite you to submit an expression of interest (EOI). Your EOI should contain information about your institution, your capacity and experience in administering such events, why you want to host it, an estimated conference preparation timeline, what added value you bring (especially why your institution would be an attractive venue to prospective delegates), how accessible the conference venue is (both in terms of being accessible for those with special needs, but also convenient access to mass transit and transportation hubs), and a number of proposals for the conference theme (the conference should have a broad theme so as to be attractive to the diverse range of disciplines and topics that fall under the surveillance studies umbrella). You should also include indicative costs for room hire, daily delegate catering rate, local admin support, delegate packs, technology costs, and website development. SSN especially welcomes bids from the Global South. The Directors of SSN will choose the venue for the 2024 conference based on a review of the submitted EOIs.

If you are interested in submitting an EOI or if you have questions please get in touch with David Murakami Wood, chair of the SSN2024 Organizing Committee, to receive the full application pack: david.mw@uottawa.ca

Please send your expression of interest to host SSN2024 to ssn@surveillance-studies.net and david.mw@uottawa.ca.

Basic specifications for host institution

Date:                                     May or June 2024    

Duration                              3.5-4 days

Capacity                               250-person capacity Lecture Theatre with full AV, plus a minimum of 7 fully AV equipped rooms available nearby with 60+ capacity each. At least 2 of the rooms including the main Lecture Theatre should be online-ready to support virtual/hybrid streaming of the events in those rooms.

Language                             The language of the conference is English.

Atrium/Foyer                     To cater for lunch/tea and coffee breaks/art installations – near to breakout room

Catering                               3 X teas and coffee per day, 1 X buffet lunch per day, plus a          conference dinner      .

Accommodation:              It is easier if delegates arrange their own accommodation at local hotels but this requires the venue to be a reasonably large city. If the host institution can arrange accommodation that is fine, but we would advise against this because the administration can be difficult, and it often requires a firm block-booking months in advance and payment up front.

Conference organisation

The conference organising committee consists of:

  • At least  three SSN Board members (including one SSN Director)
  • Two or three members of the host institution (one of whom will be the conference director)

The SSN members of the committee will support the host institution in providing feedback and advice during regular organizing committee calls. Final decisions about the conference theme, registration fees, budget, programme, etc., will be made by the organizing committee. SSN will be responsible for determining the keynotes, award ceremonies of SSN prizes and promoting the conference.

Structure of conference:

A 3.5-4-day conference should enable two plenary sessions and 6-7 streams of parallel sessions each day.

Poster sessions or other activities to encourage Master and Doctoral student involvement in the conference, and are encouraged.

Additionally, the proposal and development of a doctoral student colloquium as part of the overall program is required. This could occur, for example, in the morning or afternoon prior to the regular conference.

The Host institution would be responsible for:

  • Reporting on budget, planning, and preparation milestones to SSN in advance of the conference
  • Developing and running the conference website
  • Securing lecture rooms, break out rooms, meal facilities, and catering on time
  • Creating an online conference paper archive – password protected
  • Producing a conference accommodation and travel guide for on the conference website
  • Publicizing the conference through social media and mailing lists
  • Fully responsible for organising, managing, and scheduling the conference sessions, plenaries, keynotes and associated activities, this includes management of the submission of abstracts, the review process, scheduling the abstracts in conference sessions, and drafting the final programme
  • Creating the conference pack containing a programme booklet including abstracts, delegate list, timetable etc. Organising the conference dinner.
  • Administering conference registration and payment preferably through electronic means, and collecting SSN membership subscriptions via the same mechanism
  • All preconference administration and communication including answering delegate’s queries and sending out emails to the delegates with info about the conference and communication with the keynotes with regards to scheduling, travel and accommodation.
  • Management of front desk and onsite logistics throughout the conference.

Cfp: SSN Small Research Grants (2022-23)

Call for Proposals: SSN Small Research Grants (2022-23)

We are pleased to announce the 2022-23 Surveillance Studies Network (SSN) Small Research Grant competition. The SSN Small Grants scheme provides funding to support junior/early-career scholars working in economically under-resourced regions of the world. This year, we will be able to fund two awards of up to £1500 each, to be used during the 2022-2023 academic year in support of surveillance studies research (for more information about what constitutes surveillance studies research, we recommend reviewing articles published in Surveillance & Society (http://surveillance-and-society.org/), the SSN’s international journal of surveillance studies). These awards will also be accompanied by a two-year SSN membership. The Small Grants Committee will review and select recipients based on the following criteria and process.

Eligibility

Surveillance Studies Network members (or non-members who conduct surveillance-related research and would like to become part of SSN) are encouraged to apply, with preference given to persons who:

  • justify themselves as working in an economically under-resourced region;
  • are early career researchers (i.e., a doctoral student or researcher who has earned their PhD in the last five years);
  • have not previously received funding through the SSN Small Research Grant; and,
  • submit all required materials prior to the application deadline.

Evaluation Criteria

We will be evaluating applications based on their articulation of specific research-related activities that would significantly augment the applicant’s program of research, but that would not be feasible without additional funding. Additionally, we will take into consideration the overall feasibility of the proposed work and the extent to which it is likely to make a significant contribution to surveillance studies

Process

Please submit a brief proposal (approximately 1 page, single spaced) outlining:

  • the activities to be conducted with the funding,
  • the importance of these activities to your program of research,
  • justification of your region of residence as economically under-resourced,
  • description of your suitability for the award based on the other criteria of preference, and
  • a timeline for completion of the activities planned. (All awarded funds must be spent by September 30, 2023).

Additionally, please submit a budget (1-page maximum) outlining your plans for using any awarded funds up to a maximum of £1500 (e.g., transcription services, informant/human-subjects payments, travel costs to conduct field research, technical equipment, conference fees, etc.).

Send your proposal and budget as one document (PDF preferred) to Pinelopi Troullinou at pinelopi.troullinou@trilateralresearch.com on or before September 01, 2022. Please include the following text in your email subject header: “SSN Small Grants Application.” Notification of awards will be made as soon as possible after the deadline.

Post-Award Expectations

Successful applicants will be asked to submit a post-award report outlining the research they conducted using the funds and noting how the SSN Small Grant contributed to the success and implementation of their research. These reports will be due on April 1 in the year following the award. Additionally, applicants may be invited to publish a “Research Note” on our blog Blink (https://medium.com/surveillance-and-society) or in a future issue of Surveillance & Society (for more information about this form of contribution to the journal, see the journal’s submission page at https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/surveillance-and-society/about/submissions). 


SSN Arts Prize Ceremony

At the SSN 2022 conference the winners of the arts prizes from 2020 and 2022 were awarded and honoured. The presented their works and engaged in a discussion with the audience on their works and the subject of arts within surveillance studies and further afield.

The curators Julia Chab and Stéfy McKnight moderated the panel and guided through the ceremony.

Congratulations to all winners and the honorable mentions.

More on the prizes, artists and their works here: https://www.ssnartsprize.com


cfp: Dialogue on Surveillance in Contemporary Conflict

Dear Colleagues,

we invite expressions of interest to write short (2000-word) papers for an upcoming Dialogue section of Surveillance & Society focused on the topic of “Surveillance in Contemporary Conflict.” We aim to publish the section in the March 2023 issue of Surveillance & Society.

In this Dialogue, we seek contributions that examine how surveillance is part of, and has grown out of, contemporary conflicts around the world. The war in Ukraine is certainly within the scope of this call, however we are also interested in pieces that examine how, by comparison, surveillance in non-Western conflicts remains largely unnoticed and undebated. We also seek proposals for contributions that engage thoughtfully with questions of how race, privilege, and discrimination inflect contemporary conflicts or assessments of them. As usual, the focus of proposed submissions should be on surveillance (practices, technologies, ethics, etc.) itself, situated within the contexts of conflict(s) around the world. Additionally, we are open to contributions that explore ideas, theories, or methods with which to approach issues of conflict in future surveillance-studies scholarship.

Possible topics could include technologies of war; low-tech innovations; the role of social media or communication channels; or geo-political tensions. Possible regional foci could include the ongoing wars and conflicts in Yemen; Afghanistan; Palestine; Myanmar; Ethiopia; Eritrea; Paraguay; Syria; Sudan; Nigeria; or, Iraq.

We are hoping to curate a small set of papers from scholars in various parts of the world, including in the Global South and areas not as commonly the focus of surveillance studies research. As such, we will prioritize submissions against those criteria, in addition to excellence and fit with the full set of accepted papers.

If you are interested in proposing a short paper for inclusion in this discussion, please send the following to Keith Spiller (Associate Editor) and Bryce Newell (Dialogue Editor) on or before the end of day on July 1, 2022 (Keith.Spiller@bcu.ac.uk and bcnewell@uoregon.edu):


Winners: Early Career Researcher Awards

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Surveillance Studies Network’s 2021 “Early Career Researcher Awards” for publications in Surveillance & Society. Congratulations to Audrey Amsellem, Matthew Archer, and Jade Hinchliffe. If you haven’t already read their pieces, follow the links to do so.

Amsellem, Audrey. 2021. The Noise of Silent Machines: A Case Study of LinkNYC. Surveillance & Society 19(2): 168-186.

Archer, Matthew. 2021. Imagining Impact in Global Supply Chains: Data-Driven Sustainability and the Production of Surveillable Space. Surveillance & Society 19(3): 282-298.

Hinchliffe, Jade. 2021. Speculative Fiction, Sociology, and Surveillance Studies: Towards a Methodology of the Surveillance Imaginary. Surveillance & Society 19(4): 414-424.

Congratulations to the winners!!!


SSN Arts prize 2022 winner

Award announcement

The selection committee is delighted to announce the winner of the SSN Arts Prize 2022, Elham Fatapour’s homemade satellite dishes (2019-2020).

Additionally, the committee awarded two honourable mention awards to Wendy Wong for Linguistic racism and the sonic surveillance of speech in schools (2021) and Jessica-Maria Nassif for Mix, Match, and Start from Scratch (2019-2021).

We received many impressive applications to the competition this year, and the committee is thankful to all those who took the time to apply. The Surveillance Studies Network Arts Prize is a bi-annual award that recognizes and publicly supports artwork centred on critical readings of surveillance. The award includes a monetary prize, invited participation in a future Surveillance & Society forum discussing the work, and a showcase opportunity at the Surveillance Studies Network’s conference on 01-03 June 2022 at Erasmus University Rotterdam in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Congratulations to the SSN Arts Prize 2022 winner and two honourable mentions!


Call for Nominations: SSN Arts Prize 2022

Surveillance Studies Network Arts Prize 2022

The Surveillance Studies Network (SSN) is dedicated to the study of surveillance in all its forms. It promotes innovative and multidisciplinary work on surveillance, including research that bridges different academic fields, furthers the understanding of surveillance in wider society, and informs information policy and political debate. As a registered charitable company, the SSN is committed to the free distribution of scholarly products, including the publication of Surveillance & Society, the leading peer-reviewed journal dedicated to surveillance studies.

As part of its mandate, the SSN seeks to encourage creative and artistic practices engaging with the topic of surveillance. As such, the Surveillance Studies Network Arts Prize is a bi-annual award that recognizes and publicly supports artwork centred on critical readings of surveillance. Following the success of its two previous Arts Prizes in 2018 and 2020, the SSN is delighted to announce the call for nominations to the 2022 competition.

Award

All submissions are adjudicated by a committee composed of members of the SSN board. The award for first prize is £250 and up to three honourable mentions will receive £100. Additionally, the winner and each honourable mention will receive a fee waiver for conference registration at the forthcoming SSN Conference to be held 01-03 June 2022 at Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands, as well as coverage in a Surveillance & Society forum discussing the work. Funds permitting, winning artists will also receive an invitation to showcase their work, or a representation of it, in an onsite or virtual exhibition during SSN’s 2022 conference.

Please note that, due to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the format of the 2022 SSN conference and thus the administration of the Arts Prize may be subject to change to accommodate changing public health measures.

The nominated work must be an original art project that was produced or exhibited in the 2019, 2020, or 2021 calendar years. The following criteria will be used to adjudicate the nominations:

  1. demonstrates a thematic fit with the critical orientation of the Surveillance Studies Network and Surveillance & Society;
  2. exhibits theoretical sophistication;
  3. produces new and unique ways of thinking about modes of surveillance;
  4. and promotes audience engagements.

Deadlines and Forms

The call for nominations closes on 30 November at 11:59pm EST, with the selected artworks announced in January 2022. To nominate an artwork for the upcoming competition, please download and complete the following form: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gSbgzAPX-3MM4ufcvY0Yr84BTz9IxHmI/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=113188570049587824126&rtpof=true&sd=true. Self-nominations are welcome.

For further information, please contact Susan Cahill, Arts Editor of Surveillance & Society at susan.cahill@ucalgary.ca  and include the heading “SSN Arts Prize”.

*Submission forms are hosted by Google. For a PDF version, please send a request to susan.cahill@ucalgary.ca with the heading “SSN Arts Prize form—PDF request”.


Save the Date: SSN 2022 in Rotterdam

Save the Date!

9th Biennial Surveillance Studies Network Conference

Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands, 1-3 June 2022

More information about the conference and the call for papers will follow in September 2021


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