Surveillance & Society has two new sections dedicated to artistic engagements with surveillance. Both “Artistic Presentations” and “Art Review” seek to highlight the ways in which broadly defined notions of creative practices not only reflect, but also produce, modes of thinking about themes and issues related to surveillance. Please see the description of the sections below, and feel free to circulate widely. Do not hesitate to get in touch with me at susan.cahill@ucalgary.ca if you have any questions or require further information.

Artistic Presentations

Surveillance & Society encourages submissions that make use of the possibilities offered by the electronic medium. We therefore welcome creative engagements with surveillance in the form of photography, video, multimedia, hypertext prose/poetry, codework, etc.

However please note that we cannot act as curators, and would generally expect only prepared pieces that have not previously been available online or in this form, with any accompanying explanatory text and guidance for the viewer / reader to be provided or arranged for by the creator(s).

Please contact the Arts Editor (susan.cahill@ucalgary.ca) if you wish to submit such a piece.

Art Review

Surveillance & Society is dedicated to art and creative practice as unique and productive ways to engage with topics related to surveillance. As such, the journal welcomes the inclusion of written reviews that critically address creative engagements with surveillance. In addition to soliciting work, we accept proposals for writing that could fit into the following three formats:

Art in Process
Published works about art primarily examine the piece after its completion. Here, we would like to include writing by artists about their process, the ways in which creative thinking, research, and production come together in the making of the artworks.

Art in Conversation
We encourage discussion pieces between artists, curators, and scholars discussing the state and place of art as a mode of surveillance address.

Artwork or Exhibition Review
Artwork or Exhibition Reviews should examine a contemporary creative work—either a single piece or a larger exhibition—in relation to the larger contexts of surveillance themes.

We also invite requests from artists or curators who would like to have their work reviewed. Please note that it is the author’s responsibility to obtain permission to reprint any included images.

In general, art review submissions should:

• be no more than 2500 words in length (not including references);
• otherwise follow the general author guidelines.
• Please contact the Arts Editor (susan.cahill@ucalgary.ca) if you wish to submit such a piece.

Surveillance & Society is aware of and sensitive to many people’s uncertain situations right now. If you are interested in submitting a visual or written piece, but unsure of what the commitment or timelines might be, please contact the Arts Editor for a discussion.

Power, Media, and the Covid 19 Pandemic: framing public discourse

Edited by Stuart Price and Ben Harbisher (Media Discourse Centre, De Montfort University, UK)

Deadline – 20th May 2020:

Send Name, Title, Affiliation, followed by a 300-word Abstract (as an attachment and in the main body of the email) including focus, approach/method and academic references. Editorial response will be sent by or before 1st June. Send to mdc@dmu.ac.uk cc’ing sprice@dmu.ac.ukand ben.harbisher@dmu.ac.uk (Early Publication Date tbc – needless to say, we seek polished, well-referenced material that will help us meet our editorial deadlines – method of referencing will be Harvard, blended with our ‘house style’)

Read more ›

The Fifth CRISP Doctoral Training School

Deadline for applications: Friday 27th March 2020

CRISP is proud to announce that applications can be submitted for its fifth biannual Doctoral Training School. The School takes place at the University of Essex from Monday 15– Friday 19 June 2020. The School will feature five days of intensive training in multi-disciplinary research methods and skills in the field of Surveillance Studies. It will also feature a range of knowledge-exchange and research-training activities, as well as providing social and networking opportunities.

Call for Mentors and Mentees:

Dear Colleagues,

The Surveillance Studies Network is beginning its 2020 mentorship program for doctoral students engaged in research topics on surveillance. We are calling for faculty members and PhD students who are interested to participate this year as mentors and mentees, respectively.

One faculty member mentor will be paired with one PhD student mentee for a one-year period beginning in March 2020. As an informal mentorship arrangement, the program is intended as a supplement to students’ pre-existing mentorship relationships.

The time commitment is minimal, but the program greatly assists young surveillance scholars in conceptualizing their projects and networking with established scholars in the field.

Over the one-year period, each pair will have a minimum of two discussions, in person if possible (such as at a conference), or 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 literatures, the academic job market, or other matters relating to career.

If you are interested in participating, please email mentorship coordinator Julia Chan (jshchan@yorku.ca) by March 4, 2020 with your name, contact information, and 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!

Due to the global Corona crisis and the subsequent restrictions SSN2020 was postponed.

The new date for SSN2021 is 7-9 June 2021 in Rotterdam. A new cfp will be out soon!

Participants already paid registration will be reimbursed. For any questions, please contact at ssn2020@eur.nl

The 9th biennial Surveillance & Society conference of the Surveillance Studies Network, hosted by Erasmus University Rotterdam on June 8-10 2020 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Visual acuity has historically been measured based on the normative value of 20/20 vision. Yet by the year 2020, the clarity of vision regarding surveillance practices and their implications remains clouded. The metaphors of vision and optics are central – and privileged – components of surveillance research. This conference considers three interrelated lines of sight to bring increased focus on understanding, evaluating and responding to surveillance.

Read more ›

Save the Date!

9th Biennial Surveillance Studies Network Conference

Lines of Sight – Surveillance 20/20

Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands, 8-10 June 2020

call for papers online now!

Invitation to host Surveillance Studies Network 9th Biennial Conference 2020

Tenders to be received by Monday March 25 2019

Decision to be announced on Friday 5 April 2019

Please send tenders and any questions to Rosamunde.Van.Brakel [ ät] surveillance-studies [dot] net

The Surveillance Studies Network invites expressions of interest to host the 9^th Biennial Conference in 2020. 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 9^th year, we are delighted to be inviting expressions of interest to host the next conference in 2020. More information about previous conference 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 costings for room hire, daily delegate catering rate, local admin support, delegate packs, and website development. SSN especially welcomes bids from the Global South. The Directors of SSN will choose the venue for the 2020 conference based on a review of the submitted EOIs. Please feel free to contact them for informal conversations and to receive an application pack  (in the first instance, contact Rosamunde van Brakel for this purpose, at Rosamunde.Van.Brakel [ ät] surveillance-studies [dot]net)

Basic specifications for host institution

• Date: May or June 2020
• Duration: 2,5 days
• Capacity:  200-person capacity Lecture Theatre with full AV, plus a minimum of 4 fully AV equipped rooms available nearby with 60+ capacity each.
• Language: The language of the conference is English.
• Atrium/Foyer: To cater for lunch/tea and coffee breaks – near to breakout rooms.
• Catering: 3 X teas and coffee per day, 1 X buffet brunch/lunch per day, plus organize conference dinner (available at additional cost).
• 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 four SSN Board members (including one SSN Director)
• 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 two and a half-day conference should enable two plenary sessions and 5 parallel sessions.
• Poster sessions or other activities to encourage Master and Doctoral student involvement in the conference are encouraged.

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 theatres, break out rooms, meal facilities, and catering on time
• Creating a conference paper archive – password protected
• Producing a conference accommodation and travel guide for on the conference website
• Publicizing the conference through social media and mailinglists
• Fully responsible for organising, managing, and scheduling conference sessions, plenaries 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 abstracts, delegate list, timetable etc. Organising the conference dinner (at an additional payment)
• Administering conference registration and payment preferably through electronic means, and collecting SSN subscriptions via the same mechanism
• All preconference administration including answering delegate’s queries and sending out emails to the delegates with info about the conference
• Management of front desk and onsite logistics throughout the conference.