Mirko Tobias Schäfer / Assistant Professor
University of Utrecht Department for Media and Culture Studies
Mirko Tobias Schäfer / Assistant Professor
University of Utrecht Department for Media and Culture Studies
Date April 2016 / Category News
As a Meractor Research Fellow at the NRW School of Governance at University of Duisburg-Essen I am investigating social media use in public management and police in Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW). With this research fellowship, I want to investigate exploratively the state of 'datafication' in NRW. Expert interviews with decision makers and practcioners from government bodies and the police shall provide insight into the process of implementing social media metrics and algorithmic processes into the various activities from communicating policies to monitoring publics and intervening in case of emergencies. The insights gained will be relevant in order to understand the transformation of our understanding of public sphere and democracy.
Date March 2015 / Category News
The symposium "The Datafication of the Public Sphere" at Angewandte Innovation Lab in Vienna provides the platform for a two day master class with Mirko Tobias Schäfer on possibilities and limits of civic participation.
Date October 2014 / Category News
I have been asked by the editors of the Journal of Computer Supported and Cooperative Work to edit a special issue on the the transformation of civic life through social media platforms, datafication and big data analysis.
Tags CfP
Instead of embracing the efforts of their fans, IKEA tries to shut down their sites. As I write in my book Bastard Culture! this is not a smart idea. Harassing fan sites will do more damage to a brand than these sites can do. Sony found out when they shut down an AIBO fan site back in 2001.
Date December 2013 / Category News
Women are crucial in post-conflict reconstruction. They are needed in processes of peace building and peace keeping as research findings support. Often these findings are based on anecdotal and qualitative research. CoolPolitics and the Utrecht Data School received a grant by the Oxfam Novib's Women Peace and Security Program to explore ways of open data and big data research to map the specific role of women in post conflict reconstruction.
Date January 2016 / Category News
A two-day workshop about effective scientific communication, given by experts. It is for PhD and 2nd year Master students. The workshop will take place on 24 and 25 February 2016 at Utrecht University.
Date March 2015 / Category News
As a post-doctoral research fellow at the Centre for Humanities at Utrecht University I will map research agenda’s that touch upon the transformation of citizenship through digital technology.
Date September 2014 / Category News
The Utrecht Data School has been awarded a KIEM grant from the NWO's exact science program. The grant funds a research project which develops a database for open data projects and possibilities for comparative evaluation of the projects and their social impact.
Date March 2014 / Category News
On 24 and 25 March 2014 The Hague will host the third Nuclear Security Summit. The summit is explicitly concerned with the alleged threat of nuclear terrorism and seeks ways of protecting nuclear material to fall into the hands of so-called terrorists. The Utrecht Data School seizes the opportunity to map this large event and the various issues revolving around it, as well as the participating audiences as they are displayed in the connected public sphere.
Date October 2013 / Category News
The second edition of the Utrecht Data School has been working hard to analyse data related to three external partners and their research questions: Gemeente Utrecht, Timing and Instituut Rathenau. The results will be presented in a symposium on November 5th.