Weekly Research Colloquium in Berlin

CIHR Research Colloquium
Every Thursday, we meet in our Berlin office to discuss research projects from members of the CIHR network – our researchers, fellows and collaborators.
When? Every Thursday
Where? CIHR Berlin office, Werner-Voss Damm 54a, 12101 Berlin
How to participate? Send us an email at ue.rhicnull@eciffo
February 15: The Algorithm as your Boss? with Mirela Ivanova
From 4pm – 6pm
Mirela Ivanova is a sociologist and a researcher at the Centre for Internet and Human Rights at the European-University Viadrina. She is working on the CIHR project is funded by the Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, which investigates how applications and algorithms transform our working environment. By studying the case of food-delivery platforms of Deliveroo and Foodora in Berlin, our research projects will explore how these technologies are constituted and experienced as management tools.
February 22: Transparency on Social Media Platforms with Jillian York
From 4pm – 6pm
Jillian C. York is a fellow at the CIHR and the Director for International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Jilian will present Onlinecensorship.org – a project launched in 2015 by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Visualizing Impact. The goal of the project is to encourage social media companies to operate with greater transparency and accountability toward their users as they make decisions that regulate speech. Jillian has been collecting and analysing reports from users who have experienced such censorship. Together with researchers at Queensland University of Technology in Australia she is creating a list of priorities for users, which can help content moderators, journalists and policy makers to better understand user rights. The goal of the colloquium is to exchange opinions on how to improve improve transparency and due process on social media platforms. 
More about the project
March 1: Infrastructures of Control: The Human Impact of the Networked Municipality with Matthew Stender
From 6pm – 8pm
From power grids to stop lights, the era of ‘smart’ municipal services is upon us. As cities race to retrofit infrastructure with data-fueled, networked sensors, anonymity of any individual action becomes increasingly difficult.  The social impact of this phenomenon – which often disproportionately affect marginalized communities – are further exacerbated by the fact that these systems are often built and operated by private companies, and subject to non-uniform data policies.
Tech ethicist and CIHR fellow Matthew Stender will lead a discussion on how the combination of two forces – corporate profit motive and social control by the state – have profound implications for society-at-large. A short presentation on the practical and philosophical challenges brought about by this shift to networked infrastructure will be followed by a group discussion on transparency strategies to increase oversight and accountability.
March 8: with Jeff Deutch
From 6pm – 8pm
Jeff Deutch is a fellow at the CIHR and researcher with the Syrian Archive. Jeff will present the work of the Syrian Archive in documenting war crimes and human rights abuses in the age of open source evidenceand social media. The Syrian Archive, founded in 2014, is a Syrian led and initiated group that supports human rights investigators and journalists documenting war crimes and human rights violations by collecting and verifying digital evidence, developing new open source tools, and providing transparent, replicable methodology for collecting, preserving, verifying, and investigating visual documentation inconflict areas.
March 15: Visualising Interaction Networks on Facebook with Timo Versemann
From 6pm – 8pm
Timo Versemann is a theologian at the Evangelische Akademie zu Berlin. With the project NetzTeufel he’s analysing the spreading of toxic narrations in the name of Christianity in social media. He’ll present the possibilities and limitations of analysing and visualising networks arranged by user interactions on Facebook pages and public groups.
 
Would you like to get feedback on something you are working on? Do you know someone whose research we should really hear about? We welcome all topics and disciplinary perspectives. Please, email us if you would like to participate or present your research topic at ue.rhicnull@eciffo.