Call for Papers:
Digital Death: Transforming History, Rituals and Afterlife Conference
The 7th International Symposium of the Death Online Research Network (DORS#7)
October 3-5, 2024
University of Helsinki, Finland
https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/digital-death-transforming-history-rituals-and-afterlife/digital-death-transforming-history-rituals-and-afterlife-conference
Abstract/panel submission deadline: April 26, 2024
How do the dead live among us today?
What kinds of relationships can be established between the living and the dead in today’s society?
How can we achieve immortality in the present-day digital society?
The 7th International Research Symposium of the Death Online Research Network Digital Death: Transforming History, Rituals and Afterlife addresses the cultural and social transformation of human death in modern society as it is characterised by digital saturation of the current collective social and cultural existence. Although death is a universal condition of all humankind, the ways in which death is addressed, managed, and performed in a given society and culture varies considerably. The conference places special emphasis on histories, cultures, religions, ideologies, and technologies that shape the construction of digital death in the present era.
The symposium will host a special workshop of participating postgraduate students and early career researchers the day before the symposium.
The conference will be on-site only at University of Helsinki, Finland.
THEMES AND TOPICS OF INTEREST:
We welcome paper and panel submissions on the following themes and beyond:
- Digital afterlife
- Digital immortality
- AI and death
- Death and data
- Social media mourning
- Digital grief practices
- Interrelations between online and offline practices in mourning
- Histories of digital death
- Religion and digital death
- Online funerals
- Thanatechnologies
- Digital estate planning
- Robotics and end of life care
- Grief influencers
- Marginalised representations and digital death
- Digital resistance to memorialisation
- Ethical challenges in studying digital death
- Legal perspectives and digital death
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
Dr. Tamara Kneese is a Project Director of Data & Society Research Institute’s AIMLab in New York, USA.
Discussant: Dr. Tal Morse is Adjunct Lecturer at Hadassah Academic College and CDAS Visiting Fellow at the University of Bath, UK.
Associate Professor Patrick Stokes is a Professor of Philosophy at Deakin University, Australia.
Discussant: Professor Amanda Lagerkvist, Professor of Media and Communication Studies at Uppsala University, Sweden.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
All submissions will be peer-reviewed, and we envisage publication of selected full papers in a special issue in Thanatos (open access) (Please note that participants will be accepted to present only one paper as the first author.)
PAPER SUBMISSION: Please submit your abstract of max 250 words with your contact details to Linda Pentikäinen (linda.pentikainen@helsinki.fi)
PANEL SUBMISSION: Panels up to four papers should include a general description of the panel (max 250 words) together with abstracts of the individual papers (max 200 words) with contact details of each participant and the panel chair. Proposals should be submitted to Linda Pentikäinen (linda.pentikainen@helsinki.fi)
All submissions will be peer-reviewed.
Please note that participants will be accepted to present only one paper as the first author.
IMPORTANT DATES:
Abstract/panel submission deadline: April 26, 2024
Notification of paper acceptance: June 3, 2024
Registration: June 3 – September 2, 2024
Conference: October 3–5, 2024
CONFERENCE FEE:
Regular 200 €
Student 150 €
The conference is sponsored by DiDe research consortium (EU, CHANSE) and Federation of Finnish Learned Societies
CONFERENCE ORGANISATION TEAM:
Anu Harju: anu.a.harju@helsinki.fi
Linda Pentikänen: linda.pentikainen@helsinki.fi
Johanna Sumiala: johanna.sumiala@helsinki.fi
ABOUT DORN – DEATH ONLINE RESEARCH NETWORK
Digital media are now integral to death, grief and memory, from personal illness blogs and live-streamed funerals to online support groups and virtual memorials. Studying death online involves attention to cultural change, identity performances, social bonding, legal matters, design innovations, business opportunities and more.
The Death Online Research Network was founded in Copenhagen in 2013 to encourage international collaboration and conversation around the study of death and digital media. In order to establish a strong research network and influence the field of research, DORN has articulated the following goals:
- To gather the academic work already done in this area
- To support the necessary interdisciplinarity in dealing with death online
- To support a digital platform (initially Facebook) for network communication
- To encourage subgroups to cooperate on projects, papers, panels, and publications
- To arrange physical symposiums to encourage knowledge sharing and cooperation.
- To arrange ph.d. workshops and, in other ways, support young scholars in the field.