Privacy—Media—Isolation

The 5th International Students' Conference at JGU Mainz on 18/19 November 2022.

“The medium is the message”; if Marshall McLuhan is right with this, where does the
messenger come in? For a long time, face-to-face communication was the main form of
medium. Since then, many new kinds of media have emerged and changed the way we
communicate and perceive ourselves and others. Media – social or not – is always both a
way to connect us and to divide us.

The themes of the ICON 2022 conference revolve around the issues of isolation and privacy
and how they are affected by the media. How does the media shape our lives? What role
does privacy play in this digitized world? How is isolation a growing concern when we are
seemingly better connected worldwide than ever?

We invite talks and presentations of all disciplines to get an interdisciplinary perspective on
Privacy—Media—Isolation. Potential contribution topics may include:

• Isolation in the digital era/age
• Representations of Identity
• Corporeality and Virtuality
• Social distancing and digital fatigue
• Bullying, Narcissism, Anxiety, Internet Addiction, and Mental/Physical Health
• Spatiality, Cultural Geography and Globalization Cyber security
• Algorithms, AI, and Agency
• Social Media
• NFTs: Privatization and Ownership
• Privacy and Isolation in literature

We invite submissions of abstracts (max. 600 words, prepared for blind review, PDF) on
aspects of this wide range of topics. Possible formats of presentations (in-person or digital)
are:

• individual talks (20 minutes + 30 minutes discussion period)
• joint talks (20 minutes + 30 minutes discussion period)
• posters
• workshops (50 or 100 minutes, workshops must actively involve the participants)
• creative work (e.g., photo exhibition, performance, concert or audiovisual presentation)

Please follow our Guidelines for Abstract Submissions and submit your abstract by June 12th, 2022 to icon@uni-mainz.de