NeMLA 2023: Niagara Falls, NY. March 23-26, 2023.

Today’s online information ecosystem is flourishing. Though the internet simultaneously helps democratize access to knowledge, give space to marginalized voices, and connect the global community, unfortunately, some areas have festered in extremist rhetoric and the dissemination of disinformation. Information literacy, media literacy, and digital literacy have become some of the most essential skills to maintain resiliency within the information ecosystem. This panel is interested in the production, dissemination, and consumption of information, which increasingly takes place online in a digital sphere that is convoluted with biased algorithms, filter bubbles, echo chambers, surveillance machines, disinformation, and more. This session seeks to critically delve into current modes and methods of online communication, considering the processes of information and knowledge sharing, through the focused lens of fostering, developing, and maintaining resiliency.

To this end, researchers and practitioners must carefully consider the value of information and the affordances of technology. The internet and the digital sphere have become not just a supplement to daily life, but the primary proxy through which to write, communicate, and engage with others. This panel seeks to tackle the complicated information flows online, addressing both in theory and in practice what disinformation expert Claire Wardle calls an “information disorder” and researcher Julie Posetti dubs a “disinfodemic.” How do we bolster resiliency? How can we cultivate inclusive environments devoted to dialogue across intellectual and cultural differences?

Abstracts of 250-300 words should be submitted directly on the NeMLA website by September 30, 2022: https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/20113 (direct link to this panel).

Submission Requirements

The submission deadline is September 30, 2022. All abstracts must be submitted through the NeMLA CFP web site at https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/. Search for ID #20113, "The (Dis)Information Society: An Online Ecosystem in Peril.”

General guidelines for abstracts can be found at http://www.buffalo.edu/nemla/convention/callforpapers.html. View the conference web site at https://www.buffalo.edu/nemla/convention.html.

Contact Information

Chelsea Horne
Senior Professorial Lecturer
Department of Literature
American University

Contact email: horne@american.edu