Doctoral students from four European universities gathered at SWPS University in Warsaw to analyze the impact of modern technologies on culture and society. Held from September 14 to 16, the three-day summer school was hosted as part of the "Infrastructures of Democracy" series, an educational initiative organized under the auspices of the European Reform University Alliance.
Interdisciplinary Approach
SWPS University in Warsaw recently hosted an international doctoral summer school, organized by the Center for Cultural Research on Technologies in collaboration with the Office for International Cooperation. The event marked the latest installment in the "Infrastructures of Democracy" series—an academic initiative originally launched by the University of Paris 8.
The workshop brought together eight doctoral students from four partner institutions:
- University of Paris 8 (France)
- Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania)
- New Bulgarian University (Bulgaria)
- SWPS University (Poland)
Interdisciplinary in nature, the meeting provided a platform for these early-career researchers to exchange ideas and bring perspectives from a variety of fields within the social sciences, humanities, and arts to the discussion.
Technology in the Service of Culture and Society
The main theme of this year's workshop was the relationship between modern infrastructures and transformations in the contemporary world. Participants analyzed how technological tools—such as computer networks and artificial intelligence (AI) models—affect culture and daily life.
During the discussions, significant attention was also given to the impact of technology on specific social groups, including the situation and challenges faced by people with disabilities.
Lectures and Workshops by Distinguished Specialists
The program featured lectures and workshops by renowned technology and media researchers:
- Professor Athina Karatzogianni from the University of Leicester (UK), in her lecture titled "Surplus AI: The Crisis of Mehrwert-Mehrlust and the Post-Labor Economy", presented the challenges facing post-labor economies in the age of artificial intelligence.
- Professor Lisa Parks, Director of the Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab at the University of California, Santa Barbara (and one of the founders of the infrastructural approach), delivered an online lecture titled "Mixed Signals: Media Infrastructures, Digital Materialism, and Globalization."
- Dr. Alek Tarkowski from the Dutch think tank Open Future discussed the concept of the commons within a technological ecosystem dynamically transformed by artificial intelligence.
- Professor Julien Rossi from the University of Paris 8 led a workshop on DATARights.
Participants of the summer school attend a workshop at SWPS University.
Prof. Mirosław Filiciak talks with doctoral students during the summer school.
Dr. Lukáš Likavčan delivers a lecture at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw.
Special Event
A key highlight of the event was a lecture by Dr. Lukáš Likavčan titled "Environmentalism Beyond Earth," hosted at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. The lecture was held as part of the "Future Fragments" series, co-curated by Krzysztof Pijarski, Associated Professor and Marcin Nowicki, M.A. from SWPS University.
Mentoring
Summer school participants also received expert feedback on the research papers and dissertation chapters they had submitted prior to the event. The early-career researchers discussed their work during dedicated mentoring sessions with invited external experts: Dr. Katarzyna Ojrzyńska from the University of Lodz and Professor Jacob Matthews from the University of Paris 8.
They were joined by a team of scholars from SWPS University, including Assoc. Prof. Krzysztof Pijarski, alongside event organizers Dr. Aleksandra Skowrońska, Dr. Kuba Piwowar, and Assoc. Prof. Mirosław Filiciak.
ERUA Member Universities
Funding