School of Communications Public Seminars
The Autumn season of four Public Seminars from the School of Communications in November 2024 will cover topics related to emerging technology, media and democracy, platform regulation, and discrimination within sport.
Each Thursday seminar is open from 18.00 and commences at 18.30 sharp. We encourage questions from the public and each session will incorporate time for audience Q&A. Seminars will conclude at 20.00
All seminars in the series take place in the Seamus Heaney Lecture Theatre, located on the ground floor of the Cregan Library on DCU St Patrick's Campus, Drumcondra (Open this location on Google Maps)
All events are free and open to the public, but registration is required.
Please register to attend one or more of the seminars below here
07 November 2024
Exploring the Social Impact and Potential of AR, VR and MR in Ireland
Looking beyond the market trends, the hype and the ongoing shifts in immersive technology devices, this seminar aims to discuss the social impact of Virtual-, Augmented-, and Mixed-Reality (VR, AR, & MR) in Ireland, through perspectives from industry, academia, local authorities and practitioners. It will also address the future potential of immersive technologies and the obstacles and challenges towards expanding its reach and scope in the Irish context.
This Public Seminar is hosted by:
Dr Marcos Dias, DCU School of Communications
Speakers & Panelists include:
Camille Donegan
Interim CEO Eirmersive
Dr Kata Szita
DCU School of Communications
István László
Artist
Lisa Deacon
Fingal County Council Digital Services Department
14 November 2024
How Does Ireland View the EU? Media Representations, Elite Discourses and Public Perceptions of European Integration
The European project today is facing unprecedented challenges, from the security threats posed by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine to the disruptive influence of anti-democratic and far-right forces across Europe. How do EU members foster constructive debate about the future of the EU and how do they engage citizens in this process? The panel brings together DCU researchers, media professionals and civil society representatives to reflect on how Irish media and political elites frame the EU and Ireland's place in it, and how these impact citizens' perceptions of the EU and attitudes towards EU enlargement.
Speakers & Panelists include:
Dr Tetyana Lokot
DCU School of Communications, MEDIATIZED EU
Dr Alessio Cornia
DCU School of Communications
Muiris O'Cearbhaill
Politics and EU Affairs Correspondent, The Journal
21 November 2024
Tech Platform Regulation - lessons for AI on combating misinformation?
Recognising the already massive impact on society, democracy, and interpersonal communication that social media has wrought, alongside the potential for further more-accelerated impacts stemming from emerging AI tech, this seminar examines how the ways we have tried to regulate existing platforms may give us a useful perspective on how (and if) we can regulate AI. The panel will bring together researchers and industry professionals to discuss the successes, failures, concepts and collaborations in current online Trust & Safety, as we move toward regulatory models for the fast-changing and challenging GenAI space.
This Public Seminar is hosted by:
Dr Dónal Mulligan, DCU School of Communications
Speakers & Panelists include:
Dr Johnny Ryan
Director of Enforce.ie at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL)
Ciarán O'Connor
Journalist and Senior Analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue
Dr Eileen Culloty
DCU Institute for Future Media, Democracy & Society (FUJO)
28 November 2024
Sport and Discrimination
Sport is imbricated in wider processes of social inclusion and exclusion. While on one hand it can bring individuals and communities together and even act as a vehicle for peace building, it can also be a site of intense hate, stigmatisation, and marginalisation. This seminar examines various facets of discrimination in and through sport, including face-to-face and digital forms of bullying, the spread of online hate, and discriminatory norms and practices in sports media institutions.
This Public Seminar is hosted by:
Dr Neil O'Boyle, DCU School of Communications - neil.oboyle@dcu.ie
Speakers & Panelists include:
Prof. James O’Higgins Norman
UNESCO Chair on Bullying and Cyberbullying and Professor of Clinical Sociology at DCU Institute of Education.
Cliona O’Leary
Director of Corporate Affairs, Communications, and Marketing at Sport Ireland and former Deputy Head of TV Sport at RTÉ
Dr Colm Kearns
Lecturer at the School of Communications DCU and co-PI on TOHIF (Tackling Online Hate in Football) project.
Ellen Campbell
Diversity, Inclusion and Ethics Executive at Sport Ireland