The digital turn altered the patterns that have been used before for interpreting the world, the models of interaction, and those of individual and collective expression, at the same time challenging both sciences and arts to yield new approaches and move for new hypotheses in current situations. In this context, one can notice a higher enthusiasm for exploring the inter-disciplinary relationships, a growth of interdisciplinary studies as well as a serious questioning of traditional paradigms on account of the people’s increased computer-reliance. Have the humanities a digital future? To what extent do the digital methods alter the traditional way of research in humanities and social sciences? How can the culture of democracy, the respect for diversity and mutual understanding be promoted though social media? How will technology change the approaches to problems concerning private life, security and conflict mitigation?

The 5th PHSS conference sets out to answer these contemporary questions. But we are also interested in „archeological” investigations of other technological revolutions in the past and of the impact they had in the evolution of cultures and also in the representations of the „future” in various historical stages. This year’s topic invites various approaches, from history, sociology, psychology, political sciences, communication studies, and economics, to the theory of culture, literature, and the arts.

The digital turn and its impact on sciences

Digital technologies and life sciences: bioinformatics, biolinguistics, neurosciences, sociobiology
Digital geography: digital mapping; digital human geography; methods and techniques of data spatial visualization; the geography of virtual worlds; community mapping and emotional maps
E-linguistics: collecting, processing, and modelling of linguistic data; databases and lexicographic corpora (Perseus, TLFI – Trésor de la Langue Française Informatisé, AMPER – Atlas Multimédia Prosodique de l’Espace Roman, etc.); technologies of natural language processing and speech synthesis
Artificial intelligence nowadays: technological challenges and ethical concerns
Philosophical approaches and interpretations to the effects of new technologies
Methods of quantitative analysis vs methods of qualitative analysis in social sciences and humanities: sociology, linguistics, anthropology, translation studies, literary studies, etc.

New media, new experiences and new forms of sociality

Forms and practices of communication in the digital era: computer-mediated communication; mobile communication; social networks; online gaming; blogs and vlogs; the role of media technologies in lifelong learning
Digital social infrastructures (e-tax platforms, online voting, etc.); technologies of personal data storage and of mass surveillance
Digital economy: e-business and e-commerce; e-business infrastructures; fiscal challenges in the digital economy; innovation, growth, and prosperity in the digital age; policies of the digital revolution; the work market in the global economy
Digital tools used in branding and advertising, event management and PR
The economy of reputation in online media: reviews, visibility, crises, and solutions
Digital tourism: new forms of tourism and corresponding technologies (e-tourism, m-tourism, smart-tourism, and so forth)
New media and political life: online protests, Facebook and Twitter in elections
Participatory culture, collective intelligence and new forms of sociality: participatory journalism, user-generated content, types of online communities

Cultural and artistic practices in the digital era

Digital architecture and design: smart urban planning; digital creative industries; eco-design; digital design between users and aesthetic standards
Digital archives: digitalization of manuscripts and historical sources; virtual museums and sites of collective memory in online media; cultural patrimony in the digital era
Types of writings and reading in online media: digital fiction, digital collaborative writing, digital storytelling
Intermediality and intertextuality in literature, film, visual arts and performance arts
Practice and reception of literature in the global age: “the network” of world literature; the planetary canon of literature; digital humanities
Networks and media of communitarian, national and global memory: inter-connectivity vs memory divide; empathy and participatory memory; artistic media of postmemory