The DISCO Network

Interested in applying for the Automating Black Joy Collaborative Project? Come share your ideas, skills, and find a research team at the Automating Black Joy sandbox session.

Wednesday, October 8th 10-12pm
Skinner 3115 & Zoom (link in bio)

Reminder, more details on the project can be found here: www.bcatlab.org/automating-b...

This initiative is open to ALL-- from high school students to university faculty-- both in the U.S. and internationally. Participants will be eligible to receive mini-grants of up to $1500.

A vibrant poster with a black background, it features the title "Automating Black Joy" in bold yellow and red lettering. There are two colorful flowers with illustrated faces framed by the petals, and a green stem-like road connecting them. Small white text describes the project while the date and time is listed in the center, "Wednesday, October 8th 10-12PM, Skinner 3115 & Zoom." Two QR codes sit below: the red one on the left links to the website while the yellow on the right links to the Zoom registration.

TOMORROW:
Interested in applying for the Automating Black Joy Collaborative Project? Here's an opportunity to meet with others doing the same! 🌺🌐

The meeting tomorrow is 10:00 - 12:00 PM with @bcatlab.bsky.social in-person at Skinner 3115 or over Zoom
www.bcatlab.org/events/autom...

TOMORROW:
Check out the first of this new webinar series tomorrow from 12:00 - 1:00 PM! 📚🔥

For our friends at UMD College Park, @bcatlab.bsky.social will be playing the livestream in Skinner 3115 & over Zoom www.bcatlab.org/events/9kk6t...

The Board of the SCMS Queer and Trans Caucus is seeking submissions for the 2025 Chris Holmlund Graduate Student Writing Prize!

Nov 15, 2025 - All Submissions Due
Dec 15, 2025 - Winner Selected
Mar 15, 2026 - Winner Article Revised for Publication

MORE INFO: drive.google.com/file/d/1ZICp...

TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY!! 🗓️❤️‍🔥

Join us VIRTUALLY for a conversation on crip wisdom and critique Thursday, October 16th from 4:00 - 5:30 PM (ET)

Join the Center for Innovation, Law, and Society (CILS) for a talk with Dr. @timnitgebru.bsky.social about the history of the Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) movement and its link to the 20th-century eugenics movement.

This in-person event will also be livestreamed: bit.ly/42kxaQV

#AGI #AI

Happy Color Protocols Publication Day to all who celebrate 🎉🪩

Congratulations to Carolyn L. Kane and @lidazeitlinwu.bsky.social

Amazing opportunity at ISP!

📔 In-person attendees will receive a free copy of the zine, as well as pastries catered by Ondo Bakery.

🖥️ Our online version of the project will also premiere on Friday, so keep an eye out for the full downloadable zine!

Colorful flier for the "Search History Volume 2 Launch Party" at the University of Michigan with an event description, an illustrated mouse with a party hat, icons representing various media types, and a QR code for registration.

UPCOMING:
We're looking forward to our Launch Party for Search History Volume 2: Into the Rabbit Hole! 🐇💫

Join us this FRIDAY, OCT 3rd from 3:00 - 5:00 PM ET in-person at Weiser Hall (10th Floor) or over Zoom for a laid-back celebration of the zine's release.

TOMORROW:

This event is HYBRID, register by visiting: myumi.ch/QwGnk

The first 25 in-person attendees will receive a free copy of Technocreep and the Politics of Things Not Seen 📘🕷️

A poster with a dominant dark background with a geometric pattern. On the poster, we see details of the upcoming talk. The text reads: DSI Lecture Series Presents Forging Feminist Futures from Creepy Technologies: The Politics of Smart Tech and Liberation Dreams with Neda Atanasoski and Nassim Parvin

My co-author Neda Atanasoski and I will be in Michigan (myumi.ch/R3N28) next week, discussing our recent book Technocreep and the Politics of Things Not Seen, published by Duke University Press. Join us if you are around!

All are welcome and the event is VIRTUAL only

ASL and CART live-captioning services will be provided. If you anticipate needing accommodations to participate or would like help filling out the RSVP form, please reach out to chericec@umich.edu ✉

Flier for "How to Survive Techno-Hellscapes: On Crip Wisdom and Critique" event at the University of Michigan with details, four speakers, and a QR code for registration. The background is a deep red close-up of wires and plugs, and there is a graphic of a charred hallway.

Join us on Thursday, OCTOBER 16th at 4:00 - 5:30 PM ET over Zoom for a conversation about How to Survive Techno-Hellscapes 🔥💻🌐

This panel will feature four phenomenal disability culture workers, activists, writers, and scholars in conversation with DISCO's own @remiyergeau.bsky.social

One week from today!

This initiative invites participants to develop projects in Spring 2026. This is open to ALL-- from high school students to university faculty-- both in the U.S. and internationally. Participants will be eligible to receive mini-grants of up to $1500.

Follow @bcatlab.bsky.social to keep up to date!

A vibrant poster with a black background, it features the title "Automating Black Joy Call for Proposals" and colorful flowers with illustrated faces framed by the petals. A large red section highlights an information session on Wednesday, September 24th at Skinner 3115 and on Zoom. A prominent QR code is centered, with a white arrow pointing at it, "Register to learn more here!"

REMINDER:
Happening tomorrow, Wednesday, Sept 24th at 11AM [ET]

🌺 The BCaT Lab will be hosting a HYBRID Info Session for the Automating Black Joy project!

🔗 Register by visiting the link in our bio or scanning the QR code, & visit bcatlab.org/automating-black-joy for more details

The BCaT Lab is back in session! We are
hosting a open house on Wednesday, September 24th
from 11-3pm at Skinner 3115 as well as a hybrid event
for our BCaT Applies session. Come to Skinner to
learn more about we have in store for this semester!

Check out the guest post I did for @dhandlib.bsky.social on what I read this summer, practicing the @disconetwork.bsky.social method of "technoskepticism" vis-a-vis critical AI and platformization.

dhandlib.org/recommended-...

#TeamRhetoric
#Academicsky
#CriticalAI

UPDATE: We’re sorry to share that Fear of Asian Tech: Chips, Platforms, and Social Networks has been cancelled. Due to unforeseen circumstances, several of our panelists are no longer available to participate on the originally scheduled date.

We’re working to reschedule in the spring—stay tuned!

Mark your calendars folks for SEPTEMBER 30th! The first 25 in-person attendees will receive a free copy of Technocreep and the Politics of Things Not Seen 📘💚

This event is HYBRID and we welcome all to attend
🔗 Visit the link in our bio or myumi.ch/R3N28

Just under two weeks until our Fear of Asian Tech event! 🎉

Learn more & register at myumi.ch/P3mjg

We have an amazing lineup of programming through the DISCO Network for the 25-26 academic year! Learn more below🪩We hope to see you there!

Promotional graphic for Direct to Open (D2O)

We're thrilled that Duke University Press & Goldsmiths Press are joining the Direct to Open (D2O) initiative! Beginning in 2026, our #OpenAccess model will include offerings from all three presses, strengthening our shared commitment to a more equitable & sustainable future for academic knowledge.

Our series with the NYPL kicks off on Friday with a conversation about how AI is reshaping daily life, w @alicetiara.bsky.social, @merbroussard.bsky.social, Mimi Ọnụọha & @geomblog.bsky.social. In-person spots are sold out, but you can still RSVP for the livestream! www.showclix.com/event/unders...

A promotional flier for DISCO's event "Fear of Asian Tech: Chips, Platforms, and Social Networks." The title is prominently displayed, accompanied by details like the date, time, and location: "Thursday, September 25, 2025, 4:00 - 5:30 Pm EST, Weiser Hall 10th Floor & Zoom." The design highlights three speakers: Christopher Fan, Janice Lobo Sapigao, and Tony Shyu, each with their headshots in circular frames. Descriptions of each are provided with their names in bold uppercase text. The background features a circuit board design in shades of deep blue and teal.

Our event, Fear of Asian Tech: Chips, Platforms, and Social Networks, is coming up at the end of this month!

We're thrilled to host Christopher Fan, Janice Lobo Sapigao, and Tony Shyu on SEPTEMBER 25th at 4 PM EST!

Learn more & register to attend by visiting the link in our bio, or myumi.ch/P3mjg

Text on an blue, green, orange, and purple background with the title of the event series, Understanding AI, which is a collaboration with the New York Public Library. It says, “Join us online or live in NYC at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL).” It continues with the dates and titles of the four events in this series; the event on September 5, 2025 is titled Understanding AI: What the Public Needs to Know; the event on September 23, 2025 is titled The Environmental Costs of AI Are Surging — What Now?; the event on October 29, 2025 is titled Reorienting AI in the Public Interest; and the event on November 20, 2025 is titled Standing Up for Human Value in the AI Economy.

We’re thrilled to be hosting a 4-part fall event series in collaboration with the New York Public Library, exploring the social implications of AI & its impacts on democracy, the environment, & human labor. Learn more and RSVP to attend live in NYC or via livestream! datasociety.net/events/under...

Promotional image for ACLS Digital Justice Grants Webinars, listing webinar topics and dates: What is Digital Justice?: Reflections from ACLS Grantees, September 18, 2025 2:30 PM EST; Data Ethics: Stewardship, Privacy, and Ownership, October 10, 2025 1:00 PM EST; Office Hours with ACLS Program Staff, October 22, 2025 1:00 PM EST; Digital Capacity Building in the Age of Precarity, November 6, 2025 3:00 PM EST; Office Hours with ACLS Programs Staff, November 14, 2025 2:00 PM EST.

Interested in applying for an ACLS Digital Justice Grant? Join ACLS program staff and grantees for webinars on the application process, data ethics, building digital capacity, and more. Register now for sessions on 8/26, 9/18, 10/10, and 10/22: https://bit.ly/4fLkpEF

Promotional poster for the 2025-2026 DISCO Panel Series. It features a colorful grainy texture in the background, with a faint circular grid design and planetary rings in the center. Six panel topics with dates and times are listed in outlined text: "Sept 25, 4PM Fear of Asian Tech: Chips, Platforms, and Social Networks; Oct 16, 4PM How to Survive Techno-Hellscapes: On Crip Wisdom and Critique; Nov 6, 4PM Diaspora Wars and Going 50/50: Sowing Disunity in Black Communities Through Digital Propaganda; Jan 29, 4PM Black Boys and the Future of Technology; Feb 19, 4PM Content Creation and the End of Social Media; Mar 10, 4PM Against Surveillance and Spectacle: Building Global Resistance to Tech-Mediated Oppression"

With the start of the semester around the corner, we're excited to share (some of) our upcoming events for the 2025-26 academic year!

Mark your calendars 📅 for these panel discussions, each are open the public and HYBRID. CART will be provided.

Learn more and register at the link in our bio 🔗