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Annual ZeMKI Conference: "When Machines Join the Conversation: Empirical Findings on Communicative AI"

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ZeMKI, Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research

The Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) is one of seven central research units at the University of Bremen and is one of the important European institutions researching questions into media-related transformations at the interface of the cultural, social, and technical sciences. Our research focuses on the emerging digital society in terms of the inequalities it generates while probing the historicity of their genesis and the challenges posed by algorithmic systems, automation, and the burgeoning datafied society. ZeMKI coordinates the international „Communicative AI“ research unit.

Investigating how deep mediatization transforms society — at the intersection of culture, communication, and technology.

Exploring how communicative AI reshapes the fabric of societal communication — and what futures it opens and forecloses.

Developing and refining digital methods in context — combining computational approaches with qualitative depth.

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Science Goes Public: ZeMKI Member Dr. Rieke Böhling Guest at Gastfeld
How do you research your own family history online? ZeMKI Member Dr. Rieke Böhling will discuss this topic on Thursday, October 22, at 8:30 p.m. at Gastfeld. Her talk is titled “From Information Exchange to DNA Analysis: Researching Family History Online” and will last about 30 minutes. Afterward, all guests are invited to ask questions and join the discussion.

17. October 2026

Event
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ZeMKI annual conference - When Machines Join the Conversation: Empirical Findings on Communicative AI
  • Datum: 12. November 2026 – 13. November 2026
  • Location: Haus der Wissenschaft Bremen

In collaboration with the ComAI research group, ZeMKI is hosting its 2026 annual conference to promote thematic networking within the German AI research community: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and similar systems no longer just mediate communication. They take part in it themselves: they write texts, hold conversations and act as counterparts. What does this mean for (…)

16. October 2026

News
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Policy Paper Religion in the Pandemic: Recommendations for the European Commission’s Dialogue
ZeMKI member Kerstin Radde-Antweiler has published policy recommendations from the RECOV-19 project together with international colleagues. Findings from the project “RECOV-19: Religions in Societies Emerging from COVID-19” are now available as a policy paper. The paper, “Religions During a Public Health Emergency: Policy Lessons for the European Commission’s Dialogue with Churches, Religious Associations and Non-Confessional Organisations”, was published in September 2026.

12. October 2026

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Prof. Dr. Johan Söderberg (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) Making Ibogaine into a Medicine: Self-Governance of Risk in a Global Network for Alternative Addiction Treatment
  • Datum: 13. January 2027
  • Location: 28359 Bremen, DE

Abstract:   The controlled substance “ibogaine” is reported to have unique addiction-interrupting properties. Due to its illegal status, the drug’s application for treating substance dependency has been explored by a network of addicts and harm reduction activists in underground and off-shore clinics. Söderberg presents the results of a several year-long, multi-site case study of a global (…)

6. October 2026

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Programm Symposium

Program Symposium Religion, Society and Media
The Lab Media and Religion is hosting a student symposium on Thursday, October 8, 2026. The event will showcase the results of two seminars focusing on conspiracy theories and (far-right) Christian influencers, with students presenting their teaching-based research projects.

6. October 2026

Event
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ZeMKI Media Talk with Aron Boks
  • Datum: 12. November 2026
  • Location: 28359 Bremen, DE
On November 12, 2026, ZeMKI, in collaboration with Bremen Zwei and the Bremen Press Club, invites you to a media talk at Club27 in Bremen’s Schnoor district. Author Aron Boks and Prof. Dr. Cornelius Puschmann from ZeMKI will discuss “What the East Wants, What the West Sees.” The discussion will be moderated by Katharina Guleikoff of Bremen Zwei.

5. October 2026

Event
Forschungskolloquium Karadag

Dr. Roy Karadag (Institut für Interkulturelle und Internationale Studien (InIIS), University of Bremen) Public Radio and Scientific Authority: Deutschlandfunk, October 7th and the Gaza War
  • Datum: 9. December 2026
  • Location: 28359 Bremen, DE

Abstract:   How did Deutschlandfunk cover the  beginnings of the Gaza War? What kinds of portrayals of violence prevailed, and which frameworks for understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were dominant in this time? This lecture focuses in particular on the role of scholars of Middle East politics and their scientific authority in the German public sphere. Who (…)

5. October 2026

News

Call for Papers for a Special Issue in Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft (M&K)
ZeMKI member Prof. Dr. Stephanie Geise, together with Marko Bachl, Merja Mahrt, and Annie Waldherr, is editing an English-language special issue of Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft (M&K) on the topic “Futuring Communication Research: Communicative AI as a Methodological Toolbox and Research Companion.” Contributions for this issue may be submitted in the form of an extended abstract by November 30, 2026.

1. October 2026