Acoustics of Resistance: Gender, Digital Activism, and Audio-Visual Communities (2027 NeMLA panel, Newport, Rhode Island) (NeMLA)
Newport, Rhode Island
Organization: Northeast Modern Language Association
Event: NeMLA
As more and more women's stereotypical images are distributed via digital networks, active counter-activism via digital networks is an urgent need in a post-truth media environment. In the age of audio-visual curation, the cultural narrative has been traditionally controlled by state and corporate power, while today, opaque automated content moderation, algorithmic sorting and filtering, and platform capitalism of transnational streaming networks dominate the scene.
The digital battlefield is a place where the feminist media studies and digital humanities converge, enabling women scholars, journalists and policy makers to work together on topics of gender equity, governance and social change. Podcasting and internet long-form discussions are important avenues for feminist knowledge production without the conventional gatekeepers, and can affect policy change, as the knowledge is directly reaching the public. These voices, however, have to constantly maneuver through algorithmic echo chambers and corporate platform architectures that have the potential to re-systemicize erasures.
In this, interdisciplinary, global papers enter the scene, wading through the areas of media history, digital humanities and visual culture. These digital audio-visual environments, like those of NeMLA 2027's theme "Empowering Communities", respond to these landscapes and are the site of acts of digital sovereignty and agency by global creators and subaltern communities.
Exploring the global shift from centralized media broadcasting to automated algorithmic governance, this panel analyzes how contemporary podcasts and digital audio-visual ecosystems serve as critical counter-spaces for gendered activism and subaltern expression. It welcomes interdisciplinary contributions that examine how scholars, creators, and communities collaborate to navigate algorithmic architectures, challenge systemic stereotypes, and assert digital sovereignty.
The 58th NeMLA convention will take place March 6-9, 2027, in Newport, RI. Paper proposals are accepted through September 30, 2026. Abstracts are 200-300 words in length, and titles should not exceed 100 characters. Please submit your abstract at the session’s portal: https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/22694
Modality: This session is in hybrid format (in person, but will accept remote presentations).
For more information on the convention and to view NeMLA’s guidelines for abstracts, visit https://www.nemla.org
Questions regarding the panel may be addressed to: canvesh@mil.du.ac.in or jaya.upadhyay@dituniversity.edu.in
jaya.upadhyay@dituniveristy.edu.in
Jaya Upadhyay