Jailbrake is a competition to find and support great ideas that could break the cycle of youth offending using simple web and mobile tools.

We are pleased to announce that six ideas have been selected to take part in the Jailbrake weekend: 6.30pm, Friday 26th March - 4pm to Sunday 28th March.

We’re looking for talented people with a variety of backgrounds and experience to take part in the weekend.

So, whether you have first hand experience of working with young people and the youth justice system, whether you can build great software or advise on how to turn a back of the envelope idea into a sustainable project, we would love to hear from you.

You can participate by coming along for all or part of the weekend, and either get involved in one particular idea; or help out across several different projects.

To register your interest in attending, please tell us what you'd like to work on and why here.

An international interdisciplinary conference exploring the interpretive potential of architecture, exhibitions and design.

20-22 April 2010
Keynote Speaker: Peter Greenaway CBE

Narrative Space is a 3-day international interdisciplinary conference exploring the creation of narrative environments in museums, galleries, historic sites, buildings and landscapes. From the level of the site and the building down to the level of the exhibition and the object, how can we create environments which tell stories of people, of places and of collections? How can spaces, objects and a range of media be utilised to create spatial experiences which are engaging, meaningful and memorable?

Narrative Space draws together museum professionals, exhibition designers, architects and academics to explore practice at the cutting-edge of exhibition and experience making. In order to explore this vast area of research and practice it covers a range of themes including the ability of sites and buildings to hold or be overlaid with narratives; the history and theory of display; museums and exhibitions as spatial media; harnessing the spatial character, history and potential of buildings and sites; the nature and role of narrative and storytelling in the making of interpretive environments; the role of visitor-centred design in the production of museum space; and the emergence of a new range of interpretive approaches to museum and exhibition making which cut across architecture, film, design, digital media, interior and graphic design, literature and art.

Proposals are sought from museum practitioners, architects, designers, artists, filmmakers and others actively involved in the imaginative reshaping of museums, galleries and visitor experiences as well as academics researching in the areas of museum and gallery architecture, exhibition and display, both historical and contemporary.

To book: Call 020 7942 4040 or e-mail tickets@danacentre.org.uk

Commercial computer games are built by designers whose personal philosophies and social backgrounds creep into their products. They’re at times explicit (e.g., war games portrayal of enemy soldiers), and at other times implicit (.e.g., ‘God Sims’ reinforcing various political and financial ideologies). Why is Lara Croft attractive? What does the hippy ideology of Northern California have to do with virtual world Second Life? This lively discussion looks at what the underlying ideologies of games are teaching us when we play them.

Join the BBC’s Gareth Mitchell, computer game consultant John Kirriemuir, serious game developer Mary Matthews from TruSim and The Play Ethic author Pat Kane in discovering what’s really being taught when we play games.

Expect to get your hands dirty: there will be plenty of games to play, and to deconstruct, throughout the evening.

Speakers:
John Kirriemuir, consultant, Silversprite.
Pat Kane, author, The Play Ethic.
Other speakers to be confirmed.

Facilitator:
Gareth Mitchell, Presenter, Digital Planet, BBC World Service.

Event organised by: The Science Museum, curated by Aleks Krotoski and sponsored by Nintendo.

Talking on Twitter about the event? Please use the hashtag #danacentre .

This event is part of DigiFest.

Call for applications
Deadline: 15 April 2010

Artists, designers and theoreticians are invited to submit research and production proposals to become a researcher at the Jan van Eyck Academie. Candidates can either apply with a topic of their own or for a project formulated by the institute itself. In order to realise these projects, the Jan van Eyck offers the necessary made-to-measure artistic, technical and auxiliary preconditions.

The Jan van Eyck Academie is an institute for research and production in the fields of fine art, design and theory. Every year, 48 international researchers realise their individual or collective projects in the artistic and critical environment that is the Jan van Eyck. In doing so, they are advised by a team of artists, designers and theoreticians who have won their spurs globally. The researchers can also avail themselves of facilities that support their projects from first concept to public presentation. All in all, the Jan van Eyck offers artists, designers and theoreticians time and space to do research and realise productions, either about topics of their own choosing or as part of a project formulated by the institute itself.

Multi-Disciplinary Research
Artists, designers and theoreticians at the Jan van Eyck Academie work alongside each other and establish cross-disciplinary exchange. The academy is not led by predetermined leitmotivs. Artists, designers and theoreticians can submit independently formulated proposals for research and/or production in the departments of Fine Art, Design and Theory. They can also participate in research projects formulated by the departments.

The research projects, miscellaneous in nature, make the Jan van Eyck a multi-disciplinary institute. This also shows in the programme of the institute. Researchers, departments and the institute organise various weekly activities, to which special speakers are invited: lectures, seminars, workshops, screenings, exhibitions, discussions, … The Jan van Eyck community and external interested parties are welcome to attend this programme. The result is a dynamic and critical exchange between the different agents from within and outside of the Jan van Eyck.

Facilities
Researchers are advised by a team of artists, designers and theoreticians who have won their spurs globally. They receive their own studio and a stipend. Furthermore, researchers can make use of all kinds of facilities which support their projects, from first concept to public presentation, including the library, the documentation centre and various workshops: materials (wood and other materials); time-based productions; analogue and digital (online and offline) publishing (including photography and silkscreen). They can also get assistance with their print work, the editing and distribution of publications and the publicity of events. more info

Applications
Candidates applying for Fine Art, Design or Theory are asked to propose an individual research project. They can also indicate their interest in participating in one of the projects that are offered by the department of their choice or one of the other departments.

The academic year runs from 1 January to 31 December. Research candidates can apply for a one-year or two-year research period starting annually on 1 January. It is also possible to apply to do research for a different period and with a different starting date. more info

Video messages
Please visit our website on a regular basis for the upcoming series of video messages by Kim de Groot, designer of the JVE 2010 recruitment campaign.

Machinima (machine + animation + cinema) is the making of original films from real-time play of 3D computer
games engines. As a contemporary art movement and an online alternative to broadcast media, machinima
has seen a phenomenal growth in both creation and viewership of content.

Speakers Dr Tracey Harwood and Chantal Harvey (aka Mamachinima) will provide an introduction to Machinima
and give an overview of the key things to consider when making a Machinima film. There will also be a screening of a selection of award winning Machinima shorts.

This is a free event. Please contact the box office to reserve a place.

Box Office: 0116 242 2800 / Book Online: www.phoenix.org.uk

http://pineapster.com/events/2010/04/09/stench_vii_at_the_art_organisation

Saturday 7th August and Sunday 8th August will see "Stenchival'10" as part of the Summer Sunday Fringe Festival.
This two day event will host live music, visuals, installations, workshops and open sessions for experimental and electronic music and digital artists. Based at The Independent Arts Centre, there will be opportunities for creative interventions around the city. Contact stench@cuttlefish.com if you want to get involved.

http://www.stench.org.uk

About Stench

Stench is an artist-led forum for innovative performance, experimental music and digital arts. We're based in Leicester in the East Midlands but open to anyone who is interested in being involved in creative projects that go beyond the mainstream. We run regular events in Leicester and maintain our own "Stenchcast" podcast series.

Applications are invited for the Rita Angus Residency for 2010.

The Residency supports an artist to produce a new body of work that reflects upon the interplay between technology and culture. The Residency also encourages the artist to enter into dialogue with the Wellington arts community and to exhibit and discuss their practice.

The Rita Angus Residency is being offered in association with the Wellington Institute of Technology’s School of Creative Technologies.

http://www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk/masters.html

Are you… a technologist with a creative dimension? an artist working with technologies? a designer with programming skills?

The Masters in Creative Technologies crosses traditional disciplines and boundaries and is designed to allow you to develop and strengthen your creative technologies research and practice. At the convergence of the e-sciences, arts and humanities subjects, the course supports a range of contemporary careers including computational intelligence, holographic imagery, web content development, the arts, entertainment and games industries, and careers in teaching and creative technologies development.

You should be interested in developing multidisciplinary knowledge and skills in the production of digital media and products. The MA/MSc Creative Technologies welcomes people from a wide range of backgrounds.

Delivered by the Institute of Creative Technologies, this innovative Masters is run in partnership with the Faculties of Art & Design, Humanities and Technology.

For more details contact Lisa McNicoll at lmcnicoll@dmu.ac.uk or visit the website at http://www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk/masters.htm

'What I have found most exciting about the IOCT Masters is the sheer amount of ideas bubbling under the surface. I find it exciting that you can work closely with people who can help you take your ideas from conceptual stages through to post production. I have found it to be as inspiring as I thought it would be, and it has fuelled a passion for the combination of disciplines.'
IOCT Masters student

'The IOCT Masters course is sold on the fact that it transcends the boundaries between the Arts, Technology and Humanities, and it really does do just that! There's a range of input from staff across different areas, faculties and expertise, giving the Masters a feel that as well as being part of a wider community within the university we as students can benefit from the wider knowledge base that accompanies that.'
IOCT Masters student

'The IOCT's groundbreaking new MA/MSc in Creative Technologies is both innovative and welcome; its transdisciplinary model aims to break down the artificial schisms between arts/humanities and science/technology – and create breakthroughs in a whole host of areas. This commitment to bringing together disciplines in new and exciting ways will help develop the UK's reputation as a leader in the creative industries.'
Jerry Fishenden, Director of the Centre for Technology Policy Research and former National Technology Officer of Microsoft UK.

Date:
Thursday, April 15, 2010 from 1:30 PM - 6:00 PM (GMT)

Location:
Phoenix Square Digital Media Centre
4 Midland Street
Leicester
LE1 1TG

Amplified Leicester is a city-wide experiment designed to boost the innovation capacity of Leicester and share new skills which are fast becoming essential in 21st Century workplaces and communities.

In 2009/10 we offered a small group of participants from across the city the chance to:
• Benefit from Leicester's huge diversity of people and cultures
• Generate new ideas quickly
• Think like a futurist and see the bigger picture
• Organise and collaborate better
• Be persuasive in different social situations
• Share and develop creative ideas
• Manage the stream of information which bombards us every day
• Choose the best people to collaborate with
• Make the most of different kinds of resources – social, economic, creative

Every fortnight participants attended inspiring lectures and workshops and in between meetings worked together via Twitter, Facebook and other social media applications. They filmed interviews in their communities and shared the videos online.

On Thursday 15 April 2010 we will showcase their work and expand the conversation to include the city and beyond. This one day event at the new Phoenix Square Digital Media Centre will include practical workshops run by the participants themselves, presentations of their experimental projects, and talks by the project team. Keynote speaker, Andrea Saveri, an independent foresight and strategy consultant based in Berkeley, California, will locate the Amplified Leicester experience within a global context. Find out more at http://www.amplifiedleicester.com

Admission is free of charge. Register early to avoid disappointment.

The International M.A. in New Media & Digital Culture (NMMA) at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is accepting applications for 2010-2011 academic year. The NMMA is a one-year residence program undertaken in English at UvA in the heart of Amsterdam. Students become actively engaged in critical Internet culture, with an emphasis on new media theory and aesthetics, including theoretical materialist traditions and practical information visualization trends. Our permanent faculty are recognized experts in their fields, who are committed to their students. The program admits approximately forty students per year, classes are usually no larger than 20 and often smaller, and the faculty-to-student ratio is 1:8.

Curriculum and Academics

1st Semester: students follow a course in academic blogging, led by critical Internet theorist and tactical media practitioner Geert Lovink. Their entries form the internationally noted Masters of Media site, http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/, regarded as a top blog for new media research and nominated for a Dutch blog award for best education blog. The concurrent new media theories course focuses on classic texts by innovators from Alan Turing to Tim Berners-Lee. The final first semester class, Digital Methods, given by the program Chair, Richard Rogers, trains students in novel techniques for Internet research, http://www.digitalmethods.net/.

2nd Semester: the student chooses between courses on digital aesthetics, new media politics or information visualization. The digital aesthetics course is theoretically inclined in the traditions of art history and visual culture, and the new media politics class is concerned with the transformations the Internet is bringing to politics. Information visualization is a joint theoretical-practical collaboration between designers, programmers and analysts, where the product is an online tool, digital visualization or interactive graphic. The course of study concludes with the M.A. thesis, an original analysis that makes a contribution to the field, undertaken with the close mentorship of a faculty supervisor. The graduation ceremony includes an international symposium with renowned speakers. Graduates of the NMMA have gained an analytical and practical skill-set that enables diverse careers in research and practice-related areas that make use of the Internet, including business, government, NGOs, and creative industries that are evolving with emerging new media. Our graduates include Lotte Meijer, winner of a Webby award, and Eva Kol, whose MA thesis, Hyves, was published by Kosmos in 2008 and sold over 5000 copies its first year in print.

Student Life

The quality-of-living in Amsterdam ranks among the highest of international capitals. UvA’s competitive tuition (see below) and the ubiquity of spoken English both on and off-campus make the program especially accommodating for foreign students. The city’s many venues, festivals, and other events provide remarkably rich cultural offerings and displays of technological innovation. The program has ties to organizations including PICNIC, the Waag Society, Institute for Network Cultures, Virtueel Platform, Netherlands Institute for Media Art, govcom.org, and other cultural institutions, where internship opportunities may be available, in consultation with the student’s thesis supervisor. Students attend and blog, twitter or otherwise capture local new media events and festivals, while commenting as well on larger international issues and trends pertaining to new media. The quality of student life is equally to be found in the university’s lively and varied intellectual climate. NMMA students come from North and South America, Africa, Asia and across Europe and from academic and professional backgrounds including journalism, art and design, engineering, the humanities and social sciences.

Faculty

Richard Rogers, Professor and Chair. Web epistemology, Digital methods. Publications include Information Politics on the Web (MIT Press, 2004/2005), awarded American Society for Information Science and Technology’s 2005 Best Information Science Book of the Year Award, and the End of the Virtual (U Amsterdam P, 2009). Founding director of govcom.org.

http://www.govcom.org/.

Geert Lovink, Associate Professor. Critical Internet theory, Tactical Media. Publications include Zero Comments: Blogging and Critical Internet Culture (Routledge, 2007). Co-founder nettime listserve (1995
– present); founder, Institute of Network Cultures, 2004.

http://www.networkcultures.org/.

Jan Simons, Associate Professor. Mobile Culture, Gaming, Film Theory. Publications include Playing The Waves: Lars von Trier's Game Cinema (U Amsterdam P, 2007). Project Director, Mobile Learning Game Kit,
Senior Member, Digital Games research group.

http://home.medewerker.uva.nl/j.a.a.simons/

Yuri Engelhardt, Assistant Professor. Computer modeling and information visualization. Publications include The Language of Graphics (2002); founder and moderator of InfoDesign (1995-9); codeveloper of Future Planet Studies at UvA.

http://www.yuriweb.com/

Edward Shanken, Assistant Professor. Digital aesthetics, visual culture. Publications include Art and Electronic Media (Phaidon, 2009) and Telematic Embrace: Visionary Theories of Art, Technology and Consciousness (U Cal P, 2003).

http://artexetra.com

Thomas Poell, Assistant Professor. New media politics. In 2007 he defended his PhD-dissertation on the democratization and centralization of the Dutch state during the revolutionary period around 1800.

http://nl.linkedin.com/in/thomaspoell

Application & Deadlines

1 January 2010 for “early bird” candidates for Fall 2010. Early bird candidates notified on 1 February. General deadline: 1 April for Fall 2010. Applicants will be notified around 15 June. Applications received after 1 April may be considered if places are available. See http://www.studeren.uva.nl/ma-nieuwe-media/ for details.

More Info & Questions

• International M.A. in New Media & Digital Culture - University of Amsterdam, http://www.studeren.uva.nl/ma_new_media/
• Graduate School for Humanities General Information, http://www.hum.uva.nl/gs/actueel.cfm

• Further general questions?
Please write to UvA’s Graduate School of the Humanities, graduateschool-fgw “at” uva.nl.

• Specific questions about curriculum and student life? Please write to Richard Rogers, Chair in New Media & Digital Culture, University of Amsterdam, rogers “at” uva.nl.

Download .pdf of this announcment:

http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/amsterdam_newmedia_MA_2010-11.pdf