Public Science and New Media

With Web 2.0, public science has become both more diverse and more attractive, yet it still faces the challenge of conducting an open and critical dialogue. In order to have a presence on the Internet, academia must partially give up its rigid monopoly over definitions and develop a language that is more generally comprehensible—a language that not only arouses an acceptance of research and a fascination for it, but also forms the foundation for a public dialogue.

More and more scientific institutions are therefore calling attention to their own programs in social networks, are setting up video-sharing websites with their own content, or are twittering their events calendars. The institution of the museum has also discovered the potential of new media as informal places of learning. But is this the whole story? Are there certain strategies that allow for discourses to be initiated and encouraged?

The scientific symposium “Public Science and New Media. The Role of Web 2.0 Culture in the Informal Communication of Scientific Knowledge” will answer these questions and discuss open Internet dialogues, modern methods of communication, and interactive media. The participants of the InsideScience project will present their findings at the conference.

The conference is taking place on 3 – 4 December in the ZKM | Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe. Undergraduates and doctoral students, as well as all other interested parties, are invited to this interdisciplinary symposium. Admission is free.

The complete conference program is available as a PDF.

Impressions from the Scientific Symposium