Adriana Mihai | University of Bucharest (original) (raw)
Published Papers by Adriana Mihai
Front. Public Health, 2021
In managing the COVID-19 pandemic, several compelling narratives seem to have played a significan... more In managing the COVID-19 pandemic, several compelling narratives seem to have played a significant role in the decision-making processes regarding which risk mitigation and management measures to implement. Many countries were to a large extent unprepared for such a situation, even though predictions about a significant probability for a pandemic to occur existed, and national governments of several countries often acted in an uncoordinated manner, which resulted in many inconsistencies in the disaster risk reduction processes. Limited evidence has also made room for strategic narratives meant to persuade the public of the chosen set of actions, even though the degree of uncertainty regarding the outcomes of these was high, further complicating the situation. In this article, we assume a normative standpoint regarding rhapsodic decision making and suggest an integrated framework for a more elaborated decision analysis under the ambiguity of how to contain the virus spread from a policy point of view, while considering epidemiologic estimations and socioeconomic factors in a multi-stakeholder-multi-criteria context based on a co-creative work process for eliciting attitudes, perceptions, as well as preferences amongst relevant stakeholder groups. The framework, applied in our paper on Romania for demonstrative purposes, is used for evaluating mitigation measures for catastrophic events such as the COVID-19 situation, to mobilize better response strategies for future scenarios related to pandemics and other hazardous events, as well as to structure the production and analysis of narratives on the current pandemic effects.
Humanities, 2019
The cultural production of "Shakespeare" on the Internet has received growing attention in recent... more The cultural production of "Shakespeare" on the Internet has received growing attention in recent years, particularly in reference to newcomers in the field such as media users or "prosumers". This is potentiated by the connectivity of digital platforms and growing access to digital means of production and distribution. From a field perspective on digital cultural production, participation online can be seen as a socially situated activity, often differentiated and marked by the habitus of digital media users. The present article aims firstly to discuss the utility of a field conceptualization of the cultural production of Shakespeare online, with reference to the work of Pierre Bourdieu. Secondly, through a critical framework derived from cultural and media economies, this article analyses Romanian appropriations of Shakespeare's works on YouTube as cultural productions inscribed in both the global digital economy and also in the local cultural field. Thirdly, based on an overview of Romanian producers who have published Shakespeare videos and on the analysis of their visibility and circulation online, as well as their chosen genres and discourses, I argue that the Romanian digital (re)production of Shakespeare is situated at the periphery of both the national and the global digital field. User-made Shakespeare productions are yet to find valuation in the local cultural and media fields, being situated in an illegitimate location for appropriating Shakespeare. This will be contextualized in the larger discourse regarding the fundamental role of curation, but also in light of recent concerns about privileged locations, languages, and algorithmic bias across online cultural production, circulation, and consumption.
A field which traditionally easily integrates various media in cultural production and research, ... more A field which traditionally easily integrates various media in cultural production and research, Shakespeare Studies has embarked upon remediating the Shakespeare canon online, within the digital culture ethos of collaboration, participation and the politics of accessibility. However, an inherent process of selection, negotiation and framing is employed when digitizing Shakespeare works. By conducting a web sphere analysis of the digital archives websites, I will argue that there are three main strategic directions used by formal institutions in publishing Shakespeare cultural heritage online, making this canonical cultural heritage become a lieu of tensions between participation and institutional hegemony.
The need and estimated utility for a structured analysis of the Roşia Montană gold exploitation p... more The need and estimated utility for a structured analysis of the Roşia Montană gold exploitation project have been palpable in the Romanian public sphere during the last 15 years and there is a vast amount of conflicting information and opinions on the benefits and risks involved. This article provides a comprehensive decision analysis of the Roşia Montană project. Over 100 documents from the past years have been gathered regarding the Roşia Montană mining project, which cover the main official, formal and less formal documents covering the case and produced by a wide range of stakeholders. These were then analyzed while designing a multi-criteria tree including the relevant perspectives under which the most commonly discussed four alternatives were analyzed. The result of this can be translated into a valuable recommendation for the mining company and for the political decision-makers. If these stakeholders want the continuation of the project and its acceptance by civil society, the key challenge is to increase the transparency of the process and improve the credibility and legal aspects; if these aspects cannot be met, the decision-makers need to pay attention to the alternatives available for a sustainable development in the area.
In their article "Teaching Digital Humanities in Romania" Mădălina Nicolaescu and Adriana Mihai d... more In their article "Teaching Digital Humanities in Romania" Mădălina Nicolaescu and Adriana Mihai describe a research project that sets out to promote digital humanities with an internet based platform in Shakespeare studies at the University of Bucharest. Texts have been collected and catalogued and the platform's technical construction is in construction. Based on the Shakespeare platform's content and presentation, Nicolaescu and Mihai propose participation strategies for involvement in the creation of a digital database that is both a research tool and a digital storytelling environment. The database is a collection of digitized translations of Shakespeare in Romanian followed by participants' input in the form of critical and creative work which allows users to interact in the platform, expand its metadata, and produce multilinear narratives of interpretation.
Book chapters by Adriana Mihai
Considering the digital turn affecting cultural fields, the present chapter argues that normative... more Considering the digital turn affecting cultural fields, the present chapter argues that normative approaches on culture and media, as well as the digital affordances, affect the process of production and critical discussion on Shakespeare. Having a direct implication on cultural memory due to the resurgence of the archive, the much debated intersection between Shakespeare and the digital media has largely stemmed from the field of digital humanities and less from critical viewpoints upon policy, institutional relationships and cultural practice. In an attempt to bridge this gap, I propose cultural sociology as a method and conceptual apparatus by which to investigate the socio-cultural dynamics of transposing Shakespeare online in digital archives projects, digital editions and adaptations, the former being discussed along a case study on Peter Donaldson and Alexa Huang’s project, the MIT Global Shakespeares Video & Performance Archive.
This chapter discusses the deliberation process that took place in Romania over the gold mining p... more This chapter discusses the deliberation process that took place in Romania over the gold mining project proposed by a Canadian company to the Romanian Government. By identifying the current policy-making goals and agenda at EU level prioritizing sustainable development, the chapter provides a decision-making model for Rosia Montana to serve for an inclusive and participatory governance of public interest projects.
Reports by Adriana Mihai
The Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) is a research tool that was designed to identify potential risk... more The Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) is a research tool that was designed to identify potential risks to media pluralism in the Member States of the European Union. This narrative report has been produced within the framework of the first pan-European implementation of the MPM. The implementation was conducted in 28 EU Member States, Montenegro and Turkey with the support of a grant awarded by the European Union to the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) at the European University Institute. See the full reports here: http://cmpf.eui.eu/media-pluralism-monitor/mpm-2016-results/
The current report, supported by the University of Stockholm in collaboration with Median Resear... more The current report, supported by the University of Stockholm in collaboration with Median Research Centre, Bucharest, represents a first attempt to systematize the main arguments issued by the main stakeholders on the Rosia Montana gold mining project (RMGC, the Romanian officials, the civil society, the local community, experts and citizens). We believe that the most appropriate method of analysis and evaluation of the available data and for establishing which option is the most suitable for a sustainable development of the Roșia Montană area, is a multi-criteria decision-making model . In the following we will see how this scientific method can serve the Romanian decision makers in the process of weighing the data for reaching a definitive and objective conclusion.
Conference Presentations by Adriana Mihai
The present paper aims to investigate the extent to which environmental justice movements manage ... more The present paper aims to investigate the extent to which environmental justice movements manage to attract support, engender participation and create mobilization within an ideologically heterogeneous public, by using transmediality as a method of communication. Expanding upon Lina Srivastava’s concept and use of „transmedial activism” (2009, 2016), I will look at the transmedial strategies employed by the United We Save (Uniți Salvăm) Facebook community in Romania, a „transideological community of persons, informal groups and organisations” founded as a civic reaction to governmental decision-making in public interest projects of natural and mineral resource exploitations. Although the community officially supports more general principles of participatory democracy and values such as solidarity, tolerance, the rule of law, dialogue, transparency and freedom, it has been mainly active in three cases of activism: a gold exploitation project in the Roșia Montană mountains proposed by Canadian company Gabriel Resources, a shale gas exploitation project by American company Chevron and forests logging by Austrian company Holzindustrie Schweighofer. While the cases share a common gist, the exploitation of resources by foreign companies, they are also stories of a system with various actors, implications and criteria. By conducting a comparative semi-automatic content analysis of the three transmedial campaigns promoted by the United We Save community between 2013 and 2015, I firstly follow the narrative expansion through the use of media, modes and comments by the members of the community, and secondly, the incorporation of verifiable data and of multiple perspectives into the storyline. Which story branches, media or modes of expression attract most user interactivity? How is emotion triggered, expressed and instrumentalized for mobilisation purposes? And, last but not least, can transmedia storytelling lead to a wider exposure to a story’s ecosystem than the one created within a single "echo chamber" (Quattrociocchi, 2016)?
Using the digital technology (ICT) in remediating Shakespeare’s plays from various media of produ... more Using the digital technology (ICT) in remediating Shakespeare’s plays from various media of production and dissemination into digital media draws a continuous negotiation and redefinition of what we call cultural memory. The dynamics within cultural memory, which is, according to Aleida Assmann (2008), always situated between two forms of preserving the past, namely keeping the past as present, or as canon, and keeping the past as past, or the archive, make the field extremely accelerated and decentered once the global process of digitizing culture kicks in.
In the present paper we will discuss the implications of digitizing Shakespearean archives by institutions such as the British Library, MIT and Folger Shakespeare Library, on what is designated as the Shakespearean cultural memory. What type of material artifacts are of interest for the digital Shakespearian canon? What is the status of translations and adaptations within it? And to what extent can we discuss about a global cultural memory, following the openness of the new media and the transnational approaches in Shakespeare Studies?
In the Rosia Montana project debates, the divisions among politicians, citizens, local villagers,... more In the Rosia Montana project debates, the divisions among politicians, citizens, local villagers, institutes and NGOs concerning the exploitation of gold and silver using cyanide in the Apuseni Mountains, Romania, have repeatedly led to postponements of a final decision. Currently documenting the interests of the stakeholders on the issue in order to formally assess the most beneficial alternative for the Romanian state, we noticed that up until recently, citizens’ participation in the decision-making process was nearly invisible, the opinions expressed on the only forum for discussion put available by the Romanian Chamber of Deputees on their webpage being completely ignored in the public statements of officials. Moreover, opinion polls conducted by media groups only demand a yes or no answer, making it impossible to elicit more specific citizen concerns.
Last year, as a reaction to a parliamentary attempt to modify the mining law and make way for the final approvals needed by the Rosia Montana project, citizens’ input started to become visible. Documentary filmmaker Fabian Daub, who had been acclaimed for presenting the conflicting opinions surrounding the project by presenting his work at the Astra Film Festival agreed to make his documentary freely available on Youtube. Artist Dan Perjovschi created a series of drawings for open use and sharing, both on Facebook and offline. During the protests, visual communication through posters, photographs and Youtube films provided significant information about and for the citizens’ views on the matter. The immediacy of the constant visual documentation, the recognizable signs, as well as the emotional reactions triggered by the shared content and experience made people want to participate. The interplay between content, medium and genre helps us go beyond the binary pro/against discourse to a greater variety of citizen interests to be weighted in the decision-making process.
![Research paper thumbnail of Mapping the object [Grivita 1933] Recovering cultural history through a digital archive (co-written with Viviana Iacob)](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/33774373/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](The conference aims to bridge the gap between contemporary digital archival practices and academi... more The conference aims to bridge the gap between contemporary digital archival practices and academic theory regarding the image of and the image in the archive. It is only through studying the historicity of visual practices and the historical imagination that we can understand the potential of new technologies. The talks reflect on the challenges in conceptualizing, exhibiting, and working in the archives by reconsidering the role of the image as an epistemic tool, the research expectations with regards to archives and the possibilities of joint expertise in making digital archives legible. Given the growing role of visual material in both researching and presenting historical data, the event will bring together scholars and specialists in the fields of history, archival science, media studies, film studies, sociology, anthropology, philosophy and design.
In the last decade, new media have set forth extensive narrative and intermedial possibilities of... more In the last decade, new media have set forth extensive narrative and intermedial possibilities of telling a story in the digital environment. Literary studies debates concerning the paradigm shift from print to the computer screen have slowly replaced the initial viewpoint of a rupture from tradition with a media studies perspective of convergence (Henry Jenkins 2006). This imbeds not only the distribution of media content, but also contemporary practices of appropriation, remixing and collage which design the text as a work in process. Rewriting a work of fiction with digital tools has mostly been employed in educational assignments, fan communities or computer games, but none of these variants has attempted to provide a full adaptation of the original works in a multimodal system.
Therefore, the present paper sets out to explore the digital adaptation of John Buchan’s adventure novel The Thirty Nine Steps, published in 2013 by The Story Mechanics, which aims to be “faithful to the original story and faithful to the world in which it is set”. Our investigation will use an interdisciplinary approach which conjoins the point of view of digital narratology (Mary-Laure Ryan 2004; 2006) with a media studies perspective. The two fields have been instrumental in providing the methodological apparatus for the analysis of digitally-born works of fiction (electronic literature or digital language arts), as well as for the differentiation between various types of new media storytelling. We argue that the resulting digital adaptation is a case of remediation (Bolter and Grusin 1999; Wolf 2011), incorporating, referencing to and reflecting upon previous modes of expression.
"The present paper aims to track down the main digital systems into which archives of canonical t... more "The present paper aims to track down the main digital systems into which archives of canonical texts have been remediated, with the purpose of differentiating between the mental representations drawn by different types of digital platform structures. Digitization has gained increasing international interest within cultural heritage institutions and digital humanities activities and the necessity of preserving valuable archive material, as well as making it accessible for readers and researchers, is indisputable. Digital archives textbooks and projects speak of a call for the rethinking of old material permitted by the new media. However, the capabilities of a digital archive to generate meaning from its items are still reduced; large amounts of literary source material are available for public use, but are looked at through the lens of an exhibit case, in spite of their intended interactivity and user participation.
In distinct digital environments, source materials are brought up, appropriated and remixed by Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and blog users, integrating the archival fragments in a network of media combinations. Considering the intermedial configurations generated by these cultural practices, we will follow the case of Shakespeare’s texts, their virtual extensions being traced on three levels of production: publicly-funded (universities and cultural heritage institutions projects), private initiatives (publishing houses) and user shaped products. Between the top-down input of the databases and the dialogical digital storytelling environment, we will subsequently try to explore the archives’ affordances for interactivity. "
Front. Public Health, 2021
In managing the COVID-19 pandemic, several compelling narratives seem to have played a significan... more In managing the COVID-19 pandemic, several compelling narratives seem to have played a significant role in the decision-making processes regarding which risk mitigation and management measures to implement. Many countries were to a large extent unprepared for such a situation, even though predictions about a significant probability for a pandemic to occur existed, and national governments of several countries often acted in an uncoordinated manner, which resulted in many inconsistencies in the disaster risk reduction processes. Limited evidence has also made room for strategic narratives meant to persuade the public of the chosen set of actions, even though the degree of uncertainty regarding the outcomes of these was high, further complicating the situation. In this article, we assume a normative standpoint regarding rhapsodic decision making and suggest an integrated framework for a more elaborated decision analysis under the ambiguity of how to contain the virus spread from a policy point of view, while considering epidemiologic estimations and socioeconomic factors in a multi-stakeholder-multi-criteria context based on a co-creative work process for eliciting attitudes, perceptions, as well as preferences amongst relevant stakeholder groups. The framework, applied in our paper on Romania for demonstrative purposes, is used for evaluating mitigation measures for catastrophic events such as the COVID-19 situation, to mobilize better response strategies for future scenarios related to pandemics and other hazardous events, as well as to structure the production and analysis of narratives on the current pandemic effects.
Humanities, 2019
The cultural production of "Shakespeare" on the Internet has received growing attention in recent... more The cultural production of "Shakespeare" on the Internet has received growing attention in recent years, particularly in reference to newcomers in the field such as media users or "prosumers". This is potentiated by the connectivity of digital platforms and growing access to digital means of production and distribution. From a field perspective on digital cultural production, participation online can be seen as a socially situated activity, often differentiated and marked by the habitus of digital media users. The present article aims firstly to discuss the utility of a field conceptualization of the cultural production of Shakespeare online, with reference to the work of Pierre Bourdieu. Secondly, through a critical framework derived from cultural and media economies, this article analyses Romanian appropriations of Shakespeare's works on YouTube as cultural productions inscribed in both the global digital economy and also in the local cultural field. Thirdly, based on an overview of Romanian producers who have published Shakespeare videos and on the analysis of their visibility and circulation online, as well as their chosen genres and discourses, I argue that the Romanian digital (re)production of Shakespeare is situated at the periphery of both the national and the global digital field. User-made Shakespeare productions are yet to find valuation in the local cultural and media fields, being situated in an illegitimate location for appropriating Shakespeare. This will be contextualized in the larger discourse regarding the fundamental role of curation, but also in light of recent concerns about privileged locations, languages, and algorithmic bias across online cultural production, circulation, and consumption.
A field which traditionally easily integrates various media in cultural production and research, ... more A field which traditionally easily integrates various media in cultural production and research, Shakespeare Studies has embarked upon remediating the Shakespeare canon online, within the digital culture ethos of collaboration, participation and the politics of accessibility. However, an inherent process of selection, negotiation and framing is employed when digitizing Shakespeare works. By conducting a web sphere analysis of the digital archives websites, I will argue that there are three main strategic directions used by formal institutions in publishing Shakespeare cultural heritage online, making this canonical cultural heritage become a lieu of tensions between participation and institutional hegemony.
The need and estimated utility for a structured analysis of the Roşia Montană gold exploitation p... more The need and estimated utility for a structured analysis of the Roşia Montană gold exploitation project have been palpable in the Romanian public sphere during the last 15 years and there is a vast amount of conflicting information and opinions on the benefits and risks involved. This article provides a comprehensive decision analysis of the Roşia Montană project. Over 100 documents from the past years have been gathered regarding the Roşia Montană mining project, which cover the main official, formal and less formal documents covering the case and produced by a wide range of stakeholders. These were then analyzed while designing a multi-criteria tree including the relevant perspectives under which the most commonly discussed four alternatives were analyzed. The result of this can be translated into a valuable recommendation for the mining company and for the political decision-makers. If these stakeholders want the continuation of the project and its acceptance by civil society, the key challenge is to increase the transparency of the process and improve the credibility and legal aspects; if these aspects cannot be met, the decision-makers need to pay attention to the alternatives available for a sustainable development in the area.
In their article "Teaching Digital Humanities in Romania" Mădălina Nicolaescu and Adriana Mihai d... more In their article "Teaching Digital Humanities in Romania" Mădălina Nicolaescu and Adriana Mihai describe a research project that sets out to promote digital humanities with an internet based platform in Shakespeare studies at the University of Bucharest. Texts have been collected and catalogued and the platform's technical construction is in construction. Based on the Shakespeare platform's content and presentation, Nicolaescu and Mihai propose participation strategies for involvement in the creation of a digital database that is both a research tool and a digital storytelling environment. The database is a collection of digitized translations of Shakespeare in Romanian followed by participants' input in the form of critical and creative work which allows users to interact in the platform, expand its metadata, and produce multilinear narratives of interpretation.
Considering the digital turn affecting cultural fields, the present chapter argues that normative... more Considering the digital turn affecting cultural fields, the present chapter argues that normative approaches on culture and media, as well as the digital affordances, affect the process of production and critical discussion on Shakespeare. Having a direct implication on cultural memory due to the resurgence of the archive, the much debated intersection between Shakespeare and the digital media has largely stemmed from the field of digital humanities and less from critical viewpoints upon policy, institutional relationships and cultural practice. In an attempt to bridge this gap, I propose cultural sociology as a method and conceptual apparatus by which to investigate the socio-cultural dynamics of transposing Shakespeare online in digital archives projects, digital editions and adaptations, the former being discussed along a case study on Peter Donaldson and Alexa Huang’s project, the MIT Global Shakespeares Video & Performance Archive.
This chapter discusses the deliberation process that took place in Romania over the gold mining p... more This chapter discusses the deliberation process that took place in Romania over the gold mining project proposed by a Canadian company to the Romanian Government. By identifying the current policy-making goals and agenda at EU level prioritizing sustainable development, the chapter provides a decision-making model for Rosia Montana to serve for an inclusive and participatory governance of public interest projects.
The Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) is a research tool that was designed to identify potential risk... more The Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) is a research tool that was designed to identify potential risks to media pluralism in the Member States of the European Union. This narrative report has been produced within the framework of the first pan-European implementation of the MPM. The implementation was conducted in 28 EU Member States, Montenegro and Turkey with the support of a grant awarded by the European Union to the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) at the European University Institute. See the full reports here: http://cmpf.eui.eu/media-pluralism-monitor/mpm-2016-results/
The current report, supported by the University of Stockholm in collaboration with Median Resear... more The current report, supported by the University of Stockholm in collaboration with Median Research Centre, Bucharest, represents a first attempt to systematize the main arguments issued by the main stakeholders on the Rosia Montana gold mining project (RMGC, the Romanian officials, the civil society, the local community, experts and citizens). We believe that the most appropriate method of analysis and evaluation of the available data and for establishing which option is the most suitable for a sustainable development of the Roșia Montană area, is a multi-criteria decision-making model . In the following we will see how this scientific method can serve the Romanian decision makers in the process of weighing the data for reaching a definitive and objective conclusion.
The present paper aims to investigate the extent to which environmental justice movements manage ... more The present paper aims to investigate the extent to which environmental justice movements manage to attract support, engender participation and create mobilization within an ideologically heterogeneous public, by using transmediality as a method of communication. Expanding upon Lina Srivastava’s concept and use of „transmedial activism” (2009, 2016), I will look at the transmedial strategies employed by the United We Save (Uniți Salvăm) Facebook community in Romania, a „transideological community of persons, informal groups and organisations” founded as a civic reaction to governmental decision-making in public interest projects of natural and mineral resource exploitations. Although the community officially supports more general principles of participatory democracy and values such as solidarity, tolerance, the rule of law, dialogue, transparency and freedom, it has been mainly active in three cases of activism: a gold exploitation project in the Roșia Montană mountains proposed by Canadian company Gabriel Resources, a shale gas exploitation project by American company Chevron and forests logging by Austrian company Holzindustrie Schweighofer. While the cases share a common gist, the exploitation of resources by foreign companies, they are also stories of a system with various actors, implications and criteria. By conducting a comparative semi-automatic content analysis of the three transmedial campaigns promoted by the United We Save community between 2013 and 2015, I firstly follow the narrative expansion through the use of media, modes and comments by the members of the community, and secondly, the incorporation of verifiable data and of multiple perspectives into the storyline. Which story branches, media or modes of expression attract most user interactivity? How is emotion triggered, expressed and instrumentalized for mobilisation purposes? And, last but not least, can transmedia storytelling lead to a wider exposure to a story’s ecosystem than the one created within a single "echo chamber" (Quattrociocchi, 2016)?
Using the digital technology (ICT) in remediating Shakespeare’s plays from various media of produ... more Using the digital technology (ICT) in remediating Shakespeare’s plays from various media of production and dissemination into digital media draws a continuous negotiation and redefinition of what we call cultural memory. The dynamics within cultural memory, which is, according to Aleida Assmann (2008), always situated between two forms of preserving the past, namely keeping the past as present, or as canon, and keeping the past as past, or the archive, make the field extremely accelerated and decentered once the global process of digitizing culture kicks in.
In the present paper we will discuss the implications of digitizing Shakespearean archives by institutions such as the British Library, MIT and Folger Shakespeare Library, on what is designated as the Shakespearean cultural memory. What type of material artifacts are of interest for the digital Shakespearian canon? What is the status of translations and adaptations within it? And to what extent can we discuss about a global cultural memory, following the openness of the new media and the transnational approaches in Shakespeare Studies?
In the Rosia Montana project debates, the divisions among politicians, citizens, local villagers,... more In the Rosia Montana project debates, the divisions among politicians, citizens, local villagers, institutes and NGOs concerning the exploitation of gold and silver using cyanide in the Apuseni Mountains, Romania, have repeatedly led to postponements of a final decision. Currently documenting the interests of the stakeholders on the issue in order to formally assess the most beneficial alternative for the Romanian state, we noticed that up until recently, citizens’ participation in the decision-making process was nearly invisible, the opinions expressed on the only forum for discussion put available by the Romanian Chamber of Deputees on their webpage being completely ignored in the public statements of officials. Moreover, opinion polls conducted by media groups only demand a yes or no answer, making it impossible to elicit more specific citizen concerns.
Last year, as a reaction to a parliamentary attempt to modify the mining law and make way for the final approvals needed by the Rosia Montana project, citizens’ input started to become visible. Documentary filmmaker Fabian Daub, who had been acclaimed for presenting the conflicting opinions surrounding the project by presenting his work at the Astra Film Festival agreed to make his documentary freely available on Youtube. Artist Dan Perjovschi created a series of drawings for open use and sharing, both on Facebook and offline. During the protests, visual communication through posters, photographs and Youtube films provided significant information about and for the citizens’ views on the matter. The immediacy of the constant visual documentation, the recognizable signs, as well as the emotional reactions triggered by the shared content and experience made people want to participate. The interplay between content, medium and genre helps us go beyond the binary pro/against discourse to a greater variety of citizen interests to be weighted in the decision-making process.
The conference aims to bridge the gap between contemporary digital archival practices and academi... more The conference aims to bridge the gap between contemporary digital archival practices and academic theory regarding the image of and the image in the archive. It is only through studying the historicity of visual practices and the historical imagination that we can understand the potential of new technologies. The talks reflect on the challenges in conceptualizing, exhibiting, and working in the archives by reconsidering the role of the image as an epistemic tool, the research expectations with regards to archives and the possibilities of joint expertise in making digital archives legible. Given the growing role of visual material in both researching and presenting historical data, the event will bring together scholars and specialists in the fields of history, archival science, media studies, film studies, sociology, anthropology, philosophy and design.
In the last decade, new media have set forth extensive narrative and intermedial possibilities of... more In the last decade, new media have set forth extensive narrative and intermedial possibilities of telling a story in the digital environment. Literary studies debates concerning the paradigm shift from print to the computer screen have slowly replaced the initial viewpoint of a rupture from tradition with a media studies perspective of convergence (Henry Jenkins 2006). This imbeds not only the distribution of media content, but also contemporary practices of appropriation, remixing and collage which design the text as a work in process. Rewriting a work of fiction with digital tools has mostly been employed in educational assignments, fan communities or computer games, but none of these variants has attempted to provide a full adaptation of the original works in a multimodal system.
Therefore, the present paper sets out to explore the digital adaptation of John Buchan’s adventure novel The Thirty Nine Steps, published in 2013 by The Story Mechanics, which aims to be “faithful to the original story and faithful to the world in which it is set”. Our investigation will use an interdisciplinary approach which conjoins the point of view of digital narratology (Mary-Laure Ryan 2004; 2006) with a media studies perspective. The two fields have been instrumental in providing the methodological apparatus for the analysis of digitally-born works of fiction (electronic literature or digital language arts), as well as for the differentiation between various types of new media storytelling. We argue that the resulting digital adaptation is a case of remediation (Bolter and Grusin 1999; Wolf 2011), incorporating, referencing to and reflecting upon previous modes of expression.
"The present paper aims to track down the main digital systems into which archives of canonical t... more "The present paper aims to track down the main digital systems into which archives of canonical texts have been remediated, with the purpose of differentiating between the mental representations drawn by different types of digital platform structures. Digitization has gained increasing international interest within cultural heritage institutions and digital humanities activities and the necessity of preserving valuable archive material, as well as making it accessible for readers and researchers, is indisputable. Digital archives textbooks and projects speak of a call for the rethinking of old material permitted by the new media. However, the capabilities of a digital archive to generate meaning from its items are still reduced; large amounts of literary source material are available for public use, but are looked at through the lens of an exhibit case, in spite of their intended interactivity and user participation.
In distinct digital environments, source materials are brought up, appropriated and remixed by Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and blog users, integrating the archival fragments in a network of media combinations. Considering the intermedial configurations generated by these cultural practices, we will follow the case of Shakespeare’s texts, their virtual extensions being traced on three levels of production: publicly-funded (universities and cultural heritage institutions projects), private initiatives (publishing houses) and user shaped products. Between the top-down input of the databases and the dialogical digital storytelling environment, we will subsequently try to explore the archives’ affordances for interactivity. "
și IIASA * Authors contributed equally and are therefore listed in reverse alphabetical order. CO... more și IIASA * Authors contributed equally and are therefore listed in reverse alphabetical order. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION SHORT HISTORY OF THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS MAIN STAKEHOLDERS Roşia Montana Gold Corporation S.A. The Romanian state The local community Public opinion and civil society A DECISION ANALYSIS MODEL FOR THE ROŞIA MONTANĂ CASE STUDY Decision analysis and DecideIT Prior studies with DecideIT The methodology of the Roşia Montană case study Background research, establishing the criteria and subcriteria Defining the alternatives of development for Roşia Montană Assigning values and weighs to the multi-criteria tree EVALUATION AND ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES Scenario 1: indiscriminative assessment of issues importance Scenario 2: coverage of issue in the consulted data Scenario 3: potential of improving the credibility Scenario 4: stakeholder interest-the Romanian state Scenario 5: stakeholder interest-civil society and local opponents Scenario 6: local, national and transboundary interests Scenario 7: stakeholder interest-local community Scenario 8: transparency and citizen interest Scenario 9: 2013 draft mining bill stipulations Other scenarios advanced in the public debates Research limitations CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES SHORT HISTORY OF THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS SHORT HISTORY OF THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS Median Research Centre followed the major steps taken in the Roşia Montană case by the main parties involved 6 , from official agreements and permits, to political statements which either pushed the project forward, or blocked it due to the political, social or environmental risks. 1995: Gabriel Resources NL wins the auction organized by the state-owned company Regia Autonomă a Cuprului Deva for a joint venture in exploiting the old tailings at Roşia Montană and Gurabarza-Brad; the documentation shows that the auction was won on September 4th, however the official release in a public newspaper of the bid by the Romanian company was issued on September 5th. 1997: Listing Gabriel Resources on the Vancouver stock market, with the approval of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce 7 ; Gabriel Resources Limited and Regia Autonomă a Cuprului Deva become formally associates in the Romanian company Euro Gold Resources, which later becomes S.C. Roşia Montana Gold Corporation S.A. In the association agreement, a sum of 9 million USD is stipulated as investment made by Gabriel Resources Limited for research and feasability studies, with the purpose of "identifying the quantities and quality of the deposits within the perimeter" 8. 1998: Romanian Government adopts the new mining law no. 61/1998. In December 1998, the license agreement for the exploitation of the deposits within a limited perimeter in Roşia Montana is given to state-owned National Company of Copper, Gold and Iron "Minvest" S.A (former Regia Autonoma a Cuprului Deva), while the joint venture Euro Gold Resources remains "affiliate";
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Many countries seemed to a large extent to have been unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic and nat... more Many countries seemed to a large extent to have been unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic and national governments often acted uncoordinated resulting in many inconsistencies in the mitigation processes. The acknowledgement of the multiple factors at stake in handling the crisis has more often than not been omitted from public communication, where public officials’ statements mostly framed the problem unilaterally, basing their narratives on warnings coming from the medical and public health scientific community. In this article, we propose a model for policymaking regarding hazardous events, such as a pandemic, to, in advance, forming better response strategies for future similar scenarios. We describe how an epidemic model can be integrated into a multi-stakeholder multi-criteria framework and how a more integrated analysis can be done, even under significant uncertainties. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
The need and estimated utility for a structured analysis of the Roşia Montană gold exploitation p... more The need and estimated utility for a structured analysis of the Roşia Montană gold exploitation project have been palpable in the Romanian public sphere during the last 15 years and there is a vast amount of conflicting information and opinions on the benefits and risks involved. This article provides a comprehensive decision analysis of the Roşia Montană project. Over 100 documents from the past years have been gathered regarding the Roşia Montană mining project, which cover the main official, formal and less formal documents covering the case and produced by a wide range of stakeholders. These were then analyzed while designing a multi-criteria tree including the relevant perspectives under which the most commonly discussed four alternatives were analyzed. The result of this can be translated into a valuable recommendation for the mining company and for the political decision-makers. If these stakeholders want the continuation of the project and its acceptance by civil society, the key challenge is to increase the transparency of the process and improve the credibility and legal aspects; if these aspects cannot be met, the decision-makers need to pay attention to the alternatives available for a sustainable development in the area.