Semiotics, Technology and Society
On-site in Tartu 28 July - 8 August 2025
The advancement of automated technologies, combined with societies’ needs to rapidly adapt, have brought about frantic discourses of anxiety about the state of the world and its possible future(s). The problematic impact of technology on society is widely discussed in Science and Technology Studies (STS). In the context of (generative) AI, the environmental impact of technologies is starting to become integral to certain public and academic debates.
Semiotics is uniquely positioned to provide historical and cultural contextualization for current technologies and their impact on society and environment. Semiotics also offers tools to critically assess the discourses articulating related epistemic and ontological challenges. Semiotics addresses the abstract, mental dimension of human and hun-human life. At the same time, any semiotic activity is inevitably grounded in embodied materiality, leading to significant impact and consequences on the material, factual world. We will investigate how these sides come together, form the context for and impact various trends in the contemporary world.
The course provides insights into various theories and applications popular in cultural and ecosemiotics, STS and environmental humanities, relating them to current and pressing technological, political and environmental issues. In a practical line, the course trains the skills of academic concept and proposal formulation and introduces students to research methodologies, particularly multimodal discourse analysis through several intensive workshops. Additionally, we will take walks through the cultural and heritage landscapes of Tartu and Estonia.
Information about the course
Focus area: | Ecosemiotics, environmental humanities | Coordinating unit: | Department of Semiotics |
Study Field: | Semiotics | Course Leaders: | Auli Viidalepp, University of Tartu |
Format: | Summer Course | Location: | Jakobi 2, Tartu |
Course dates: | 28 July - 8 August 2025 | Language: | English |
ECTS: | 6 | Study group: | MA/PhD/Advanced BA |
Lecturers
Auli Viidalepp | University of Tartu |
Prof. Kay O'Halloran | University of Liverpool |
Lona Päll | University of Tartu; |
Sara Bédard-Goulet | University of Utrecht; |
Guest lecturers | TBA |
Application deadline: 30 April 2025
Application period: 1 April - 30 April 2025
NB! All of the applicants are required to pay a non-refundable application fee of EUR 25. Your application will only be processed after the University has received the fee. The application fee is required to facilitate the admissions process and will not be refunded, regardless of the admission result.
Course fee: 700EUR
Includes:
Study materials
10 days of academic work with lecturers
Certificate of completion (6 ECTS)
5 cultural events in the evenings
NB! Transportation and accommodation costs are not included. The course fee does not cover participant's lunch during the summer school.
The course combines traditional classroom learning (lectures, seminars or practical exercises) and experiential learning (city and nature walks, organised group visits and shared reflection). We will also have some full day nature and city/institution trips. Some days will have “school schedule”, others “fieldtrip schedule”.
Required and additional reading materials will be provided in Moodle and distributed a month before the start of the course.
NB! This is a preliminary schedule and topics list. The final programme will be distributed two weeks before the start of the course.
Sunday, July 27
Arrival in Tartu
Monday, July 28
- Course introduction and welcome
- The material and semiotic foundations of technological systems
- What is multimodal analysis and why does it matter in a datafied world?
- Exercise: mapping research interests
Tuesday, July 29
- Ecosemiotics and the changing epistemologies of nature-culture relations
- Place-lore and the semiotic significance of places
- The semiotics of (environmental) conflicts
- Jakob von Uexküll and the concept of Umwelt
Wednesday, July 30
- Multimodal analysis (A): close analysis of small datasets
- Multimodal analysis (B): large-scale analysis
- Exploring the limitations of multimodal large language models (workshop)
Thursday, July 31
- Field trip to Taevaskoja, a tourist destination and a sacred natural site (TBC)
Friday, August 1
- Reflections on the field trip experience
- Indigenous and decolonial perspectives on technology and extractivism
- Scientific knowledge production and art
- Psychoanalytical perspective on knowledge
- Exercise: Creating a Research Space (C.A.R.S.)
Saturday, August 2 — free day
Sunday, August 3 – free day
Monday, August 4
- Juri Lotman and Tartu semiotics
- Culture and modelling systems
- Artificial Intelligence as mediated perception
- Multimodal analysis workshop (I): group work
Tuesday, August 5
- The digital semiosphere
- The semiotics of information influence
- Strategic narratives and political communication
- Narrative, cognitive, information warfare
- Mapping research questions and paths
Wednesday, August 6
- Low tech, degrowth and the critique of green transition
- The sociocultural impact of generative AI
- Cultural responses to deepfake technology
- Multimodal analysis workshop (II): group work
Thursday, August 7
- Colloquium day. Presentations
Friday, August 8
- Colloquium. Presentations (continued)
- Reflections on the course and feedback
August 9/10: Departure
Upon successful completion of the course, the students are able to:
- Understand the key concepts of semiotics, science and technology studies, and environmental humanities
- Grasp the main issues related to AI technologies and other complex technical systems
- Critically assess current debates on technology, society and environment
- Draft a feasible and politically relevant research plan related to the topics of the course
Contextualise their experience and learning with the natural and cultural environments of Estonia
Exercise in Grounded Theory. Collecting material, initial reflection and analysis (due first week)
Preparation and active participation in seminars. Reading questions will be provided for every seminar to facilitate and guide the reading and learning process. Each seminar will require answering select questions and posting them on Moodle before each seminar.
Multimodal data analysis and presentation of results based on provided datasets (individual or group work, prepared during intensive seminars)
Research plan. Mapping out a tentative (real or imaginary) research proposal on a topic of choice, based on any methods and concepts learned during the course. A successful proposal identifies research questions, research gap, fitting methods and theoretical concepts, and tentative further steps. (Due second week)
Presentation of the research plan on student colloquium (Due second week)
Giving feedback on other students’ research plans (during the colloquium)
Optional: presentation of one’s own research topic (related to the course themes) in the colloqium (abstract due before the course)
Which previous knowledge is required?
No specific knowledge is presumed. However, the participant should feel comfortable reading academic texts and be willing to learn to navigate a wide range of theoretical concepts. The course is recommended for MA and PhD level students, but advanced BA students, as well as early career or independent researchers are welcome. Note that the course and the exercises are oriented toward research design and practice, and thus most beneficial for outlining concepts and plans for research proposals or papers.
Entry requirements:
- Online application form (application period April 1 - April 30 2025)
- Motivation letter (up to 1 page) that demonstrates the applicant’s motivation to participate, his/her expectations about the programme, how participation in the summer programme relates to his/her studies and interests, and how the applicant plans to use the gained experience and knowledge in the future.
- Transcript of academic records
- Copy of passport
PS: Only complete applications including all annexes submitted by the deadline will be considered for selection.
