Strengthening Democracies: Building Resilience and Resistance to Information Disorders
Truth struggles to compete with falsehoods, and democracies face a persistent challenge: information disorder. From hybrid warfare tactics to AI-generated content, the flood of information in today’s attention economy polarises societies and strains civil discourse.
This summer school offers a clear, structured look at these issues through the lens of media and communication. Over two weeks, participants will explore why public discussion spaces falter, how disinformation spreads, and what practical steps can strengthen resilience. Drawing on media studies, scientific literacy, and critical analysis, the course blends conceptual understanding with applied exercises, helping participants navigate the complexities of information disorder in both academic and professional contexts.
General information
| Course dates | 27 July - 7 August, 2026 (two-week course, 10 study days) |
|---|---|
| Course fee | 700 EUR |
| Course format | summer course |
| Study field | Media Studies, Sociology |
| Focus area | News, Social Media, and Societal Resilience in the Age of Information Disorder |
| Language | English |
| Study group | bachelor's, master's, PhD, lifelong learners |
| Assessment / ECTS | Pass/Fail (3ECTS) |
| Location | Tartu Lossi 36 |
Course description
This summer school offers a structured exploration of information disorders and their impact on democratic societies.
Across thirteen days, participants will engage with key questions: What makes disinformation a “wicked problem”? How do public discussion spaces become vulnerable? Sessions combine conceptual introductions with practical exercises, including case studies, media literacy approaches, and hands-on OSINT practice. Topics range from research quality and scientific literacy to AI-driven challenges, hybrid warfare tactics, and resilience strategies at individual, institutional, and policy levels.
The course is designed for critical engagement rather than technical mastery, providing participants with a deeper understanding of the dynamics of information disorder and practical insights into countering its effects. This is a great preparatory course for anyone considering a master’s or doctoral degree and wanting to try out research methods in the context of information disorder.
Course lecturers
Study information about the course
Day 1: Monday, 27 July
Morning session from 9: the opening with the rest of the summer school participants across the University of Tartu.
Afternoon session at Lossi 36 from 12-16: Introduction to the Summer School. Meeting your lecturers and each other. Admin information. Why are we here? How to find quality information? Introduction to qualitative and quantitative research methods. Academic publishing and identifying research quality and relevance. Information disorder and scientific literacy. Why is it not as simple as “do your own research”? (Maia Klaassen and Maria Murumaa Mengel)
Day 2: Tuesday, 28 July
Morning session from 10: either a Read-With-Me silent coworking session at Lossi 36 or reading at home for the afternoon session.
Afternoon session from 12-16: What is the (wicked) problem here? Introduction to information disorder. What has gone wrong in our public discussion spaces? Mediatisation. The algorithmic logic behind the attention economy. Working with case studies of elections and examples of uncivil discussion culture to dive further into the complexities of the digital communication culture, or – as we call it – the attention culture. (Maia Klaassen and Maria Murumaa Mengel)
Day 3: Wednesday, 29 July
Morning session from 10: either a Read-With-Me silent coworking session at Lossi 36 or reading at home for the afternoon session.
Afternoon session from 12-14: A critical look into AI. Introduction and basic overview of the logic of GPT-s, the training data, a historical overview and interesting new case studies, including discussions of the hype of recent years. Lowering our standards and source criticism: LLMs and chatbots as the new top-tier advisers? (Maia Klaassen)
Afternoon session from 14-16: AI, chatbots, and use cases of the youth. Why do young people engage in communication with chatbots? We will hear examples of both creative role-playing and attempts to alleviate grief or loneliness. When does an artificial companion become harmful, and how can we recognise dangers such as incitement to self-destructive behaviour? (Andra Siibak)
Day 4: Thursday, 30 July
Morning session from 10: either a Read-With-Me silent coworking session at Lossi 36 or reading at home for the afternoon session.
Afternoon session from 12-14: How are information disorders countered on the individual, (professional) community, state or EU level? The Estonian approach, strategic communication and psychological defence, policy-level responses from the EU, professional interventions and individual resilience-building. Overview of relevant regulatory interventions in the EU. (Maia Klaassen)
Afternoon session from 14-16: How is the "hidden" labour of social media managed on the global, corporate, and individual level? The commercial content moderation (CCM) approach, the psychological toll and desensitisation of workers, the role of outsourcing and non-disclosure agreements in corporate plausible deniability, and the technological limitations of automated AI interventions. An overview of the human-centred labour required to maintain digital sanitation and the potential for collective labour organising and niche, humanely sized social media alternatives. (Sarah T. Roberts)
Day 5: Friday, 31 July
Morning session from 10: either a Read-With-Me silent coworking session at Lossi 36 or reading at home for the afternoon session.
Afternoon session from 12-16: What do conspiracy theories, radicalisation and cults have in common in the context of the attention culture and the platformisation and mediatisation characteristic of 2026? Algorithmical rabbit holes and cognitive weaknesses that entrap us. What conspiracies have turned out to be true? Practical mapping exercise based on the Conspiracy Chart by Abbie Richards. (Maia Klaassen, Gretel Juhansoo, Maria Murumaa-Mengel)
Day 6 (Sat, Aug 1st) – Cultural and Social programme with the rest of the summer school.
Day 7 (Sun, Aug 2nd) – Cultural and Social programme with the rest of the summer school.
Day 8: Monday, 3 August
Morning session from 10AM: either a Read-With-Me silent coworking session @Lossi 36 or reading at home for the afternoon session.
Afternoon session from 12-16: A Baltic Perspective on Russian Hybrid Warfare and State of Play of Tactics. Introduction to FIMI. Reminder of Thursday – how is information disorder countered on micro, meso and macro levels? How to differentiate FIMI campaigns or hybrid influence operations from national branding, PR or foreign policy paradigms? Case studies from Russia, China, Israel and the US to discuss. (Maia Klaassen)
Day 9 (Tue, Aug 4th) – Morning session from 10 AM: either a Read-With-Me silent coworking session @Lossi 36 or reading at home for the afternoon session.
Afternoon session from 12-16: Media and Information Literacy Interventions to save the world! Practical and creative approaches. The GLAM approach. Vulnerable target groups and MILs. Teaching and empowering the youngest and the elderly. Who are most vulnerable to information disorders? (Maia Klaassen, Gretel Juhansoo, Maria Murumaa-Mengel)
Day 10 (Wed, Aug 5th) – Morning session from 10 AM: either a Read-With-Me silent coworking session @Lossi 36 or reading at home for the afternoon session.
Afternoon session from 12-16: What is resilience? Academic approaches to resilience. Strategic indicators for measuring societal resilience in different countries. Mapping resilience of countries and trying out the empirical data and databases that allow us to do so. (Ragne Kõuts-Klemm)
Day 11 (Thurs, Aug 6th) – Morning session from 10 AM: either a Read-With-Me silent coworking session @Lossi 36 or reading at home for the afternoon session.
Afternoon session from 12-16: What is OSINT? How to use OSINT tools for data collection and analysis? Vibecoding with AI tools. Hands on OSINT exercise. (Anna Danielyan)
Day 12 (Aug 7th) – Morning/afternoon session from 10-14: Hands on OSINT exercise, Day 2. Finishing up, presenting results, discussions. (Anna Danielyan)
Afternoon session from 14-16: Closing. Looking ahead. Feedback. (Ragne Kõuts-Klemm, Maria Murumaa-Mengel, Maia Klaassen, Gretel Juhansoo, Anna Danielyan)
Plan to spend the weekend of Aug 7th and 8th in Tartu if you can – an opportunity for networking and socialising with all summer schoolers.
Day 1: Monday, 27 July
Introduction to the Summer School. Meeting your lecturers and each other. Admin information. Why are we here?
Day 2: Tuesday, 28 July
What is the (wicked) problem here? What has gone wrong in our public discussion spaces? Introduction to information disorder. Working with case studies on the harmfulness on democracies and civil discussion culture. (Lecturer Maria Murumaa-Mengel)
Day 3: Wednesday, 29 July
How to find quality information? Introduction to qualitative and quantitative research methods. Academic publishing and identifying research quality and relevance.
(Lecturer Maria Murumaa-Mengel)
Day 4: Thursday, 30 July
Information disorder and scientific literacy. Why is it not as simple as “do your own research”?
(Lecturers Marju Himma and/or Ebe Pilt)
Day 5: Friday, 31 July
A critical look into AI. Lowering our standards and source criticism: LLM’s and chatbots as the new top-tier advisers?
(Lecturer Andra Siibak)
Day 6: Saturday, 1 August
A Baltic Perspective on Russian hybrid warfare and the state of play of tactics. Introduction to FIMI.
(Lecturer Maia Klaassen)
Day 7: Sunday, 2 August:
How is information disorder countered on the micro, meso and macro levels? The Estonian approach, strategic communication and psychological defence, policy-level responses from the EU, professional interventions and individual resilience-building.
(Lecturer Maia Klaassen)
Day 8: Monday, 3 August
Media and information literacy interventions to save the world! Practical and creative approaches. The GLAM approach.
(Course lecturer Gretel Juhansoo)
Day 9: Tuesday, 4 August
Vulnerable target groups and MILs. Teaching and empowering the youngest and the elderly.
(Lecturer Inger Klesment)
Day 10: Wednesday, 5 August
What is resilience? Academic approaches. Strategic indicators for measuring societal resilience.
(Lecturer Ragne Kõuts-Klemm)
Day 11: Thursday, 6 August
Hands-on OSINT exercise. (Anna Danielyan)
Day 12: Friday,7 August
Hands-on OSINT exercise. (Anna Danielyan)
Day 13 (8 Aug) – Closing. Looking ahead. Feedback.
The course follows a rhythm of a deep dive in the first part of the day in the form of a lecture or a seminar, then an assignment or practical testing in the second half of the day. So each day, there will be assignments, which are yet to be confirmed.
Assignment on Day 1: creative methods to map out the information environment (Maria)
Assignment on Day 2: TBC
Assignment on Day 3: …
In addition to the thematic assignments, we will have:
• Daily reflection notes: short written reflections (150–200 words) on key insights from each day’s session
• OSINT practical tasks: hands-on verification exercise during the OSINT sessions (Days 11–12).
• Final summary and feedback: individual summary of learning outcomes and application ideas (Day 13)
- Explain the concept of information disorder and its impact on democratic societies and public discourse.
- Identify key mechanisms and narratives that drive disinformation across news and social media platforms.
- Evaluate the quality and relevance of information sources, including academic research and media content.
- Apply basic principles of scientific literacy and source criticism when engaging with complex information environments.
- Recognise emerging challenges posed by AI-generated content and understand their implications for trust and credibility.
- Describe resilience strategies at individual, institutional, and policy levels, including media and information literacy interventions.
- Perform introductory OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) tasks to locate and verify publicly available information.
Course registration info
- Application period: 20 March – 20 April
- Notification of acceptance: accepted participants will be informed after the application period, by 30 April at the latest
- Deadline for paying the course fee: 31 May
- Confirmation of courses taking place: 5 June
- UniTartu Summer School in Tartu: 27 July – 7 August
Only fully completed applications, including all required annexes, received by the deadline (20 April) will be considered for selection. Applicants must submit the following:
- Online application form
(application period: 20 March–20 April 2026) - Motivation letter (maximum 1 page), explaining:
- your motivation to participate,
- your expectations for the programme,
- how the summer course relates to your studies and interests,
- how you plan to use the knowledge and experience gained in the future
- Transcript of academic records
- Copy of your passport
- Proof of payment of the application fee (25 EUR)
The participants of the UniTartu Summer School courses are required to pay:
- The application fee of 25 EUR must be paid by the application deadline (20 April) at the latest.
The application fee is non-refundable. - The course fee is 700 EUR.
Includes: Study materials, academic work with lecturers, Certificate of completion, and cultural events in the evenings
Not included: meals, transportation and accommodation
Please note that the course fee is payable only after you have been accepted into the course. Once accepted, you will receive a confirmation of acceptance together with an invoice. The course fee can only be paid based on the invoice issued to you.
By paying the application fee, course fee and cultural events fee, you accept the terms and conditions information document. You are required to tick the box in the credit card payment form to confirm you have read and agree to terms and conditions. If you choose to pay by bank transfer, you will be informed of the same conditions.
Please note that by paying the fees, you are considered to have accepted the Terms and Conditions.
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