jen forestal
banner
seejenspeak.bsky.social
jen forestal
@seejenspeak.bsky.social
political theorist, assoc professor at Loyola Chicago. studying digital technologies, democratic practices, (software) architecture, & civic engagement. she/her
Reposted by jen forestal
Solidarity!! Last week, Indiana University fired the director of student media & halted print on the Indiana Daily Student newspaper. Yesterday, Purdue’s student paper printed the banned edition & drove two hours to deliver it. Incredible www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/l...
Purdue student journalists deliver special 'solidarity' newspaper to IU Bloomington campus
The special edition blasted across town features columns from IDS and Exponent editors, alongside QR codes to support both student papers.
www.heraldtimesonline.com
October 18, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by jen forestal
Reminders for #APT2025!:
➡️ Initial registration deadline is Sept. 10! To remain on the program, please register by then; registration fees increase by $50 after 9/10

➡️ Rooms in the APT block at the conference hotel are going fast! Info on the conference homepage

➡️ New prelim program version is out
Login - The Association for Political Theory
associationforpoliticaltheory.org
September 5, 2025 at 11:02 AM
i hate it here.
August 29, 2025 at 5:22 PM
my new piece in political communication (part of @meredithpruden.bsky.social @jiyoun-suk.bsky.social @jolukito.bsky.social @yunkangyang.bsky.social & Wei Zhong's issue on multiple platforms!) is now out!

This one was tough to nail down; thankful to all who helped & would love to hear thoughts!
How Should We Study Multiple Platforms? Lessons from Deliberative Systems Theory
Despite agreement that political communication research should move beyond single-platform studies, there is no existing consensus on precisely how to do so. What does it mean to study social media...
www.tandfonline.com
July 1, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by jen forestal
the story today is of a profoundly low energy military parade being met with millions of americans in nationwide protests denouncing the dictatorial pretensions of the president
June 15, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Reposted by jen forestal
Bluesky won’t recreate peak Twitter. Twitter won’t recreate peak Twitter. Instagram isn’t going to go back to good Instagram. All this handwringing seems to yearning for a moment in social media history that isn’t ever coming back. Get used to it, figure out new things, build real community.
May 27, 2025 at 12:47 AM
this was my exact first thought (in only the best way)
Also: Chicago is going to go berserk.
May 8, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Reposted by jen forestal
Da Pope: Chicago loses its mind over homegrown pontiff.

Within minutes of the announcement, Chicagoans had Photoshopped the new pope holding an Italian beef sandwich and made at least 50 Malört jokes. buff.ly/hxnbaII
May 8, 2025 at 9:24 PM
CPT just published a symposium on my book! huge thanks to Susan Bickford, @pollysigh.bsky.social, @nicolecurato.bsky.social, @jgastil.bsky.social, Victor Bruzzone, @jamesmuldoon.bsky.social for contributions that critique, stretch, & apply the book's argument in such generous & productive ways
Thinking democracy in a digital age - Contemporary Political Theory
Contemporary Political Theory -
link.springer.com
May 5, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by jen forestal
Really great to see the Coalition for Independent Tech Research weighing in on the unethical Reddit experiment.

independenttechresearch.org/a-case-for-e...
A Case For Ethical and Transparent Research Experiments in the Public Interest - Coalition for Independent Technology Research
On April 26, moderators of r/ChangeMyView, a community on Reddit dedicated to understanding the perspectives of others, revealed that academic researchers from the University of Zürich conducted a lar...
independenttechresearch.org
April 30, 2025 at 11:12 PM
more good thoughts on this violation.

i have to wonder if researchers' willingness to treat reddit as simply data (& not people) is exacerbated by either/both the site's anonymity and, maybe more importantly, its reputation.
This is one of the worst violations of research ethics I've ever seen. Manipulating people in online communities using deception, without consent, is not "low risk" and, as evidenced by the discourse in this Reddit post, resulted in harm.

Great thread from Sarah, and I have additional thoughts. 🧵
The mods of r/ChangeMyView shared the sub was the subject of a study to test the persuasiveness of LLMs & that they didn't consent. There’s a lot that went wrong, so here’s a 🧵 unpacking it, along with some ideas for how to do research with online communities ethically. tinyurl.com/59tpt988
April 26, 2025 at 10:52 PM
this is so deeply messed up & i hope the research team is appropriately censured for it (if not, as it seems, by their IRB then by the rest of the academic communities they try to engage)
The mods of r/ChangeMyView shared the sub was the subject of a study to test the persuasiveness of LLMs & that they didn't consent. There’s a lot that went wrong, so here’s a 🧵 unpacking it, along with some ideas for how to do research with online communities ethically. tinyurl.com/59tpt988
From the changemyview community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the changemyview community
tinyurl.com
April 26, 2025 at 10:48 PM
very much looking forward to this (virtual!) event with @hertieschool.bsky.social and Columbia World Projects, where i'll be talking how to design & govern digital platforms to promote democratic practice, incl. new thoughts on things like decentralized platforms/protocols & crowdsourced moderation!
@seejenspeak.bsky.social writes about how like physical spaces, democratic digital spaces must be clearly bounded, durable and flexible to engage citizens and sustain communities.

Join Jennifer & Jon Nash
April 30 at 10 AM EST

columbiauniversity.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rBy35ii0QHyjYa0vhradkw
April 23, 2025 at 8:42 PM
(upper) midwest once again showing us all how to organize, mobilize, and protect democracy even when institutions are stacked against us
Congrats to the fine people of the Badger state for handing Elon Musk his own ass on a platter
April 2, 2025 at 2:43 AM
today my grad course on platform governance suggested that "we should change the name of this class to 'the redditization of the internet'" because of how often the conversation comes back to reddit as a good model.

i've never felt called out so hard (😂)
March 27, 2025 at 2:34 AM
i... i just...
Figured I’d hop on here today for the 15th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act.

With everything going on right now, it’s easy to feel like regular folks can’t make a difference – but the ACA is a reminder that change is possible when we fight for progress.
March 23, 2025 at 2:55 PM
March 14, 2025 at 9:57 PM
tenure, if you can keep it.
March 14, 2025 at 4:56 PM
the 2025 APT (@associationpt.bsky.social) conference is at LOYOLA CHICAGO this year, from November 6-8! deadline to submit an abstract* is tonight at 11:59p.

join us in the city/on the lake! we'd love to have you!

*you have to become a member to submit; membership is free
The deadline for abstract submissions for APT 2025 is today!
One week left to submit your paper proposals to APT 2025 in Chicago!:
associationforpoliticaltheory.org/content.aspx...
February 21, 2025 at 10:01 PM
re-upping this for a new crowd (will do so again, sorry for the spam!)

deadline is March 28. lmk if you want to talk!
loyola is hiring! an assistant professor of italian american studies, though the tenure home department will be determined by the candidate's background. please circulate widely!
(and: if there are any POLITICAL THEORISTS who may fit the call, APPLY) lmk if you have questions!
#poltheory #polisky
College of Arts & Sciences, Paul and Ann Rubino Endowed Professorship (Assistant Professor of Italian American Studies), Tenure Track
Salary Range:  $80,000-$87,000Benefits Information:  https://www.luc.edu/hr/benefits/The College of Arts and Sciences at Loyola University Chicago seeks qualified candidates, discipline open, for a te...
www.careers.luc.edu
February 20, 2025 at 8:06 PM
loyola is hiring! an assistant professor of italian american studies, though the tenure home department will be determined by the candidate's background. please circulate widely!
(and: if there are any POLITICAL THEORISTS who may fit the call, APPLY) lmk if you have questions!
#poltheory #polisky
College of Arts & Sciences, Paul and Ann Rubino Endowed Professorship (Assistant Professor of Italian American Studies), Tenure Track
Salary Range:  $80,000-$87,000Benefits Information:  https://www.luc.edu/hr/benefits/The College of Arts and Sciences at Loyola University Chicago seeks qualified candidates, discipline open, for a te...
www.careers.luc.edu
February 18, 2025 at 3:11 PM
boy oh boy does arendt hit differently this semester:
February 12, 2025 at 3:38 AM
happy to be in such great company!
February 1, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by jen forestal
We've also updated the list of highlights in ECR publishing to feature books by TJ Billard @billard.bsky.social, Jen Forestal @seejenspeak.bsky.social, Janice Gallagher, Sharan Grewal @sharangrewal.bsky.social, Adam Lerner @adamblerner.bsky.social, & Pascale Massot. academic.oup.com/pages/publis...
Publishing Resources for Early Career Researchers | Oxford Academic
We know that publishing can often be a sprawling, confusing process, which is why we’ve designed this page to provide advice and guidance on turning your i
academic.oup.com
January 31, 2025 at 12:10 PM