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Summer School 2026 — Algorithmic Power and Discourse: AI, Politics, and the Production of Meaning
August 17 @ 13:00 - August 21 @ 12:00
Photo: Mattias Pettersson
Welcome to the WASP-HS Summer School 2026 where we will explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping power, politics, and the production of meaning in contemporary society. This year, the summer school is hosted by the WASP-HS research environment AI, Power and Politics and the DIGSUM Centre for Digital Social Research at Umeå Universiy.
Artificial intelligence is not only a technological development but a transformative force in how knowledge is produced, circulated, and legitimised. From algorithmic decision-making to generative AI, these systems increasingly shape public discourse, political processes, and societal governance. This raises fundamental questions about power, authority, and the conditions under which truth and meaning are constructed.
This summer school creates a forum for WASP-HS PhD students where they can engage critically with these developments. Participants will explore how AI systems operate as infrastructures of power and as “discourse machines” that influence how societies understand themselves, their pasts, and their futures.
The program brings together theoretical perspectives from the humanities and social sciences to examine how artificial intelligence reshapes power, politics, and societal meaning-making. Through lectures, workshops, and collaborative discussions, participants will take a critical perspective on AI as a socio-political force, exploring its implications for knowledge, governance, and public life.
Thematic Areas
The thematic areas covered during the summer school are:
– Algorithmic power and political economy
AI as infrastructure of control, dependency, and profit
– Discourse, knowledge and meaning-making
AI systems as producers and mediators of knowledge and truth
– Platforms, disinformation and information environments
Algorithmic amplification, generative AI, and the dynamics of public discourse
– Governance, legitimacy and regulation
Democratic challenges in AI-driven decision-making
Learning Outcomes
Throughout the summer school, participants will:
– Develop a nuanced understanding of artificial intelligence as a socio-political force shaping contemporary societies
– Critically examine how AI systems influence discourse, knowledge production, and relations of power
– Strengthen their ability to engage in and contribute to interdisciplinary dialogue across fields
– Build lasting academic networks within the WASP-HS community
Program
Monday, 17 August
11:00 Registration on site opens
13:00 – 13:15 Welcome and introduction
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
13:15 – 14:00 Introduction to Critical AI Studies
Simon Lindgren
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
14:00 – 15:00 Working Groups
Simon Lindgren
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung, HUM.F.200, HUM.F.214, HUM.G.211, HUM.G.217, HUM.G219
15:00 – 15:15 Coffee
D-corridor
15:15 – 16:00 Discourse Machines: Power and Knowledge in the Age of Large Language Models
Simon Lindgren
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
17:00 Exhibition Tour: AI and the Paradox of Agency
Bildmuseet
18:00- Mingle and finger food
Bygden restaurant (adjacent to Bildmuseet)
Tuesday, 18 August
08:45 – 09:45 Critical Legal Perspectives on AI – An Introduction
Markus Naarttijärvi
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
09:45 – 10:45 AI and EU Law – Between Data Protection and the AI Act
Lena Enqvist
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
10:45 – 11:00 Coffee
D-Corridor
11:00 – 12:00 Regulating Speech – Moderating AI and AI in Moderation
Therese Enarsson
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch
D-Corridor
13:00 – 15:00 Workshop/Roundtable – Legal Perspectives on Your Research Projects
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung, HUM.F.200, HUM.F.214, HUM.G.211, HUM.G.217, HUM.G219
15:00 – Activities for PhD students arranged by the PhD student council:
Rendez-vous 15:30 at Rådhustorget in central Umeå!
Wednesday, 19 August
08:45 – 10:45 Learning to do research with AI: rethinking academic practices and doctoral training
Katherine Harrison
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
10:45 – 11:00 Coffee
D-corridor
11:00 – 12:00 Digital Humanities and Interdisciplinary Research
Karin Danielsson
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch
D-corridor
13:00 – 13:30 Casting a Queer Eye on AI: Background, Actions and Queer Futures
Evelina Liliequist
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
13:30 – 15:00 Resisting Bodies in AI: Queer and Decolonial Perspectives Onur Kilic HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
15:00 Coffee
15:15 – 17:00 Tour of Humlab and Workshop: Applying a Queer Perspective on Motion Capture, Bodies and AI Humanities Lab
17:30 – 18:30 Pool, shuffle board and darts at Orangeriet, Kungsgatan 71
19:00 Dinner at Orangeriet, Kungsgatan 71
Thursday, 20 August
08:45 – 09:45 Language, Memory, and the Politics of GenAI
Moa Eriksson Krutök and Samuel Merrill
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
09:45 – 10:45 Workshop: ChatBots and Memory Part 1
Samuel Merrill, Ruijin Shi, Simon Lindgren
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
10:45 – 11:00 Coffee
D-corridor
11:00 – 12:00 Workshop: ChatBots and Memory Part 2
Samuel Merrill, Ruijin Shi, Simon Lindgren
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch
D-Corridor
13:00 – 14:00 LLMs As an Objective Measureement Tool – What Would Marx Say?
Matti Nelimarkka
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
14:00 – 15:00 Workshop: Doing Social Analysis with the Marxist LLM
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung, HUM.F.200, HUM.F.214, HUM.G.211, HUM.G.217, HUM.G219
15:00 – 15:15 Coffee
D-corridor
15:15 – 16:15 Workshop: Doing Social Analysis with the Marxist LLM
Matti Nelimarkka
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung, HUM.F.200, HUM.F.214, HUM.G.211, HUM.G.217, HUM.G219
16:15 – 17:15 WASP-HS Student Council
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung
Friday, 21 August
08:45 – 10:45 Final Group Work
Simon Lindgren
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung, HUM.F.200, HUM.F.214, HUM.G.211, HUM.G.217, HUM.G219
10:45 – 11:00 Coffee
D-corridor
11:00 – 12:00 Presentations
Simon Lindgren
HUM.D.210 – Hummelhonung, HUM.F.200, HUM.F.214, HUM.G.211, HUM.G.217, HUM.G219, Vardagsrummet
12:00 Lunch: Grab a wrap!
If you’re on your way to the train or airport, grab a wrap and a bottle of water before you go.
Registration
Registration is closed.
AI, Power and Politics
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