There’s a Rumor Going Round
4. bis 6. Juni 2025 ifk Arkade & ifk@Zoom
Das ifk, Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften Kunstuniversität Linz in Wien, lädt zur zweitägigen Konferenz.
Rumors are situated between truth and lies, knowledge and ignorance, fact and fiction. They lead an ephemeral existence—until they are proven to be true or not, just like this conference. Certain rumors remain persistent, even if they turn out to be false. While their media has changed historically, questions about the power and validity of rumors remain relevant. What used to be referred to as gossip, hearsay or even legend is today often categorized as disinformation or fake news. We’ll discuss all this at this conference that you heard from through the grapevine.
Rumors can be viral and dangerous. They can predict riots, as Gordon Allport and Leo Postman stated: »no riot ever occurs without rumors to incite, accompany, and intensify the violence.« Such things seem to be true of conspiracy plots and alternative facts these days, but there are also theories that claim that rumors actually stabilize society: A way for people to keep things the way they seem.
Concept: Andreas Gehrlach (ifk Wien), Thilo Neidhöfer (Johannes Kepler Universität Linz)
Participants: Stefan Andriopoulos (Columbia University), Andreas Beyer (Universität Basel), David Coady (University of Tasmania), Silke Felber (Kunstuniversität Linz), Waldemar Isak (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Marius Raab (Technische Hochschule Nürnberg), Sylvia Sasse (Universität Zürich), Marc Siegel (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz), Andrea van der Straeten (Kunstuniversität Linz), Lotte Warnsholdt (Museum am Rothenbaum Kulturen und Künste der Welt), Brigitte Weingart (Universität der Künste Berlin)
Programme, online partizipation and further information at:
ifk.ac.at/kalender-detail/there-s-a-rumor-going-round
