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Research Environment Culture and Society

Photographer: David Calzada/Mostphotos

The research environment advances critical perspectives on culture and society. 

We approach culture as living processes of continuity and discontinuity that are entangled with material, economic, affective and political processes at different scales and aspects of life. We study power and resistance in everyday life, as well as how institutions and spaces foster democracy and humanitarian values. Research is directed towards shifting material and environmental conditions for media, heritage, knowledge and cultural production.

Our expertise derives from a range of fields including media and communication studies, heritage studies, visual culture, anthropology, literature, history, intellectual property, peace and development studies, landscape architecture and science and technology studies. We embrace inter- and multidisciplinary approaches to research in conversation with other disciplines, fields and practices, and share an interest in innovative and visual methods, global and intersectional perspectives, as well as collaborations with artists, media producers and cultural institutions.

The environment also houses two bachelor’s programmes in Communication, Society, and Media Production, and Global Studies.

News

En kvinna står framför en grön vägg.

23 June 2026

LiU Opened New Perspectives Where Art Meets Research

The year as guest professor gave Theopisti Stylianou-Lambert new ways to develop and articulate her work and research. It was also the starting point for "23% Complete" a project centred on questions of AI, image-making and environmental impact.

En man sitter på en stol framför en byggnad.

10 June 2026

He wants to strengthen and unite the humanities at LiU

LiU Humanities continues to develop as an important platform for humanities research at LiU. Erik Gustavsson is now taking up the baton – with the ambition to strengthen collaboration and make visible what is already being done.

Två kvinnor som står bredvid varandra.

25 May 2026

Researchers highlight "small data" as key to responsible AI

AI development relies on vast amounts of data. Researchers are questioning if “big data” is enough to build ethical and reliable systems. Attention is shifting to “small data” – smaller, richer, and more controlled datasets that offer new insights.

Research

Thematic Area

Digital Society - Infrastructure - Legacies

This thematic area advances research on the changing material conditions of media, technology, culture and heritage, and how they intersect with environmental, institutional, industrial, and social conditions. Research in this area is interdisciplinary and conducted in dialogue with relevant societal actors within and outside the university.

Examples of ongoing research within this thematic area include:

  • sustainable media and internet infrastructure
  • omputing cultures and materialities as heritage
  • values and economies in algorithmic/data cultures
  • social and cultural perspectives on dismantling communication networks
  • emerging legacies of digital society in museums
  • property regimes and regulatory aspects in digital societies

We investigate infrastructural and temporal dimensions of digital societies, the histories and relationships from which they emerge, the futures and legacies that they generate, and how these are inhabited, contested, and preserved.

Doctoral Studies

Conferences and seminars

Contact us

Affiliates

  • Martin Kylhammar, professor emeritus
  • Erling Bjurström, professor emeritus
  • Egle Rindzeviciute, docent
  • Maria Hansevi, PhD student
  • Jenny Sjöholm, senior lecturer

Adresses

Contact administration

info.temaq@ikos.liu.se

Visiting address Norrköping

Campus Norrköping
Kopparhammaren 7 Building (Kungsgatan 56), House C, 3rd floor

Postal address Norrköping

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IKOS
Kungsgatan 56
601 74 Norrköping
Sweden

Organisation