DIGIHUM Talk: John Alphonsus Matthews

• 17 March: John Alphonsus Matthews (university of Tartu)

"An Agent-based modelling approach to finding risks and opportunities for deliberative communication in European media landscapes"

Jakobi 2 – 103 and Zoom

Abstract

This presentation will focus on the application of computational techniques to different media scenarios and the systems they are set in. We will apply the agent-oriented modelling methodology as an innovative approach, focusing on media in European nations and how it has changed in recent decades. This is an innovative approach that allows modelling not only the structure of the systems, but of various agents, their behaviours, and their interactions.

We will discuss hypothetical scenarios that are currently being developed, e.g., the impact of changes in the ability to monitor media standards. Simulations relating to these scenarios will be implemented in the NetLogo software package. They may identify major risks and opportunities that relate to the likes of the ability to monitor.

This research is part of the MEDIADELCOM project, which is developing a diagnostic tool aimed at policy makers, educators, media critical bodies and institutions, as well as for media experts and journalists.

Biography

I am an interdisciplinary researcher within both science and humanities. My current research in based in the Institute of Computer Science in association with the Institute of Social Science. Of particular interest to me is the application of quantitative and computational methods to research questions that involve people. My Ph.D. studied the historical price dynamics in Europe between 1500 and 1800 CE (Department of History, Trinity College Dublin, 2021). Previously, I spent over a decade as an analyst in the financial services. Before this, I completed a research master’s degree in pure mathematics (Department of Mathematics, Trinity College Dublin, 2005).