Protocol Ecologies Symposium
March 24, 2026
8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Mountain Time
CASE E330, University of Colorado Boulder
The fate of the world may depend on protocols—from climate treaties to AI guardrails, from Indigenous stewardship to diasporic cultures. It is a concept that has spread far and wide, but scholarship has yet to take seriously the breadth and power of the concept.
This event introduces both the theory and practice of protocols. It features a keynote talk by a leading theorist of protocol media, Johannes Bennke, followed by a panel including Colorado protocol practitioners.
Agenda
8:30 a.m. / Breakfast
9:00 a.m. / Welcome: (Media Economies Design Lab, University of Colorado Boulder)
9:15 a.m. / Keynote: (Media Lab for Digital Sovereignty, Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf), "Protocol Ecologies: The Art of Governing between Control and Emancipation"
Respondents:
Eric Alston (Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder)
Júlia Martins Rodrigues (Media Economies Design Lab, University of Colorado Boulder)
10:45 a.m. / Break
11:00 a.m. / Panel:
Asia Dorsey ()
Drew Hornbein ()
Rick Williams ()
Moderator: Nathan Schneider (Media Economies Design Lab, University of Colorado Boulder)
Hosted by the Media Economies Design Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder