PROGRAM

9.45-10.00 Opening

10.00-11.45
Session 1. The Politics of Trust in the Digital Era: Ideology, Conspiracy, and Gender
Chair: Alexandra Bacalu

Răzvan Nicolescu (Independent researcher)
“Lately, I don’t really discuss this with anybody”: Building Individual Expertise and Reconfiguring Trust among Digital Truth-Seekers

Elena Trifan (University of Erfurt)
The Unbearable Attraction of Despair: Hopeless Men and the Critique of Capitalism

Dragoș Manea (University of Bucharest)
Sons of Odin: Brian Wood’s Northlanders (2008-2012) and Far-Right Mediascapes

11.45-12.05 Coffee Break

12.05-13.15
Session 2.1. Trust in the Age of AI: Ethical, Epistemic, and Cultural Challenges
Chair: Dragoș Manea

Adriana Mihai (Independent researcher)
Rethinking Cultural Value in the Age of AI: Trust and Digital Cultural Production

Mircea Toboșaru (National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest)
The Confessions of Large Language Bullshit Machines

13.15-14.15 Lunch break

14.15-15.25
Session 2.2. Trust in the Age of AI: Ethical, Epistemic, and Cultural Challenges (continued)
Chair: Cristian Ducu

Andreea Eșanu (New Europe College)
Deep-learning AI Systems and Epistemic Trust

Mihai Ometiță (University of Bucharest)
From Virtual Cannibalism to Artificial Wildness: Agency, Identity, Identification

15.25-15.45 Coffee Break

15.45-17.30
Session 3. Wellness Culture and Social Media: Virtual Identity Performance and the Crisis of Expertise
Chair: Andreea Eșanu

Stephanie A. Baker, (City St George’s, University of London) (online)
Bite-Size Wellness: Trust, Therapy and Miracle Cures on Short Video Platforms

Cristian Ducu (Centre for Advanced Research in Management and Applied Ethics)
Why Do We Trust Epistemic Trespassers? The Case of Online Medical Influencers

Alexandra Bacalu (New Europe College & University of Bucharest)
“You are iron-spined and possess a great and powerful will”: Modern Stoic Influencers and the Myth of Unshakable Human Resilience

17.30-17.35 Closing Remarks

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This workshop is organized within the Trust Fellowships program at New Europe College, supported by the Porticus Foundation.