In this latest newsletter, we’re pleased to welcome new SPIN members, announce new opportunities, and celebrate new publications.

 

 

Announcements

 

• The British International Studies Association (BISA) has opened its call for papers for their 50th anniversary conference, 18-20 June 2025 in Belfast. Interested in submitting a paper or panel on secrecy, ignorance, conspiracy theory, or surveillance studies? Email e.vanveeren@bristol.ac.uk by 11th November 2024, 9am (UK time). More details on BISA conference.

 

• SPIN’s main social media platform has now transitioned from ‘X’ (Twitter) to LinkedIn. New events, publications, members, blogs, projects, and podcasts are currently being publicised there as a trial over the next year. Please follow us and help us share our news: linkedin.com/company/secrecyresearch/about

 

• We continue to welcome new 500 to 1000-word contributions to our developing A-Z of Secrecy and Ignorance. Beginning online, we aim to see this published as an edited volume in due course. If you have a core concept and associated research project you would like to draw attention to, please get in touch with Elspeth. You can see examples of existing contributions on the SPIN Blog, such as ‘Assassination‘, ‘Born Secret‘, ‘Curiosity’, ‘Official Record’, ‘Omerta,’ and ‘Conspiracy Theory’.

 

• Please do consider becoming a patron of SPIN Labs. SPIN Labs is the creative and public engagement hub for SPIN work, facilitating collaborations between academics, artists, creative producers, and organisations and collectives beyond higher education. Become a Patreon here.

 

• Call for Contributions: EVIL PORTAL – A creative opportunity for SPIN-sters! This pop-up shop in Bristol invites installations that explore deception and vandalized reality, including deep fake images, synthetic stories, human hacking, and more. The shop will be open to the public from December 5 to 12, 2024. If you’re interested in contributing, please express your interest here.

 

 

 

Events

 

• Upcoming SPIN Event: State Secrecy in Liberal Democracy – Join us on November 13th, 2024, from 15:00 to 16:00 (UK) for a talk with Associate Professor Lydia Morgan on her book project exploring state secrecy’s role in liberal democracies. Email secrecyresearch@gmail.com for the Zoom invite link. All are welcome!

 

• Please join us for our next bimonthly Research in Progress session (online) to catch up and meet with fellow SPIN-sters on 20th November at 1pm. Hear about latest project developments and connect with others, and share issues and find ways through research and career-related challenges. This year, these sessions will also feature a discussion of a ‘classic’ or new reading that we hope will be of interest to the community. Email with the reading will be circulated to all SPIN-sters in the first week of November.

 

• CFP: SPIN Colloquium, Bristol, December 12^th and 13^th, 2024. We are pleased to see the return of the SPIN conference this year, in-person and online options, and hope to see as many of you there as possible. Non-presenting attendees are welcome. For further information and to submit an abstract, visit the SPIN blog. You can also see the draft programme online.

 

• Reading Group: The Magic Circle – Join SPIN-ster Ellie Wyatt on November 4th, from 7-9 PM at Biblioteka for the third of The Magic Circle reading group exploring Robert Hooke’s Micrographia and Ray & Charles Eames’ Powers of Ten. Participants should bring a related printed image for discussion. Limited spaces—email ellie.wyatt@network.rca.ac.uk to reserve and receive materials.

 

• We are pleased to present the video recording of our recent book celebration for The President’s Kill List by Dr. Luca Trenta. The book explores state-sponsored assassinations from the Cold War to the present day, featuring a Q&A session chaired by Dr. Oliver Kearns. Stream the talk here.

 

New Members

 

• We’re excited to welcome Matthew Abbey, whose research covers the politics of knowledge, colonialism, sexual politics, and bordering. Learn more about his work.

 

• We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Jeffrey Whyte, whose research spans Critical Military Studies and the Politics of Truth, Knowledge, and Ignorance. Learn more about his work.

 

 

• Our JiscMail group is also engaged in a round of introductions. To add yourself to the list and to learn about more exciting and SPIN-relevant work go to: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa-jisc.exe?A0=SECRECY-RESEARCH

 

 

New Publications and Press

 

• A-Z of Secrecy and Ignorance Series latest entries:
  • A is for Assassination (State-Sponsored): Luca Trenta, Kiril Avramov, and Sophie Duroy examine state-sponsored assassination (SSA) and its complexities. Read the full entry.
  • B is for Born Secret: Susan Maret explores the concept of ‘Born Secret’, highlighting information classified upon creation. Read the full entry.

 

• Congratulations SPIN-ster C.J. Griffin (with co-authors Bobbie Jay White and Claire O’Neill) for the publication of their book chapter in The Research Handbook of Academic Mental Health. The chapter, A Mask That Eats the Face: Neurotypicality and Autistic Doctoral Researchers, examines secrecy, power, and ignorance in the context of autistic masking, epistemic injustice, and neurotypicality. This chapter is a valuable read for those involved in doctoral supervision, teaching, and fostering inclusive academic spaces.

   
• Stay tuned for SPIN’s recently recorded new series of short talks (10-15 minutes) and ‘In Conversation’ sessions for the SPIN Podcast series which will be released over the coming months.

 

 

As always, do let us know of any news we can share by emailing Elspeth at e.vanveeren@bristol.ac.uk.