[ecrea] International PhD Scholarship - Changing Images of the Arab World

*UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE*


 International PhD Scholarship

*School of Journalism, Media & Communication *

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*Reference No INT-010Ramamurthy*

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Applications are invited for a full-time scholarship available in the 
School of Journalism, Media & Communication. The scholarship is tenable 
for up to 3 years for a PhD (via MPhil route) [subject to satisfactory 
progress] and is open to international applicants only. UK/EU applicants 
are not eligible to apply. The scholarship will provide £15000 towards 
the cost of the International tuition fee over 3 years.

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*Project Title: ***

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*Changing Images of the Arab World *

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*Project Description:*

Political analysts for Al Jazeera have suggested the ‘Dawn of a new Arab 
century’ (22/2/11).  Hilary Clinton has claimed that America is losing 
the information war to stations such as Al Jazeera and RT (6/3/11).The 
resilience and determination of Egyptians and other Arab nations to 
assert a peaceful claim to power and demand democracy challenged the 
Western notion of the ‘arab exception’ to the desire for democracy and 
thus more broadly the dominant Orientalist stereotype of the East as 
irrational, unchanging, emotional and autocratic.

The PhD thesis will explore contemporary shifts in representations of 
the Arab world from the war on terror to the current Arab ‘revolutions’ 
to consider the ways in which an Orientalist/ ‘exception’ discourse is 
redrawn, challenged or asserted in western and/or Arab media in 2011. It 
will ask the following research questions: Will changing political 
realities and the methods of political action through which Arab people 
attempt to assert agency (Spivak 1988) impact on the Orientalist / 
‘exception’ discourse? Should we revisit this agenda to consider the 
impact of an increasingly globalised consumer market on representations 
of the Arab world? (Ritzer 2007) The thesis will examine both visual and 
linguistic discourses.

Applicants should have, or expect to receive a qualification equivalent 
to a high class UK honours degree.

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Informal project related enquiries may be directed to Anandi Ramamurthy 
email (aramamurthy /at/ uclan.ac.uk) <mailto:(aramamurthy /at/ uclan.ac.uk)> Tel 01772 
893059


Application Forms can be found at: www.uclan.ac.uk/studentships 
<http://www.uclan.ac.uk/studentships>

Completed application forms should be emailed to 
(researchdegrees /at/ uclan.ac.uk) <mailto:(researchdegrees /at/ uclan.ac.uk)>

*The closing date for applications to the Graduate Research Office: *

*Friday 13 May 2011 5pm British Summer Time*

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*Proposed Interview Date: *3 June 2011