[Commlist] two post-doctoral fellowships at the Center on Digital Culture and Society at the Annenberg School for Communication

Call for Applications: Post-doctoral Fellowships in Digital Narratives 
of the COVID-19 Pandemic

https://www.asc.upenn.edu/news-events/news/call-applications-post-doctoral-fellowships-digital-narratives-covid-19-pandemic 
<https://www.asc.upenn.edu/news-events/news/call-applications-post-doctoral-fellowships-digital-narratives-covid-19-pandemic>

The Center on Digital Culture and Society (CDCS) at the Annenberg School 
for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania seeks two 
post-doctoral scholars whose research contributes to our understanding 
of digital storytelling about the pandemic. To receive full 
consideration, please submit applications by March 1, 2022.

Themes

As COVID-19 spreads across the globe and poses multiple crises to 
nations and humanity, our previous assumptions of community, personhood, 
and even society itself are called into question. Widespread border 
closure and travel disruptions and restrictions have rendered 
conventional forms of sociality difficult. Lockdown, social distancing 
and work-from-home orders have affected different social groups in 
different ways, with clear adverse impact on women, racial minorities, 
and the working poor. Pandemic discourses on social media and news 
networks are often polarized and at their worst, propagate racism, hate, 
and xenophobia which directly harm already marginalized social groups.

In the face of health, social, and political crises, there has been an 
explosion of personal and communal storytelling in digital and networked 
spaces. Individuals share stories about their pandemic experiences on 
social media. Libraries, community organizations, and researchers create 
online archives to collect pandemic stories, diaries, videos, and 
photography. For individuals and communities alike, multimodal and 
transmedia storytelling becomes an important means of coping in times of 
pandemic-induced crises.

Stories are a means of meaning-making, but they are not mere 
descriptions or representations of experiences and realities. They 
create worlds. Sometimes the worlds created by stories are fiction; they 
are worlds of imagination. More often, the worlds they create are real 
or have real consequences, such as when law enforcement authorities tell 
stories to justify using violence against innocent people or when 
politicians tell stories to launch a war. Community activists tell 
stories to induce positive social change. In all these ways, stories are 
a means of world-making.

CDCS seeks two scholars whose research can contribute to our 
understanding of the forms, strategies, and impact of digital 
storytelling about the COVID-19 pandemic. We invite scholars from 
diverse academic disciplines to submit innovative research proposals. We 
particularly welcome theoretically informed research proposals on the 
following themes:

1. Varieties of digital narratives about the COVID-19 pandemic

Narratives of disease, health, risks, and vulnerabilities

Narratives of self and community

Narratives of identity, solidarity, personhood, and social justice

Narratives of nations, nationalism, and global geopolitics

Narratives of digital radicals, radicalism, protest, and dissent

Narratives of emotions, trauma, mourning, and memory

Narratives which interrogate the meanings of freedom and modernity

Media narratives and counter narratives

Counter-narratives of racism, sexism, xenophobia, and various forms of 
discrimination

2. Forms, media, and narrative strategies of digital storytelling about 
COVID-19

Digital rhetoric and digital storytelling

Use of fictional strategies in digital storytelling

Cultural repertoires and resources of digital storytelling

Issues of characterization and emplotment in storytelling

Issues of context and contextualization in storytelling

The acoustics and visuality of digital narratives

Media of digital storytelling

Platform affordances

Other narrative strategies

3. Impact of COVID-19 digital-storytelling and the politics and 
aesthetics of representation and performativity

Forms of narrative contestation

Digital archives of pandemic narratives

Documentation and historical narrativity

Digital storytelling, community building, and solidarity

Digital storytelling and polarization

Consequences for personal, collective, and national identities

Articulation of new moral visions for the post-pandemic world

Appearance of new political forms and social conflicts linked to digital 
narratives of the pandemic

4. Other important issues related to digital storytelling about the 
COVID-19 pandemic

Fellowship

CDCS postdoctoral fellows work on their own research projects and 
present a colloquium. Fellows are provided a stipend of $55,000, a 
research fund of $3,000, health insurance, a work space and a computer, 
and library access. In addition, CDCS will cover up to $1,000 in 
domestic relocation expenses and up to $2,000 if moving internationally.

There are some opportunities for solo-teaching within the Annenberg 
Undergraduate Program. Applicants interested in teaching should signal 
this in their cover letter. Post-doctoral fellows who are selected to 
teach during their tenure will be paid an additional stipend.

This is a one-year residential fellowship. CDCS strives to be an 
inclusive community of scholars driven by intellectual curiosity and 
exchange, and rooted in the life of the Annenberg School, the University 
of Pennsylvania, and the city of Philadelphia. To foster mentoring and 
collaboration at all levels, we expect fellows to be fully engaged in 
the life of the center. The final determination of the residency 
requirement for the 2022-2023 academic year will be made in the coming 
months based on university policy related to COVID-19.

Eligibility

We welcome applications from scholars with Ph.D. awarded between May 1, 
2020 and August 1, 2022. The appointment typically starts on August 15.

How to Apply

To apply, please send a cover letter, a C.V., a research proposal, a 
writing sample, and three letters of recommendation. The research 
proposal, including the bibliography, should not exceed 2,000 words. All 
application materials except reference letters must be sent as a single 
PDF document to (cdcs /at/ asc.upenn.edu) <mailto:(cdcs /at/ asc.upenn.edu)> by March 
1, 2022. Applicants should arrange for their letters of recommendation 
to be sent to the same email by the same date.

Additional Information

Questions about these fellowships should be directed to 
(cdcs /at/ asc.upenn.edu) <mailto:(cdcs /at/ asc.upenn.edu)>.

The University of Pennsylvania is an affirmative action/equal 
opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive 
consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on 
the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender 
identity, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, 
disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by 
law. Learn More from Penn’s Office of Affirmative Action and Equal 
Opportunity Programs. https://oaaeop.upenn.edu/about 
<https://oaaeop.upenn.edu/about>

---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------