Archive for January 2023
CALL FOR CANDIDATES FOR THE 2023 PHD PROJECTSThe Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Charles University in Prague calls for candidates for the following PhD projects (each supported by a scholarship), for its English-language PhD programme in Media and Communication Studies:
Discursive-material communication assemblages
This PhD position consists out of research that is focussed on the
entanglement of the discursive and the material, driven by a
discourse-theoretical (or other post-structuralist) framework, enriched
by new materialism, allowing for attention for the workings of
contingency, hegemony, materiality and discursive-material struggle. The
research needs to focus on one or more communication assemblages, which
can be located in variety of social fields, including media, the arts
and/or museums.
Proposed supervisor: Nico Carpentier, (nico.carpentier /at/ fsv.cuni.cz)
Inclusive media literacy education
The aim of this PhD position is to explore the field of media literacy
education/media education from the perspective of vulnerable groups,
such as: migrant and refugee youth, minorities, the elderly, or people
with disabilities. The project should focus on critical inquiry by
drawing on theories of intersectionality and feminism, and focus on how
identities and lived media experiences are shaped through the mediation
of intersecting axes of difference including nationality, race,
ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, ability, migration status and
socioeconomic class. Connected topics, such as the digital civic
engagement/activism of youth, digital learning and curriculum
development will also be considered. The PhD project should be
interdisciplinary in nature and build upon a participatory and/or
creative/digital methodology. Proposals should be submitted in English.
Proposed supervisor: Annamária Neag, (annamaria.neag /at/ fsv.cuni.cz)
Concepts of National Identity in Europe and the World
Interest in national issues has increased noticeably in recent years. It
seems that the numerous crises in Europe and the world are strengthening
many people's focus on their own nation, national culture and collective
identity.
This call is aimed at doctoral students who want to empirically analyze and describe concepts of national identity in a specific country or region of their choice – also from a cultural-historical or comparative perspective. The research should be based on text material from the media, literature, education, etc. Possible methods of text analysis: content analysis, discourse analysis, semiotic text analysis. There is an opportunity to take part in a project that deals with the cross-cultural comparison of national self-images. Students are welcome to write their dissertation in English, Czech or German.
Proposed supervisor: Ulrike Notarp, (ulrike.notarp /at/ fsv.cuni.cz)
Marketing communication and tobacco control
Department of Marketing Communication and Public Relations welcomes
Czech or international scholars focusing on primary research in tobacco
control from the standpoint of marketing and strategic communication
(e.g. research of new strategies and tactics employed by tobacco
companies, targeting customers, online and social media marketing,
stealth marketing, lobbying, public affairs, influencer marketing,
etc.). Our goal is to analyze and present marketing and communication
strategies and tactics by the tobacco industry which prevent consumers
from tobacco or nicotine cessation and undermine public health. We
especially focus on campaigns or tools aimed at adolescents and youth,
incl. new forms of tobacco or nicotine products (HTP, pouches, vapes,
etc.). Close cooperation with the Addictology Dept. of 1st Medical
Faculty, Charles University, is needed.
Proposed supervisor: Denisa Hejlová, (denisa.hejlova /at/ fsv.cuni.cz)Popular creativity and class: „the bizarre“ and „the new low“ as mediated practices of cultural prosumption on the internet
The Internet and social media platforms have become popular venues for promoting hobby and DIY practices, which have garnered attention for their questionable cultural, aesthetic, or practical quality, and have been referred to as "the internet bizarre" or "the new low." This project will examine these artifacts and their associated commentaries on social networks, focusing on the cultural hierarchies reflected in judgments of works of popular creativity. The research problem will be best approached theoretically through the lens of Pierre Bourdieu's Social theory, specifically analysis of the intersection of taste (cultural capital) and class. The methodology will be grounded in qualitative methods, particularly virtual ethnography and interviews with popular creatives who publish their crafts on social networks.
Proposed supervisor: Irena Reifová, (irena.reifova /at/ fsv.cuni.cz)
Constructing history on social media
The aim of this PhD position is to explore how history is constructed by
communication on social media. Examples therefore could be narratives
about historical facts or events (also anniversaries ofhistorical
events), how they are constructed by different social groups and for
which purpose different pictures of history are constructed. The
research should focus on critical inquiry of online communication from
an interdisciplinary perspective. Connected topics, such as how
historical places that might have turned to museums or places of
remembrance use social media to promote their messages, will also be
considered.
Proposed supervisor: Christine Trültzsch-Wijnen, (christine.trultzsch-wijnen /at/ fsv.cuni.cz)
Parenting in a digital environment
The aim of this PhD position consists of research on how parents use
digital media for their parenting activities. This could include
research on formal or informal digital parent networks, on parent
influencers, or on how different kinds of parenting advice found online
is used by mothers and fathers. The project should be routed in the
field of audience research but also be open for other theoretical and
methodological perspectives on the phenomenon of parenting and the
integration of digital media in daily life contexts.
Proposed supervisor: Christine Trültzsch-Wijnen, (christine.trultzsch-wijnen /at/ fsv.cuni.cz)
Feminist/gender studies research on struggle and resistance
This PhD position involves research in the broad area of feminist and/or
gender studies. Projects in this thematic area are expected to be
grounded in social constructionist/ poststructuralist paradigmatic
approaches, driven by feminist, intersectional, postcolonial, or other
relevant, theories. The research can be located in a variety of social
fields, e.g. media, culture, environment, politics, activism, and
explore topics related to gender/ethnic/political/cultural identities,
democracy, social change, social in/justice, struggle and resistance.
Proposed supervisor: Vaia Doudaki, (vaia.doudaki /at/ fsv.cuni.cz)
Photography and practices of othering
The position involves researching the specific means of othering in
technical images with particular regard to photography. The methodology
can be qualitative (although qualitative- quantitative methods are not
excluded), analysing the depiction of the other as an enemy - in the
war, for example, or as a cultural or ethnic enemy. The research can be
aimed at gender stereotypes too. The researcher is expected to focus on
the visual (thematic, aesthetic, formal) constructions of othering -
e.g., what aesthetics and formal aspects are typically used to create
the image of the other. The position can concentrate on historical
imagery as well as the contemporary one or its historical development.
Proposed supervisor: Robert Silverio, (robert.silverio /at/ fsv.cuni.cz)
Photography composition as a narrative and cognitive construct
The topic analyses composition in photojournalistic photography or, more
generally, in a
photographic image, as a narrative element with a cognitive impact. Photography as a static, time-limited image tells stories taking place in an extended time. Research emphasizes how photographs create narrative functions and create awareness of the world through composition. It scrutinises the cognitive possibilities of this narration and potential cognitive biases. It can also concentrate on similarities and differences between technical and pre-technical images. The research analyses how specific themes can be framed. The project also enables the research of other formal aspects that participate in making the overall narratives. A wide range of methodological approaches can be applied: synchronic or diachronic analysis, qualitative or qualitative-quantitative approach, poststructuralist analysis, a series of case studies, or a combination of these approaches.
Proposed supervisor: Robert Silverio, (robert.silverio /at/ fsv.cuni.cz)
The technical image and the legacy of the hand-made image
The topic focuses on the research of specific means of expression that
represent in technical images – and in particular photography – the
legacy of the aesthetic and narrative aspects of hand-made images such
as painting, etching, drawing or possibly other traditional arts such as
theater (in the case of staged photography). Methodologically, it is
primarily qualitative research (although a quantitative-qualitative
approach is not excluded), analyzing how the legacy of older media
affects not only photographic creation but also its perception. The
project can focus on compositional, color, tonal and narrative
stereotypes. It can analyze either historical photography or
contemporary photography. It is also possible to deal with a diachronic
perspective, i.e., how much the legacy of the hand-made image changes in
the specific phases of photography's history, depending on photography's
technical possibilities.
Proposed supervisor: Robert Silverio, (robert.silverio /at/ fsv.cuni.cz)
The Influence of Persuasion and Communication in Food Decisions
In general, this project aims to explore what factors influence people's
short and long-term food preferences. This objective can be fulfilled by
focusing on the research of the supply (communication of restaurants,
lifestyle magazines, or influencers) and the demand (psychological
mechanisms of how we make food decisions and what contextual factors
play a role). The project's methodology will correspond to the specific
objective chosen, but experimental evidence is preferred. The detailed
objective of the project must be agreed upon with the supervisor in advance.
Proposed supervisor: Petr Houdek, (petr.houdek /at/ fsv.cuni.cz) APPLICATIONInterested candidates should submit their applications, using the online application system, which will be open from 1st January to 30th April 2023. Interest in a particular PhD project should be mentioned in the motivation letter, together with a more developed proposal on the PhD project.
All relevant information, including the link to the online application system, can be found here:
https://fsv.cuni.cz/en/admissions/phd-programmes/media-and-communication-studieshttps://is.cuni.cz/studium/prijimacky/index.php?do=detail_obor&id_obor=29207
Please download the form for filling your dissertation project proposal here:
https://iksz.fsv.cuni.cz/sites/default/files/uploads/files/DISSERTATION%20PROJECT_form%20in%20English_updated_0.docxFor general questions, please contact the Centre of PhD Studies, at (cds.iksz /at/ fsv.cuni.cz). For questions about particular projects, please contact the proposed supervisors.
The Open Doors Day for PhD Study in Media Studies will take place on February 24, 2023, at 12:30 PM CET. It will be organised online. If you wish to participate, please email the Centre of PhD Studies, at (cds.iksz /at/ fsv.cuni.cz), asap.
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