ZeMKI Bremen

The ZeMKI, Centre for Media, Communication and Information Studies at the University of Bremen, Germany, is offering two Phd-Posts with the following profiles:

A 162/21

three-year doctoral position – under the condition of job release – in the Lab "Audio-visual Media and Historiography", which will be co-supervised by the Lab "Communication History and Media Change" as soon as possible:

Doctoral student (f/m/d)

Remuneration group 13 TV-L

with 50% of the regular working time

for a period of three years

in the field of "Dictatorship and Unequal Memory in Digital Society: Historical Images in Feature Films and their Communicative Appropriation Using the Example of the Last Argentine Military Dictatorship (1976-1983)".

The time limitation is based on § 2 (1) WissZeitVG (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz, i.e. temporary science employment act). Therefore, candidates may only be considered who dispose of the respective scope of qualification periods according to § 2 (1) WissZeitVG.

The doctoral student (f/m/d) will work on the above-mentioned topic with the lab leaders Prof. Dr. Delia González de Reufels and Prof. Dr. Stefanie Averbeck-Lietz. The aim is to write a qualification thesis and to work on the project of the ZeMKI research focus "Audiovisual Cultures and Communicative Appropriations of Historical Images: New Inequalities in Digital Society".

Tasks:

A) The interdisciplinary study of images of history and traumatic historical experience in contemporary Argentine feature films and their social discussion, taking into account the disciplines of history as well as communication and media studies and the highlighted importance of social media for current media practice in everyday life.

B) Writing a dissertation with a focus on one of the research areas of the participating labs on the topic of "Dictatorship and Unequal Memory in Digital Society: Images of History in Feature Films and Their Communicative Appropriation Using the Example of the Last Argentine Military Dictatorship (1976-1983)".

C) Conducting courses amounting to 2 SCH (semester contact hours per week) in the degree programmes of Communication and Media Studies as well as participation in the conduct of examinations in the degree programmes supported by the ZeMKI.

Objectives:

- Testing new methodological approaches for combining historical research on contemporary feature films on the traumatic history of the last Argentinean military dictatorship with subject-centred and actor-based media research.

- Participation in the further development of the research profile of the ZeMKI through collaboration in the aforementioned research focus "Audiovisual Cultures and Communicative Appropriations of Images of History: New Inequalities in the Digital Society".

Recruitment requirements:

- Above-average Master's degree in history and communication and/or media studies or comparable degrees that indicate an aptitude for working on a doctorate in the aforementioned field.

- Knowledge of historical analysis as well as social-empirical qualitative methods and/or the willingness to develop this knowledge further.

- Knowledge in the field of Latin American history and knowledge of the Spanish language at level B 2.2 (Common European reference framework for languages).

- Interdisciplinary research interest or interest in the scientific analysis of audiovisual cultures and communicative appropriations of historical images as well as in the topic of inequality in the digital society.

- Experience in the field of social media data analysis is desirable.

- Enjoy organisational tasks and working in a team

The University of Bremen is committed to increasing the proportion of women in academia and therefore explicitly encourages women to apply. Severely disabled applicants will be given priority if they have essentially the same professional and personal qualifications. Applications from people with a migration background are welcome.

Questions should be addressed to Prof. Dr. Delia González de Reufels at dgr@uni-bremen.de or to Prof. Dr. Stefanie Averbeck-Lietz at stefanie.averbeck.lietz@uni-bremen.de.

Application

Applications should include the following documents:

- A two-page letter of motivation: On the first page, please outline your interests in terms of content and methodology and explain how your work will contribute to the research focus "Audiovisual Cultures and Communicative Appropriations of Historical Images: New Inequalities in Digital Society".

- Curriculum vitae with the usual information about your career.

- A copy of your certificates (university entrance qualification, degrees).

- A writing sample (a research paper, publication or your Master's thesis).

- The names of two reviewers who will be able to comment on your previous work and your suitability for participation in the project.

Please send your application, quoting the reference number A162/21, by September 9th, 2021 to

Universität Bremen

Prof. Dr. Delia González de Reufels

Bibliothekstr. 1

28359 Bremen

or as PDF by e-mail (single file to): bewerbungen-zemki@uni-bremen.de

Further information:

Lab "Audio-visual Media and Historiography"

The Lab researches AV media - especially film and television - as historical sources or documents of the history of modernity. It focuses on the role of these media for the memory and construction of historical processes and looks at films of all kinds, sound recordings and of photographs, which are to be systematically lifted and made accessible for historical research. The approaches and theoretical approaches developed by historians for text sources can only be transferred to audio-visual sources to a limited extent, which results in a methodological problem for historians that the Lab would like to help solve. One focus is therefore on the discussion of methods, another on exploring the significance of audio-visual media, such as films and images, for historical research. It is currently concentrating on the fields of Latin American population and development policy after 1945 as well as coming to terms with and overcoming the Latin American military dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s.

Lab "Communication History and Media Change

The Lab sees itself as an inter/transdisciplinary platform for research in the history of media and communication: The change in social communication, media dispositives and appropriations are researched and described from different perspectives and with a variety of methods and sources. The subject of research on mediatisation in the history of communication is in particular the emergence and development of the various media and their interplay with each other, the history of communication and the social change of the public sphere, also from the perspective of communication and media ethics as well as in inter/transnational comparison. The study of communication and media change is linked with the history of ideas on communication, media and the public sphere, or the history of the subject and theory of newspaper, journalism and communication studies. Also relevant is methodological research on the history of communication and media, e.g. on (qualitative) content analysis, historical document analysis and digital methods.

Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research

The Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) is one of nine central academic institutions at the University of Bremen and is one of the most important European institutions for research into questions of media and communication change at the interface of cultural and social sciences on the one hand and technical sciences on the other. A special focus of the research is the emerging digital society with regard to existing inequalities, both in terms of historical questions of their genesis and current challenges of algorithms, automation and data. The ZeMKI carries the research focus "Audiovisual Cultures and Communicative Appropriations of Historical Images: New Inequalities in Digital Society".

A163/21

The Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) at the University of Bremen offers – under the condition of job release – a three-year doctoral position to be based in the Lab "Media and Religion" and co-supervised by the Lab "Film, Media Art and Popular Culture as soon as possible:

Doctoral student (f/m/d)

Remuneration group 13 TV-L

with 50% of the regular working time

for a period of three years

in the field of "Colonialism in Video Gaming: Audiovisual Histospheres and Communicative Appropriations of Historical Images as Processes of Othering".

The employment relationship is fixed-term and serves to attain academic advancement as regulated by the act on academic fixed-term contracts, §2 (1) (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz). Therefore, applicants can only be considered for the position if they still dispose of the relevant qualification periods according to §2 (1) WissZeitVG.

The doctoral student will work on the above-mentioned topic with the lab leaders Prof. Dr. Kerstin Radde-Antweiler and Prof. Dr. Winfried Pauleit. The project is part of the ZeMKI research focus "Audiovisual Cultures and Communicative Appropriations of Historical Images: New Inequalities in Digital Society".

Tasks:

- Research in the field of colonialism in video gaming under two perspectives:

A) media-centred investigation of colonial aesthetics through audio-visual modelling of immersive historical space-time structures (audio-visual histospheres) and/or

B) actor-centred communication about colonial historical images from the perspective of communicative figuration with regard to attribution and negotiation processes as well as the appropriation of colonial stereotypes by players.

- Writing a dissertation with a focus on one of the research areas of the participating labs on the topic of "Colonialism in Video Gaming: Audiovisual Histospheres and Communicative Appropriations of Historical Images as Processes of Othering".

- Testing new methodological approaches for combining object-centred media research and actor-centred media research

- Research interest in the analysis of audiovisual cultures and communicative appropriations of historical images as well as in the topic of inequality in digital society.

- Conducting courses in the amount of 2 SCH (semester contact hours per week) in the Communication and Media Studies programmes, participation in the conduct of examinations.

Recruitment requirements:

- Above-average Master's degree in communication and/or media studies or comparable degree that indicates an aptitude for working on a doctorate in the aforementioned field

- Knowledge of media-aesthetic analysis and/or socio-empirical qualitative methods

- Knowledge in the field of video gaming / game studies

- Interdisciplinary research interest

- Experience with data analysis of social media is desirable

- Good command of English

- Ability to organise and work in a team

- Participation in the ZeMKI doctoral programme

The University of Bremen is committed to increasing the proportion of women in academia and therefore explicitly encourages women to apply. Severely disabled applicants will be given priority if they have essentially the same professional and personal qualifications. Applications from people with a migration background are welcome.

Questions should be addressed to Prof. Dr. Kerstin Radde-Antweiler radde@uni-bremen.de or Prof. Dr. Winfried Pauleit pauleit@uni-bremen.de.

Application

Applications should include the following documents:

- A two-page letter of motivation. Page 1 should describe your interests in terms of content and methodology and explain why you believe your profile fits the research focus "Audiovisual Cultures and Communicative Appropriations of Images of History: New Inequalities in Digital Society"

- Curriculum vitae

- A copy of your academic transcripts

- A writing sample (research paper, publication or master's thesis)

- Names of two reviewers who can assess your previous academic expertise

Please send applications with the reference number A163/21 by September 9th, 2021 to

Universität Bremen

Prof. Dr. Kerstin Radde-Antweiler

Bibliothekstr. 1

28359 Bremen

or as PDF by e-mail (single file) to: bewerbungen-zemki@uni-bremen.de

Further information:

Lab "Media and Religion

The Lab Media and Religion deals with the connection between media and religions and their change. The perspective is twofold: on the one hand, current and historical religious discourses and their authorities are shaped by the media. On the other hand, religious practices are always media practices, and religious identities are always media identities. Thus, actors or groups present, discuss and organise their religious ideas by means of diverse media (books, images, video, virtual worlds, etc.). In this sense, religion is also a mediatised phenomenon that needs to be analysed with regard to questions of media communication.

Lab "Film, Media Art and Popular Culture

The Lab "Film, Media Art and Popular Culture" deals with visual and audio-visual media, their aesthetics and history, as well as their change in the context of digitalisation and globalisation. A special focus of the research is on the specific forms and dispositives of film, media art and popular culture, their production, distribution, broadcasting, exhibition, mediation and appropriation, as well as their storage and collection in archives. In addition to media products and media artworks, their aesthetic experience through communal and individual use, as well as the discourses and cultural interactions that flank them, are also examined.

Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research

As an interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Bremen, the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) deals with questions of media and communication change at the interface of cultural and social sciences on the one hand and technical sciences on the other. The special feature here is the interdisciplinary orientation of the research institute: it involves researchers from film studies and media aesthetics, history, information management, communication and media studies, cultural and religious studies and media education. The ZeMKI carries the research focus "Audiovisual cultures and communicative appropriations of historical images: New Inequalities in Digital Society." The aim of the ZeMKI doctoral programme at the University of Bremen is to provide cooperative and collegial supervision for its doctoral students. Participants must be registered as doctoral students at the University of Bremen and be supervised by professors working at the ZeMKI. The doctoral programme is based on a binding doctoral agreement, separates supervision from peer review and gives doctoral candidates broad opportunities to develop and complete their dissertation projects in a constructive environment.