ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

November 26-28, 2020

Auckland, New Zealand

Deadline: March 15, 2020

Important Dates

• Abstract submission deadline: on or before March 15, 2020
• Abstract acceptance: maximum of 60 days after abstract submission
• Full papers: on or before July 31, 2020
• Early Bird Registration: on or before July 31, 2020

The conference theme covers a broad area signifying the imperative power of change. Change is a constant in human communication. From climate change to technological innovation, communication and media play an integrative role for sustainable and progressive development. Mass Media likewise plays a crucial role in shaping public perception and influencing the powers that be. The conference explores how change is managed, embraced and adapted in communication and media. More research in this area is needed to fully explicate the complexities and nuances involving change –climate change and change management communication, paradigm shifts, cultural, technological and linguistic dynamics in diaspora and more. The 2020 ACMC International Conference is pleased to invite papers addressing the conference theme. Streams include but are not limited to:

• Reinventing communication paradigms
• Broadcast media in flux
• Media influence and impact
• Public Relations theory and practice
• Social media, digital media and dynamic technologies
• Advertising, adaptations and changing perspectives
• Communication, education challenges and changes
• Love, life, popular culture and the new media
• Democracy and disinformation
• Language, culture and the dynamics of change
• Ethnicity, identity, gender and the media
• Climate change communication, global crisis and the Asia-Pacific

Submission Guidelines

Email Abstract to: acmc2020@asianmediacongress.org

Abstract length: 300 to 500 words, in RTF, DOC or DOCX file (we will not accept PDF files)

Font: Tahoma, size 11

Author info: Full name (please indicate if Mr. or Ms.), Position/Title, Affiliation (University, College or Company), Paper Title

Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich

Deadline: January 7, 2020

"Scientific Assistant" (Post-Doc; 100%; E13/A13aZ) as of 1 March 2020

The Department of Media and Communication (Prof. Dr. Romy Fröhlich) is currently seeking applicants for the post of  a Scientific Assistant (Post-Doc; E13/A13aZ; temporary full-time position). The position is initially limited to three years. If the evaluation is positive, it can be extended for further three years (maximum duration six years). The remuneration is paid according to E13 TVL or A13 as a temporary civil servant. At this position, the implementation of a habilitation is made possible and expected.

Tasks:

The responsibility in research and teaching extends thematically to the area of strategic-persuasive communication/organisational communication/public relations. Research, publication and teaching experiences in this area are desirable. Active participation in the division’s research projects and/or the independent acquisition and implementation of own projects as well as the support and participation in tasks of (self-)administration and in the supervision of students, examinations and dissertations is expected. The task of the applicant also includes the organisation and implementation of courses of five semester hours per week, particularly in the Master's programme "International Public Relations" (teaching in English is possible). In order to ensure active participation in the self-administration and committee work of the department, a command of the German language is expected.

We are looking for a highly motivated, enthusiastic and independently working member of staff with an enthusiasm for science who is willing to familiarise himself/herself with further areas of responsibility. Good networking with PR practice would be an advantage.

Requirements:

In addition to the general employment law requirements, applicants must have a university degree in communication science (media research, etc.), a relevant above-average doctorate, very good knowledge and experience in the field of statistics/(multivariate) data analysis and methods of empirical communication research (preferably qualitative and quantitative methods of content analysis). In addition, pedagogical-didactic knowledge and experience in the field of university teaching as well as very good knowledge of English are expected. International publications, stays abroad and experience in project management or in the acquisition and implementation of third-party funded projects are advantageous.

The University of Munich is striving to increase the overall proportion of women in scientific personnel and thus explicitly invites qualified women to apply in accordance with the above-mentioned recruitment requirements. 

Preference will be given to handicapped applicants with equal qualifications.

Application address

Prof. Dr. Romy Fröhlich 

Institute for Communication Science and Media Research 

Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich 

Oettingen Street 67 

80538 Munich, Germany 

Please send your application by January 7 2020 by e-mail to froehlich@ifkw.lmu.de at the latest. The application documents should be summarized in a PDF file with a maximum size of 2 MB, complete with letter etc. If you have any questions, please contact Prof. Dr. Romy Fröhlich (froehlich@ifkw.lmu.de).

Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

Deadline: February 1, 2020

The Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania invites applications for a “CARGC Postdoctoral Fellowship.” This is a one-year position renewable for a second year based on successful performance.

Description

The Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication (CARGC) produces and promotes scholarly research on global communication and public life. As an institute for advanced study dedicated to global media studies, we revisit enduring questions and engage pressing matters in geopolitics and communication. Our vision of “inclusive globalization” recognizes plurality and inequality in global media, politics, and culture. Our translocal approach fuses multidisciplinary “area studies” knowledge with theory and methodology in the humanities and social sciences. This synthesis of deep expertise and interdisciplinary inquiry stimulates critical conversations about entrenched and emerging communicative structures, practices, flows, and struggles. We explore new ways of understanding and explaining the world, including public scholarship, algorithmic culture, the arts, multi-modal scholarship, and digital archives. With a core commitment to the development of early career scholars worldwide, CARGC hosts postdoctoral, doctoral, undergraduate, and faculty fellows who collaborate in research groups, author CARGC Press publications, and organize talks, lectures, symposia, conferences, and summer institutes.

CARGC postdoctoral fellows work on their own research, typically a book manuscript, and collaborate with staff and postdoctoral, doctoral and undergraduate fellows. They may design and teach one undergraduate course during their second year. They present a CARGC Colloquium and publish one CARGC Paper with CARGC Press. Fellows are provided a stipend of $50,000, a research fund of $3000, health insurance, a work space, computer and library access.

CARGC Fellows integrate primary sources and regional expertise in theoretically inflected, historically informed, comparative, translocal and transnational analyses of media, technology, geopolitics and culture. Candidates challenging normative paradigms and incorporating non-Western theories, sources and contexts, are especially welcome. Ongoing research groups focus on theory and history in global media studies, geopolitics and the popular, digital sovereignty, and radical media and culture. We recommend that applicants read our 5 year-report to familiarize themselves with our mission and priorities. This year we are particularly interested in candidates working on the Middle East and/or Latin America with Arabic and/or Spanish primary sources, though all candidates will be actively considered.

This is a residential fellowship. CARGC 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. Postdocs are therefore expected to work at our beautiful sixth floor premises—CARGC’s “World Headquarters”—on the Penn campus at least four days a week.

Eligibility

We welcome applications from scholars with PhDs awarded by an institution other than the University of Pennsylvania between May 1, 2018 and May 1, 2020. The appointment typically starts on August 15.

Submitting Your Application

A complete application consists of:

• Cover Page – include your name and contact information, dissertation supervisor name and contact information, defense date (if degree not awarded), and 100-word abstract of your project.
• Research Proposal (not to exceed 1000 words) – include research questions, topic significance, theoretical framework, methodological design, clear description of primary sources and necessary language skills, and work plan with projected date of manuscript completion and publication.
• Statement of institutional fit (not to exceed 250 words) – explain how your project aligns with CARGC’s mission, fits with one or more CARGC research themes listed above, and contributes to the field of global media and communication studies. Please refer to our 5-year report for more information.
• CV (not to exceed two single-spaced pages, minimum font size 11) – list degrees, peer-reviewed publications, academic non-peer-reviewed publications, public scholarship, invited talks, conference papers, other relevant qualifications, specific research and language skills.
• Project bibliography (not to exceed one single-spaced page, minimum font size 11) – include primary and secondary sources.
• Letters of recommendation – three are required, including one from the dissertation supervisor, stating unequivocally expected date of Ph.D. defense (if degree not yet awarded).
• Up to two publications (not to exceed 50 pages in total) – published peer-reviewed articles preferred.

Timeline

All materials except reference letters must be sent as a single PDF document to cargc@asc.upenn.edu by February 1, 2020. Because of the volume of applications, we are unable to read drafts of submissions. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. Applicants should arrange for their letters of recommendation to be sent to the same address by the same date. We expect to contact finalists for phone interviews by mid-March and make final decisions shortly thereafter.

Additional Information

If you have additional questions, please email us at cargc@asc.upenn.edu. Do not contact CARGC staff individually.

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. For more information, go to http://www.upenn.edu/affirm-action/eoaa.html.

View and share call online here: http://bit.ly/cargc2020postdoc

April 16-17, 2020

Istanbul (Turkey)

Deadline: March 2, 2020

7th International Communication Days

Faculty of Communication is hosting the seventh International Communication Days on 16 - 17 April 2020. This year’s symposium title is “Communications Education in the Digital Age”. The symposium series, attracting great interest both nationally and internationally, have been held annually since 2014 with themes such as digital addiction, digital culture and digital transformation.

The main title of this year’s international symposium is “Communications Education in the Digital Age”. In our age, digitalization has led to significant transformations in the media sector and it is inevitable that the educational institutions will develop an educational approach appropriate for this transformation. The accreditation processes initiated in the faculties of communication are indicative of efforts to adapt to the standards of excellence and requirements of the age in higher education institutions. It is important to update the curriculum which forms the basis of communications education in accordance with the requirements of digitalization. Furthermore, it is crucial to replan the educational tools, materials and techniques. It is significant both in terms of meeting the expectations of the sector and professional success of the students that the institutions providing communication education keep up with the times. All these require new approaches to be brought forward, discussed and planned in communications education

Symposium will last for two days and will comprise esteemed scholars from both Turkey and abroad including Prof. Erik Knudsen, Prof. Halil Nalçaoğlu, Prof. Maureen Ellis, Prof. Neira Cruz Xose Antonio and Assoc. Prof. Rocio Ovalle. In addition, as in the previous year, distinguished academics in the field will be moderating the sessions at the symposium.

Communications Education in the Digital Age Symposium is an international peer-reviewed scientific event. At the symposium, oral and poster presentations are welcome. The scientific committee of the symposium includes esteemed academics from home and abroad.

Topics may include but are not limited to:

• Communications education and accreditation
• Rethinking communication sciences in the digital age
• Journalism education in the digital age
• Radio and television broadcast education in the digital age
• Film education in the digital age
• New media education
• Public relations education in the digital age
• Advertising in the digital age
• Visual communication design education in the digital age
• Digital arts education
• Communications arts education in the digital age
• Communications education and artificial intelligence
• Media sector in the digital age: requirements, expectations

Submitted abstracts will be peer reviewed by the referees of Scientific Committee and the accepted papers will be published in the abstract booklet. Afterwards, authors may prefer to have their papers included in full paper booklet or in the Faculty of Communication’s Academic Journal “Etkileşim”. In that case, their work will be peer reviewed for the second time.

Hosted by Uskudar University

Contact e-mail: ifig@uskudar.edu.tr

7th International Communication Days Important Dates:

Abstract Submission Deadline: March 2, 2020

Announcement of the Program: April 6, 2019

You can find the detailed information about the symposium in our website: https://ifig.uskudar.edu.tr/en/2020

Public Relations Inquiry special issue

Deadline (EXTENDED): December 15, 2019

Health is an important, yet challenging area of professional communication. With the expansion of social media, rise of alternative ways of treatment, civic movements and citizen’s voices entering the debate, health communication is used and misused for blatant misinformation and stigmatisation on the one hand, and debunking myths, breaking silences and enabling individuals to make healthier choices, on the other. There have been important achievements in public health and wellbeing across the globe – from containing tuberculosis, HIV/Aids and preterm birth complications, which have been amongst top global causes of death (WHO, 2018), to higher quality of food, health products and environmental standers that led to increased life expectancy of many populations worldwide. Yet a variety of illnesses, their conditions and treatments remain taboos. They are often locked in cultural norms of inappropriate communication such as stereotypes about agency of sexually transmitted diseases and in strategic designs of silence such as framing mandatory vaccination as abuse of human rights.

Health communication is at the forefront of the struggle for improving public health. It is a rich field for interdisciplinary and critical studies with strategic communication and public relations at its core. A number of areas for further exploration open up in that regard. What influence do public communication and health campaigns have on co-shaping media discourse, public knowledge and attitudes? Who are the primary definers of what constitutes an illness and how voice and silence are distributed in the public sphere? How are voice and silence situated in broader socio-cultural and political contexts? How are the health taboos associated with stigma, power, violence, coercion, discrimination and injustice? When does silence hurt and when does it protect?

In line with the interdisciplinary nature of the journal, we welcome a range of theoretical perspectives from a variety of disciplines, including public relations, media, communications, public health, cultural studies, anthropology, political communication, sociology, political science, law, languages, organizational studies, management, marketing, literature, philosophy and history. We would invite contributions on topics including, but not limited to:

• Invisible health issues which result from economic conditions such as austerity, unemployment and depopulation
• Taboos about mental health, self-harm and suicide
• Voices and silences around terminal illnesses, deadly diseases, mortality and euthanasia
• Stigmas in gender health and wellbeing for women, men as well as minority sexual and gender identities (LGBTIQ+)
• Silences in reproductive health, including pregnancy, parenthood, childlessness, infertility, miscarriages, abortions and FGM
• Voice and silence around inequalities in right to health and access to healthcare provision
• Stereotypes about health and wellbeing of ethnic minorities
• Information wars and myths in vaccination programmes and anti-vaccination movements (for humans and animals)
• (Not) talking about forgetting, from Alzheimer disease to other types of dementia
• Communicating and miscommunicating disability
• Public secrets about alcoholism, drug and other forms of addiction
• Health taboo issues in the workplace
• Speaking on behalf of those who cannot, from oppressed and marginalised groups in society to climate change victims, animal health and extinct species
• The power of voice and the power of silence in health structures and processes

We welcome research papers, conceptual papers as well as short essays and review papers that contribute to critical and/or new ways of thinking about theory, policy and practice in health and wellbeing communication, particularly in relation to taboos, voices and silences. All submissions will be blind-reviewed in line with the standard practice of the journal. If you have any questions regarding the special issue, please contact the editors Alenka Jelen-Sanchez (alenka.jelen@stir.ac.uk) or Roumen Dimitrov (roumen.dimitrov@upf.edu).

Deadlines

Papers should be submitted by December 15 2019 via the journal’s manuscript central submissions system. Please visit the journal website (https://journals.sagepub.com/home/pri) for full submission instructions, including information about word length, format and referencing style. Papers should adhere to the guidelines and risk being rejected if they do not. The target publication date for the special issue is Summer/Autumn 2020.

November 19, 2019, 6:30pm-8:00pm

Sheikh Zayed Theatre, LSE New Academic Building (London)

A year after the report of the LSE Commission on Truth, Trust and Technology was published, this panel will discuss how ideas about regulating social media and other online services have developed in the UK and internationally, interrogating the UK government’s assertion that Britain is to become the ‘safest’ place in the world to be online.

The panel will be followed by a drinks reception.

Speakers:

Madeleine de Cock Buning is Professor of Media and Communications Law at the University of Utrecht and Professor of Digital Politics, Economy and Societies at the School of Transnational Governance of the European University Institute.

Robin Mansell (@REMVAN) is Professor of New Media and the Internet in the Department of Media and Communications at the LSE.

Victor Pickard (@VWPickard) is Associate Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

Chair: Sonia Livingstone (@Livingstone_S) is Professor of Social Psychology in the Department of Media and Communications at the LSE.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEt3

For more details see: http://www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2019/11/20191119t1830vSZT/will-the-uk

February 27-28, 2020

University of Houstonl Houston, TX, United States

Deadline: November 22, 2019

https://www.globalcommunicationsummit.org/

While the economic, political, cultural and social transformations brought about by the rise of digital technologies, particularly in the media and telecommunications sectors, are visible all over the world, it is in African countries that they are projected to have the biggest impact in coming years. Africa, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, has one of the fastest growing number of internet and mobile users in the world.

In many parts of the continent, access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) has been seen as an opportunity to “leapfrog”, a concept that the World Bank defines as making “a quick jump in economic development” by adopting technological innovation. This is exemplified by the success of African startups like Ushahidi, a crowdsourcing mapping tool created in Kenya, or Jumia, Nigeria’s number 1 online retailer; the recent opening of Google’s Africa AI center in Ghana; and the ever-growing presence of mobile payment and banking across the continent. Digital communication technologies have also been used strategically by citizens in the continent to engage in grassroots political movements that have toppled long-time rulers, led to (sometimes short-lived) regime changes, and brought about changes in legislation.

The fast growth of digitally enabled communications and services has also brought challenges for the continent. For example, well-before the notion of “fake news” became a buzzword in U.S. politics, many African nations, from South Africa to Gabon or Nigeria, were targets of large-scale misinformation campaigns over social media such as WhatsApp and Facebook. Additionally, young, highly-educated, and digitally-savvy graduates in many African countries have been employed by transnational tech companies such as Facebook for data processing in what some authors describe as digital sweatshops. The positive and negative impacts of this technological revolution are therefore important to consider.

Because African countries, their people, and their mediated interactions remain understudied in the fields of media and communication, especially in Western countries, the “@frica: digital media conference” invites extended abstracts (800-1,000 words) that examine the transformations and disruptions of digital media in African countries.

Specifically, but not exclusively, we invite contributions that explore any of the following questions:

• What methodological challenges exist in studying digital media use (such as social media and/or mobile communications) in Africa?
• What theoretical frameworks, constructs and paradigms are best suited to study transformations and disruptions of digital media in Africa?
• How has social media been used by African political actors, social movements and grassroots activists and to what effect?
• What are the roots, consequences and differences between countries of existing disparities in access to digital media in Africa?
• How are digital technologies influencing, complementing, and/or superseding journalistic practices in Africa?
• How does the sharing economy (e.g. Uber, Upwork…) transform and/or reinforce social norms, values, practices, structure and culture in Africa?
• What are the prevailing regulatory frameworks that affect digital media use in Africa?
• What socio-economic, cultural and economic factors shape the adoption, diffusion and appropriation of digital technologies in Africa?

The deadline to submit extended abstracts is November 22, 2019.

Abstracts should be submitted through EasyChair: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=admc20

The organizers will notify by email the authors of accepted extended abstracts by December 6, 2019. Authors will be expected to submit full papers by February 2, 2020.

The “@frica: digital media conference” will accept a limited number of virtual presentations, in which authors who are unable to travel to Houston, will be able to present their work and get feedback from the audience. Authors who wish to be considered for one of the virtual presentation slots should indicate their preference when submitting their extended abstracts.

A selection of accepted papers will be included in a Special Issue of the Journal of African Media Studies to be published in 2020. Only accepted papers that are presented at the conference will be considered for the Special Issue.

The conference will be held at the University of Houston on February 28. A pre-conference event, only open to accepted authors, will be held on February 27.

All questions about submissions should be emailed to valentiglobalsummit@uh.edu.

May 21-22, 2020

Florence, Italy

Deadline: January 10, 2020

Media, War and Conflict Journal Conference

http://www.warandmedia.org/Spaces

Building on the success of our 2018 international conference ‘Spaces of War: War of Spaces’, the editors of the Media, War and Conflict journal are holding our second conference at Accademia Europea Di Firenze, Florence, Italy in May 2020.

Alongside traditional papers, the expected conference programme will include film screenings and methodological workshops on Digital verification; Visuality/photography; The archive; Performance that are designed to facilitate the development of new ideas, networks and/or research proposals through dialogue with practitioners.

Conference Themes

In 2018 we were motivated by a feeling that broad theses on the transformation of war in new media environments was distracting attention from the richness of detailed work being conducted on specific cases. Macro theorisations were ignoring the varieties and intricacies of spaces through which war was being waged. That conference drew together a new generation of researchers in the field of war and media, and led to the forthcoming Spaces of War book due to publication in 2020. But what emerged and gave meaning to the temporal and spatial dimensions of those dynamic, ever evolving spaces was the overarching theme of bodies and the profoundly corporeal, embodied nature of war and its relationship to space.

For this new conference, we invite contributions that explore the intersections of body and space in the field of war and media through two broad themes:

• Bodily Presence/Absence: How can research illuminate how bodies occupy, inhabit and live through and in spaces of war? When and how are bodies made visible in spaces of war, whose bodies (civic, military, technologized etc) and why? What are the implications of bodily presence and absence in relation to the transformative properties of the space? What are the consequences of post-bodily inhabitation?

• Embodied Participation: How do media and digital technologies alter and shift the affective, sensory, mnemonic qualities of space? How are bodies, and the corporeal reality of war, transformed by spaces and visa versa? What are the consequences of our engagement with spaces of war for ourselves, others and the space itself?

Drawing on these broad themes and questions, the conference will showcase exciting new research in this field while pinpointing the emerging puzzles and lines of enquiry we face at the intersection of bodies, media, space and war. We are interested in scholarly and practice contributions that speak to these themes through a range of topics across various spheres and powers relations. While the main theme of this conference is the corporeal nature of war and its relationship to space, we also welcome papers dealing with any aspect of media, war and conflict.

Please submit an abstract of 250 words with author affiliation and brief biog to:

Sarah Maltby: s.maltby@sussex.ac.uk by 10th January 2020

Panel submissions are welcome. Panel proposals should include no more than 4 papers in total, a short description (200 words) together with abstracts for each of the papers (150-200 words each including details of the contributor), and the name and contact details of the panel proposer. The panel proposer should coordinate the submissions for that panel as a single proposal.

Registration Open: 24th January to 27th March 2020

Comparative Cinema N15 (Fall 2020)

Deadline: December 15, 2019

http://www.ocec.eu/cinemacomparativecinema

From the 1980s, with what is known as the “feminist conscience turn”, the essentialist ways to define female subjectivity entered a crisis, and so did the monolithic conception of feminine desire as an unchangeable entity. An open conception of the desiring female subject as a locus for a set of multiple, complex and potentially contradictory experiences began to be upheld. In this new paradigm, the oeuvre of Teresa de Lauretis, Judith Butler or, in another direction, Rosi Braidotti, have offered new philosophical roads to talk about subjects and their desires. Film theory has not been foreign to this metamorphosis, and it has generated works of reference from authors such as Tania Modleski, Jackie Stacey, Gaylyn Studlar or Linda Williams.

This Call For Papers invites authors to present texts that, following these new directions, help to rethink the representation of feminine desires in film, both from a historical perspective as well as attending to the vitality of contemporary creation. The journal will take into account the articles that propose an in-depth study of the different theoretical and methodological basis related to this study field, and those that analyze, from a comparative perspective, gestures, gazes and images that are selected as analytical subjects for advancing research on the audiovisual representation of feminine desires in films. It is suggested, in the case studies, that authors begin their articles with a comparison between two images or sequences from different films as a starting point, before expanding upon their research.

Languages: 'Comparative Cinema' edits all its articles in English, but also accepts originals to be evaluated and published in Catalan or Spanish. If an article is accepted, its authors must assume the costs of translating it to English.

Length of the articles: from 5.000 to 6.000 words, including footnotes.

The texts (in Word) and the accompanying images must be sent through the OJS platform of RACO.

See here other submission details and format guidelines: https://www.raco.cat/index.php/Comparativecinema/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

Submission dates: from September 15th to December 15th, 2019.

* From September 15th onwards, Comparative Cinema will start receiving texts for a new miscellaneous section, in which the journal will include articles that have no thematic bond to the proposed monographic issues.

From this date on, the reception of these submissions will be carried out continuously throughout the year, but the articles will be published in subsequent issues of the journal, prior coordination with the editors.

comparativecinema@upf.edu

ISSN: 2014-8933

Legal Deposit: B.29702-2012

University of Bremen

The Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) at the University of Bremen is offering two salaried 3-year PhD positions (f/m/d) at a newly established research lab to be led by Cornelius Puschmann.

Description of the positions

Duration: 3 years

Starting date: 1 February 2020 or as soon as possible thereafter

Remuneration based on grade E13 TV-L (65% of a full-time position) of the German federal employee scale

General description of the position: The PhD student will join a newly established research lab, led by Cornelius Puschmann, and situated within the interdisciplinary ZeMKI of the University of Bremen. The members of this lab will study the relationship between digital media use – for example using social media platforms, engaging with online news, finding information through search engines – and current social, cultural and political phenomena, such as the spread of disinformation, cultural fragmentation, and social disenfranchisement, through a combination of computational and traditional research methods. The PhD student will be actively involved in the research activities of the lab and contribute to sharpening its research agenda and growing its research output. It is also expected that the PhD student will be an active contributor to the interdisciplinary intellectual environment of the ZeMKI. For more information on the lab and the ZeMKI, please see below.

Research and teaching duties

• Develop an independent PhD research project based on the objectives of the lab (see below)
• Collaboration in current and future research projects undertaken within the lab
• Presenting research results at national and international conferences and workshops
• Contributing to scientific publications
• Teaching (2 hours per week in communication and media)

Essential qualifications

• Master’s degree in Media and Communication, Sociology, Psychology, Computer/Information Science or Computational Linguistics
• Command of R (alternatively Python)
• Interest in computational methods, e.g.
• Automated content analysis/text mining or
• Network/sequence analysis or
• Survey analysis/online experiments or
• other standardized methods relevant to media usage research
• Interest in media and communication (for applicants with backgrounds in other fields)
• Experience with social media data analysis is desirable
• Strong command of English

The University of Bremen intends to increase the proportion of women in science and therefore urges women to apply. Handicapped applicants with the same professional and personal suitability are given priority. Applications from people with a migration background are encouraged. Candidates who already hold a PhD degree will not be considered.

For questions pertaining to the position, please contact Cornelius Puschmann (puschmannuni-bremen.de).

Application

The application should include a brief description of his/her research interests, a written CV, copies of academic certificates and a writing sample (Master’s thesis, research paper, or other scholarly output, such as software code), as well as a short project sketch (0.5-1 page).

Please send your application including the reference number A309/19 until 1 December 2019 to:

Universität Bremen

Zentrum für Medien-, Kommunikations- und Informationsforschung (ZeMKI)

z.H. Frau Denise Tansel

Postfach 33 04 40

28334 Bremen

or as PDF via Email (single file) to: dtanseluni-bremen.de

The employment is fixed-term and serves the scientific qualification, governed by the Act of Academic Fixed-Term Contract, §2 (1) (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz). Therefore, candidates may only be considered for appointment if they still have the respective qualification periods available in accordance with § 2 (1) WissZeitVG.

About the lab

Informed citizens are a prerequisite for functioning Western societies and reliable information on politically and socially relevant issues increasingly reaches us online. Mobile apps and websites of major media brands play an important a role, as do niche offerings, popular blogs and dubious or even manipulative content (clickbait, fake news), some of which is mediated by non-human agents (social bots). There is currently a clearly identifiable research gap when it comes to the systematic investigation of media and news use on the basis of digital communication data -- a deficit that the new research lab will seek to address. Methodologically the lab will draw on:

• digital user tracking (through browser plug-ins / apps, data donations)
• automated content analysis (topic modelling, machine learning, sentiment analysis)
• survey data (online surveys, experience sampling)

Our long-term ambition is to link these instruments in panel designs in order to draw conclusions regarding causal relationships, for example between routine digital media usage and user attitudes.

About the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI)

As an inter-faculty research institute, the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) bundles research activities at the University of Bremen in the area of media and communicative change regarding a broad range of cultural, social, organisational and technological context fields. The research institute is committed to interdisciplinary cooperation, integrating researchers from the areas of media and communication studies, cultural studies, information management and media pedagogics. In addition to their research activities, ZeMKI members are active in the various media related study programmes at the University of Bremen. The ZeMKI oversees the profile-building research group "Communicative figurations of mediatized worlds" of the University of Bremen. The research group has been supported as a "Creative Unit" by the institutional strategy "Ambitious and Agile" of the University of Bremen funded within the frame of the Excellence Initiative by the German Federal and State Governments.