ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

The Journal of Sonic Studies 

Deadline: July 1, 2020

Sound at home is the hum of appliances, the babble of water piping, the chatter of media, and the creaking of a wooden floor; it seeps in from other homes and from the world outside – traffic, music, shouting; it is the disconcerting, unfamiliar sounds of the places that have become temporary homes; it is sounds which go unheard in their familiarity.

In this call, the Journal of Sonic Studies asks authors to explore relationships between notions of home and the auditory. We encourage studies that consider home as a permanent dwelling for families and individuals as well as studies that consider the homely in a more abstract sense, as an ideal to long for or a place to dream of or run from. The broad aim of this special issue is an interest in explorations of the home as that which is close, most habitual – and perhaps therefore often overheard – as well as the methodological considerations that follow. Examinations might follow the home as private and secure, but we also encourage studies where sound at home reveals itself as problematic and “unheimlich” (cf. Raahauge 2009; Freud 1919).

Concretely, we ask how home designs and technologies shape the soundscapes and atmospheres of the home, how they are negotiated and how they influence the dynamics of the different occupants of the home? What kind of “acoustic agency” (Cusick 2013) is expected of the home – and what is available? How do we explore “acoustemologies” (Feld 2012) of the homes of the present and the past? What can we learn from the changes they might have undergone? What methodologies allow us to explore habitual sounds, and can we re-enchant (Mannay 2010; Sikes 2006) these sounds? What is the meaning of sounds that are transported into or out of the house deliberately or inadvertently? How do the other beings that we share our homes with influence our sense of home through their “sonic traces” (Schulze 2018) and kinetic melodies? What characterizes our own “homebody” (Steinbock 1995)?

Proposals for this special issue might speak to some of the following subjects and points of discussion, but are not limited to:

• Soundscapes and acoustemologies of the home and the homely
• The shifting historical role of sound technologies in homes
• Power relations and acoustic agency of the homely
• Methodological approaches to studies of the intimate and the well-known
• Histories of sensing, habituation and overhearing sounds
• Sounds as mediations between the home and its surroundings
• Sound as indicators of safety versus uncanny sounds.

Deadline

Potential contributors are invited to submit full articles by July 1st, 2020

For more information, or to submit an article, please contact sandra.lori.petersen@anthro.ku.dk or m.a.cobussen@umail.leidenuniv.nl

Guest editors

Mette Simonsen Abildgaard, cultural historian of technologies, Aalborg University, Marie Koldkjær Højlund, composer and audio designer, Aarhus University, Sandra Lori Petersen, anthropologist, University of Copenhagen will be guest editors of this special issue.

The Journal of Sonic Studies is a peer-reviewed, online, open access journal providing a platform for theorists and artist-researchers who would like to present relevant work regarding auditory cultures, to further our collective understanding of the impact and importance of sound for our cultures. The editors welcome scholarly as well as artistic research and also expect all contributions to have a firm theoretical grounding. Priority is given to contributions that explicitly use the Internet as a medium, e.g. by inserting A/V materials, hyperlinks, and the use of non-conventional structures. JSS invites potential contributors to use the Research Catalogue as the platform in which the submission is presented (see http://www.researchcatalogue.net/). Other submission guidelines can be found at sonicstudies.org/guidelines .

Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism, Charles University in Prague

https://fsv.cuni.cz/en/phd-researcher-mistra-environmental-communication-research-programme

Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University is looking to hire a PhD Researcher, supervised by Nico Carpentier, as part of the MISTRA Environmental Communication Research Programme for the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism.

The MISTRA Environmental Communication (MEC) Research Programme is a four-year research project, based in Sweden and implemented by an international consortium, which includes the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University. A brief overview can be found here: http://nicocarpentier.net/mistra/.

This specific position consists out of PhD research that implements the fifth work package of MEC, which is entitled “Environmental communication in (social) media and the arts: Opening spaces for fifth discursive encounters”. The main research objective of work package five is to study the discursive struggle between the different environmental and sustainability discourses that circulate in Swedish arts and media, and to develop discursive strategies to open up existing discursive patterns and constellations for a constructive engagement with new or marginalised perspectives.

Each candidate must:

• The excellent command of both English AND Swedish (written and spoken) is a key requirement for this position.
• The work location is Prague, in the Czech Republic.
• We are seeking candidates with a genuine interest in, and knowledge of environmental communication, social constructionist theory, participatory research and discursive-material analysis. Candidates should have a good general overview of social theory in the social sciences and humanities, and master the main methodologies used in these disciplines. A collaborative and inquisitive mindset are equally important.

• Moreover, candidates need to possess a Master’s degree. Candidates with any suited disciplinary and interdisciplinary background are welcome to apply. Candidates with high grades for their prior degrees will be given priority.

Duties:

The holder of the position shall primarily devote her/himself to this project and the implementation of the tasks outlined below, in combination with the requirements of the PhD programme (as outlined in the documents mentioned below).

The main task of the PhD researcher is to focus on one of the three areas of study of work package 5, namely mass media, with attention for two genres, namely documentaries and television programmes that focus on environmental problems and that have been recently produced in Sweden.

The research question of the PhD researcher’s project concerns 1/the identification of the discursive struggles within a selection of mass media case studies, and 2/the development of strategies to open up the discursive positions for more constructive engagements.

The PhD researcher’s project will start with a mapping of all recent relevant output, in the three areas (mass media, social media and arts), and will then focus on the mass media area, selecting and analysing six cases studies, using discourse-material analysis to analyse the selected media material and the media producer interviews. In the last stage, the development of discursive strategies will be structured in two ways, through the development of training packages, and through the organisation of an exhibition. Moreover, the research project will be strengthened through participatory research methods, to be applied throughout the entire research project, wherever possible.

Active participation in the Institutes’ PhD activities, such as seminars, workshops, etc., is expected. Other tasks within the Institute, including administrative work, can also be part of the employment. The PhD researcher is also expected to actively contribute to the (written) academic publications of the MEC work package 5 team.

We offer:

The position is a full-time position, with a total duration of 44 months, starting on/around 1 March 2020, but the position’s continuation will be subject to a yearly evaluation.

The gross monthly salary will be 24.000 CZK, complemented by a PhD stipend of 11.000 CZK.

The application includes:

(1) a letter in which the applicant describes her/his research interests and the motivation to apply;

(2) a one-page research note, outlining how the candidate proposes to ground the research in social constructionist theory;

(3) a second one-page research note, outlining how the candidate proposes to implement the tasks described in this document, including a time schedule

(4) a CV, with the copies of the relevant diplomas and certificates that prove the candidate’s eligibility for doctoral studies in Media and Communication Studies;

(5) minimally two letters of recommendation and the contact information to these reference persons;

(6) publications (co-) authored by the applicant (if any);

(7) other documents that the applicant wishes to add.

The application must be submitted via email to kariera@fsv.cuni.cz at the Personnel Affairs Department of the Dean’s Office, the Faculty of Social Sciences Charles University, Smetanovo nábřeží 6, 110 01 Praha 1, Czech Republic. Deadline for applications is the 10th of February 2020.

The application must be identified as “PhD Researcher - MISTRA”.

We only accept applications that are submitted as described in this announcement, and we reserve the right to close the vacancy without any person being hired.

Charles University is striving to promote gender equality through gender diversity.

Additional information

A list of suggested literature is available at http://nicocarpentier.net/mistra/readings.html

A general description of the doctoral program of the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism can be found at: https://iksz.fsv.cuni.cz/sites/default/files/uploads/files/prirucka_phd_2019.pdf (currently in Czech only)

https://karolinka.fsv.cuni.cz/KFSV-1059.html (in Czech)

https://fsv.cuni.cz/en/admissions/phd-programmes (in English)

More information about the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism is available at https://iksz.fsv.cuni.cz/en.

For more information about the content of the position, Nico Carpentier can be contacted, by e-mail at nico.carpentier@fsv.cuni.cz. See also http://nicocarpentier.net/.

For more information about the financial dimensions of the position, Alena Marcova can be contacted, by e-mail at alena.marcova@fsv.cuni.cz.

May 4-5, 2020

London, UK

Deadline: February 15, 2020

The inaugural Communication for Change Festival invites abstracts for papers, posters, exhibitions, workshops, and film screenings on the festival’s theme of ‘Connections’.

The Festival is hosted by the Institute for Media and Creative Industries, Loughborough University in London and organised in collaboration with: the Migrant Memory and the Post-colonial Imagination (MMPI) project; and the Rethinking Democracy (REDEM) research platform, Malmö University. It will be hosted at Loughborough University’s vibrant London campus in East London on May 4-5, 2020.

Festival Theme: ‘ Connections’

We live in a time where the social cohesion of our society is threatened and at risk. We are experiencing social and political conflict that suggest profound disconnections between what we aspire to do or become, and what is possible. Realities and imaginaries often connect poorly, many can’t make ends meet, and divisions between communities, cultures, nations are prevalent. Practices of communication both divide and bridge communities. In this context, the festival theme, ‘Connections’, draws attention to how the research and practice of communication for social change enhances a variety of connections, both disciplinary, temporal, spatial and relational. How do we connect the past with the present, the realities of the global North and South, the lives in one community to another, or the online media practices with the offline. How are disconnections overcome and connections enhanced?

Submitting an abstract

The festival seeks to foster a creative and interdisciplinary exploration of this topic, inviting abstracts from a broad gamut of inter-related fields of research and practice, such as: communication for social change and development, memory studies, conflict and development studies, media and cultural studies, migration studies, and postcolonial/decolonial studies. We equally invite abstracts from the perspectives of social change practitioners, activists, students and artists. The Festival creates a space to explore ways of (re)building connections in highly divided contexts such as civil conflict and war, apartheid and partition, and separation through inequalities.

Abstracts should be 200 - 300 words, and should indicate:

• Activity type (poster, paper presentation, fishbowls, workshop, film screening, other)
• Participant type (academic, MA student, PhD student, practitioner, activist, artist, other)

Deadline for submission of abstracts: February 15

Deadline for registration without paper: March 13.

Please send your submissions to CfSCFestival@lboro.ac.uk

Questions about the Festival? Contact j.noske-turner@lboro.ac.uk

May 26, 2020

Queensland, Australia

Deadline: March 1, 2020

2020 International Communication Association (ICA) Post-conference

The 2020 ICA post-conference on “Strengthening Communication for Social Justice through Education and Research” aims to build a network of associates with existing and emerging academic programs and to strengthen educational and scholarly initiatives. This event is a post-conference following the 70th ICA Conference 2020, and will be held on 26 May 2020 at The University of Queensland, Australia.

This event seeks to provide an interactive and dialogic space to explore the pedagogic relevance of key themes associated with Communication for Social Justice and to investigate the extent to which they have been incorporated into formal academic teaching and research programs. The conference will discuss emerging trends and shifts in the dynamics in the teaching and research of Communications for Social Justice. The discussion will also explore emerging and innovative trends in communication for social justice, considering the role of digital and other mediated technologies.

We invite communication scholars and researchers, students and anyone who is interested in pedagogy and research on communication for social justice, to register in the one-day ICA post-conference. For more information and the call for abstract, please click here. To register for the post-conference, please click here.

Organizers: Pradip Thomas & Elske van de Fliert, The University of Queensland (pradip.thomas@uq.edu.au; e.vandefliert@uq.edu.au); Karin Wilkins, University of Miami (kwilkins@miami.edu); Silvio Waisbord, George Washington University (waisbord@gwu.edu)

September 10-12, 2020

Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy

Deadline: April 1, 2020

ESA RN18 Mid-Term Conference 2020

Conference website: https://rn18esa.wordpress.com

European Sociological Association (ESA) ‐ Research Network 18: Sociology of Communications and Media Research in cooperation with the:

• Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning (DIST) of the Polytechnic University of Turin and the University of Turin
• Italian National Sociological Association (AIS) – Section: Cultural Processes and Institutions
• Italian Scientific Society of Sociology, Culture, Communication (SISCC)
• Antonio Gramsci Piedmont Institute Foundation

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

• Tiziana Terranova (University of Naples ‘L’Orientale’, Italy): Hypersocial Networks: for a critical genealogy of the social network topos
• Peter Thomas (Brunel University London, UK)
• Donatella Della Ratta (John Cabot University, Rome, Italy): Twenty-Twenty Critical Theory Toolkit: Take the Red Pill and live happily in the age of algorithmic (in)humanity

We live in times of deepening economic, political, social, ideological and ecological crises that are expressed in widespread precarious labour, the commodification of (almost) everything, the rise of new nationalism, populism and authoritarian forms of capitalism, and ecological destruction. The display of power and counter-power, domination and spaces of power struggles, and the commons and the commodification of the commons characterise modern society. Contradictions and antagonisms between the haves and the have-nots shape contemporary Europe and beyond. Media and communication are fields of conflict in this power struggle: they are power structures and sites of power struggles, able to support both the expansion and the commodification of the commons.

On reflection of the conference place, Turin was the city where Gramsci lived, was politically active and where he set up the weekly newspaper ‘L’Ordine Nuovo’ and acted as editor of the newspaper ‘Il Grido del Popolo’. Gramsci exerted influence on the study of culture and communication in society. ESA RN18’s mid-term conference in Turin is an occasion for media/communication/cultural sociologists to ask: What is the relevance of Gramsci and other approaches and thinkers inspired by Marx for the study of communication and society today?

ESA RN18 calls for contributions that shed new light on theoretical and analytical insights that help to shape critical media sociology in the 21st century, in particular, but not exclusively, addressed to any of the following:

1. Critical Media Sociology and Capitalism

2. Critical Media Sociology and Critical Theory

3. Critical Media Sociology and Critical Political Economy of Media, Information and Communication

4. Critical Media Sociology, Gramsci and Hegemony

5. Critical Media Sociology and Ideology Critique

6. Critical Media Sociology and Cultural and Communication Labour

7. Critical Media Sociology and Digital Labour

8. Critical Media Sociology, New Nationalism and Authoritarianism

9. Critical Media Sociology, Consumption and Production in Urban Processes

10. Critical Media Sociology, Patriarchy and Gender

11. Critical Media Sociology, Social Inequality, Identity and Subjectivities

12. Critical Media Sociology, Ecology and Climate

13. Critical Media Sociology, Democracy and the Public Sphere

14. Critical Media Sociology and the Left

15. Critical Media Sociology, the Commons and Alternatives

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION

• Abstract submission deadline: 1 April 2020
• Notification of selected abstracts: 15 May 2020
• Conference dates: 10-12 September 2020

Abstracts should be sent to:

Conference Organising Committee, rn18esasubmission@gmail.com

Abstracts should be sent as an e-mail attachment (400-600 words including title, author name(s), email address(es), and institutional affiliation(s)). Please insert the words “ESA RN18 Submission” in the subject. Although we do not provide a template for the abstract submission, we expect abstracts that include a rationale, research question(s), theoretical and/or empirical methods applied, and potential results and implications. Each abstract will be independently reviewed by two members of the ESA RN18 Board based on the call for papers.

CONFERENCE FEES

• 90 Euro for ESA RN18 members / 110 Euro for non ESA RN18 members (conference dinner included)
• 60 Euro for ESA RN18 members / 80 Euro for non ESA RN18 members (without conference dinner)
• 25 Euro for students (Bachelor and Master) (without conference dinner) / 55 Euro (conference dinner included)

The registration details, including the registration form, will be available on the conference website in spring 2020: https://rn18esa.wordpress.com

You can become a member of ESA RN18 by joining the ESA and subscribing to the network. The network needs material support, so we encourage you to join or renew your membership. The network subscription fee is only 10 Euro: https://www.europeansociology.org/membership/become-a-member

Participation support for 4 PhD students and/or independent researchers will be available. This will not cover all costs, but part of them (accommodation and full conference fee). Preference will be given to presentations that suit the overall conference topic.

If you want to apply for participation support, please send an extended abstract (600 - 800 words), biographical information (up to 250 words) and indicate this in your abstract submission by adding the sentence ‘I want to apply for participation support for PhD students / independent researchers’. The notifications about participation support will be sent out together with the notifications of acceptance or rejection of presentations. Additional information to prove your position as a PhD student or independent researcher will be requested.

CONFERENCE VENUE

The conference will be hosted by the Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning. The Department is located at the Castello del Valentino, Viale Mattioli 39, 10125 Turin, Italy (see: http://www.dist.polito.it/en).

The ESA RN18 organising committee is led by:

• Dr Marisol Sandoval, Coordinator of ESA RN18, City University London, UK
• Dr Thomas Allmer, Coordinator of ESA RN18, University of Innsbruck, Austria
• Dr Paško Bilić, Vice-Coordinator of ESA RN18, Institute for Development and International Relations, Croatia

The local organising committee is led by:

Dr Tatiana Mazali, Chair of the local organising committee, Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning, Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy

June 27-29, 2020

LCC International University, Klaipeda, Lithuania

Submission Deadline: February 29, 11: 59 p.m. (Pacific Time)

Host: Communication Association of Eurasian Researchers (CAER)

The Communication Association of Eurasian Researchers (CAER) welcomes submissions that focus on various aspects of communication in, with and about Eastern and Central Europe. This conference will serve as an opportunity to truly “internationalize” the field of communication, providing opportunities for transnational “bridge building”. This will have a plentitude of positive potentialities naturally percolate, producing new global connections, creativity, and commonalities in a world beset with division, delimitation, and difference.

Internationalization, as outlined by the National Communication Association and the American Association of State Universities and Colleges accomplishes the goals of making global citizens of our students, linking international academic communities, enhancing national and international security, and enlivening and expanding faculty research and scholarship.

Potential ideas for building bridges between communication scholars from the East and West could revolve around the following subjects (though this list is not limiting or exhaustive, but rather generative):

• Growing misunderstandings between governments
• Growing misunderstandings between governments and publics
• Misinformation, disinformation, and other manipulation through communication
• Declining trust in traditional authorities
• Polarization and radicalization
• Threats to peace and security
• Threats to human rights and dignity
• Future of democracy and democratization
• Lack of social justice
• Unsustainable practices
• Depletion of natural environment

We will engage the contemporary issues by discussing research contributions from international scholars with the ambition to:

• Establish a bridge to connect scholars from different paradigmatic, cultural, and geographical locations.
• Envision future bridges to engage communication scholars with broader communities to analyze, understand, and perhaps even mitigate some of the current issues.

CAER seeks to be a place where through scholarship we transcend many of the divisions of politics or geography, finding common ground through the language and practice of communication research.

To submit to the conference: Please submit a 250-word abstract of your paper by the deadline listed above. If you are submitting a panel (preference will be given to paper panels), with abstracts for each proposed presentation.

Submit your abstract by filling out this form: https://forms.gle/kEw4LYGAMi7DZ4qw9

• Katharina Lobinger
• Gabriele Balbi and
• Lorenzo Cantoni

Studies in Communication Sciences (SComS) is a peer-reviewed journal of communication and media research with platinum open access: https://www.hope.uzh.ch/scoms/

Issue 19.2 has just been published. It is mainly devoted to the 7th conference of the ECREA held in Lugano in 2018, but also includes a paper in the general section that examines the state of science communication research in the German-speaking countries.

 https://www.hope.uzh.ch/scoms/issue/view/186

Edited by Leena Mikkola & Maarit Valo

Workplace Communication provides insights into communication practices that enable efficient work, successful collaboration, and a functional work environment. Maintaining a productive and healthy workplace is predicated on interpersonal communication between people. In organizations, efficient communication is the foundation of all actions.

Contributors to this book cover communication issues in relationships, teams, meetings, leadership, competence, diversity, organizational entry, social support, and digital environments in the workplace. The book illustrates all these issues in detail by presenting both relevant research findings and their practical implications in working life.

Workplace Communication is ideal for current and future employees, directors, supervisors and managers, instructors, and consultants in knowledge-based expertise work. The book is appropriate for courses in organizational and leadership communication or interpersonal communication in a workplace setting.

Leena Mikkola is a Senior Lecturer in Communication in the Department of Language and Communication Studies, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her research focuses on leadership communication and interprofessional interaction in knowledge work.

Maarit Valo is Professor Emerita in the Department of Language and Communication Studies, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her research focuses on team communication, technology-mediated communication, and communication competence as elements of professional expertise.

More information: https://www.routledge.com/Workplace-Communication-1st-Edition/Mikkola-Valo/p/book/9780367185718

University of Westminster - School of Media and Communication, in the College of Design, Creative and Digital Industries

• Location: Harrow, London
• Salary: £69,365 Per annum
• Hours: Full Time
• Contract Type: Permanent
• Placed On: 29th January 2020
• Closes: 19th February 2020
• Job Ref: 50052068

This post is full time and permanent, working 35 hours per week

We are looking for an Assistant Head for the School of Media and Communication, to help deliver our new strategy.

The School of Media and Communication at the University of Westminster is looking for a strategic academic leader to join our successful School. This vacancy has been created by an internal promotion. It offers you the opportunity to maintain your research profile while developing your academic management experience.

The successful applicant will play a key role in the School’s leadership team, working closely with the Head of School to shape and implement School strategy, ensure our portfolio is innovative and stimulating, support and manage course teams, and help to maintain our high quality standards. You must be able to demonstrate your ability to manage teams and ensure an outstanding student experience. You will also have the opportunity to maintain your own teaching and research, including course leadership. This is an ideal post for an experienced academic who wants to develop their strategic role to the next level.

We deliver teaching that is research-informed, practice-led and based on action learning. Several of our courses were the first of their kind and we continue to innovate, developing new programmes that reflect the changing media and communication workplace. We teach a diverse, multicultural student population. We currently offer eight undergraduate and 13 postgraduate courses: you would be responsible for MAs including Media and Development, Diversity and the Media; Social Media Culture and Society; Media Management; PR; Media, Campaigning and Social Change and Global Media Business, as well as part of our undergraduate media portfolio.

The School incorporates the Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) which performed exceptionally well in the REF 2014, and we have more than 100 academic colleagues, researchers and technicians in our team. As part of the College of Design, Creative and Digital Industries, we work closely with colleagues from arts, architecture and computing, which brings a vibrant cross-disciplinary element to our teaching and research.

The University of Westminster is committed to supporting diversity and equal opportunities in our dealings with job applicants, students, staff and the public. We are fully committed to creating a stimulating and supportive learning and working environment based on mutual respect and trust. We value diversity and welcome applications from all members of the community regardless of gender, sexuality, disability or ethnic background.

For an informal discussion about this role please contact: Michaela O’Brien, Head of School, on M.Obrien@westminster.ac.uk

For further information and to apply for this post, please click apply and you will be redirected to our website.

Closing date: midnight on 19 February 2020

Interviews shortly after the closing date, date to be confirmed

Administrative contact (for queries only): Recruitment@westminster.ac.uk

Please note: We are unable to accept applications by email. All applications must be made online. CVs in isolation or incomplete application forms will not be accepted.

Embracing diversity and promoting equality.

Institute of Media and Journalism (IMeG), USI Università della Svizzera italiana

Applications received before 20 March 2020 will be given priority

Starting Date: October 2020 the latest

Research Project

The research project “The origins and spread of the World Wide Web. Rediscovering the early years of the Web inside and outside the CERN archive (1989-1995)” is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and for the first time will explore the WWW archives at CERN. This project will investigate how the Web was conceptualized, described and promoted within and outside CERN during its early stage, from the first proposal for information management written by Tim Berners-Lee in March 1989 to the consolidation of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) at MIT in 1995. To retrace the internal and external communication flows related to the early Web, this project adopts a twofold perspective: it looks at how the Web was spread and developed at CERN by its founding fathers Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau and by other relevant actors; it also investigates how selected newspapers and magazines discussed and framed the WWW in the same period.

Candidates’ profile

Two PhD candidates – We are looking for candidates with a MA degree in communication sciences, media studies or another relevant area, preferably with a specialization in one of the following fields: digital technologies, social studies of technology, media history, the political economy of the media, cultural studies and similar. Ideally, candidates are interested in digital media history and the history of the web and have an international outlook. The candidates will have considerable experience in quantitative and/or qualitative research methods (e.g. content analysis and ethnography).

One PostDoc position – We are looking for a PostDoc candidate with relevant experience in the field of media history, digital media and internet studies. Ideally, the candidate holds a PhD in digital media history, internet studies, or related fields and demonstrates an excellent track record of publications in relevant journals.

Requirements for all the positions - Fluency in English is required. The candidates are expected to present papers at scientific conferences and produce publications in high-ranking journals. They will collaborate to the development of the institute research agenda. On the teaching side, the candidates will work as teaching assistant in courses at either bachelor or master level, helping in the preparation of teaching materials and tutoring students.

Contract terms

The two PhD positions are for four years. In addition to a tuition fee waiver for the duration of the four‐year scholarship, a fully-funded PhD at USI includes an annual salary (Salary ranges, guidelines for employees in SNSF-funded projects). PhD scholarships are subject to annual review and successful completion of a progress report. The 50% PostDoc position is funded for one year with a grant of CHF 42.500.- gross. The workplace is USI Università della Svizzera italiana, located in Lugano, Switzerland. Research activities will be carried out predominantly in Lugano, Switzerland, where the appointees should take residence. Several visits at the CERN archive in Geneva and other international travels are expected. Therefore, availability to travel to other parts of Switzerland and abroad (for purposes of collaboration and research) is required.

The starting date is October 2020 at the latest.

The Application

Application should contain

1) a letter in which the applicants describe their research interests and the motivation to apply;

2) a complete CV;

3) the names and contact information of three references,

4) university grade transcripts and certificates, and for PhD students only

5) a 1-page PhD research project in the field of web/Internet history (i.e. meanings and metaphors of the web, web in long term perspective, web ideology and imaginaries, web and the other media, etc.).

Please send your application in electronic form as a single PDF or request for further information to prof. Gabriele Balbi, gabriele.balbi@usi.ch.

Applications received before 20 March 2020, will be given priority. However, applications will be received until the position is filled.

For more information see: https://content.usi.ch/sites/default/files/storage/attachments/press/press-call-imeg-2-phd-1-postdoc.pdf?_ga=2.27095934.2118040066.1580981234-1339804500.1569942574