PhD Scholarship in Media Studies/ Visual Images of Conflicts

Published by Ivana Petriskova

Deadline: 16 November 2016
Open to: candidates with a background in media studies, communication studies or similar, who hold a two-year Master’s degree
Scholarship: covering both enrollment fee and salary

Description

The Department of Media, Cognition, and Communication, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, invites applications for a 3-year PhD scholarship. The successful candidate will be situated within the Images of Conflict, Conflicting Images (ICCI) core group project supported by the Velux Foundation. The scholarship is expected to begin February 1, 2017, or as soon as possible thereafter. Focus on three research questions:

(1) How do participants in conflicts make use of images, and how and to which extent do they challenge the traditional power-axis of state-media?
(2) How are images distributed as part of conflicts and through which media, platforms and networks?
(3) What are the genres of images from conflicts and how are they ascribed meaning through (re)contextualization?

Within this framework, the PhD project will investigate how participants in conflicts produce and/or distribute images for purposes such as propaganda, recruiting followers or creating counter-narratives to the ones presented by the news media. One possible PhD project would be to study how extremists, e.g., ‘foreign fighters’, terrorists or insurgents, operating in one or more countries in the Middle East, construct collective identities and attempt to strengthen support for their cause by communicating via self-made videos, which are distributed on YouTube and similar platforms. However, we also invite applicants to propose other projects within the overall framework of ICCI.

Eligibility

  • Applicants need to hold a two-year Master’s degree (120 ECTS) or equivalent;
  • Must have submitted their thesis at the time of application, to the extent the thesis forms part of their Master program;
  • Candidates with a background in media studies, communication studies or similar, preferably with knowledge of visual communication/aesthetics and conflicts as well as experience with qualitative and/or quantitative research methods;
  • All interested candidates regardless of gender, age, ethnic origin or religion.

Scholarship

The PhD candidate will be an integral part of the ICCI research group. This means that the PhD candidate will participate both in formal project events and in informal deliberations throughout the candidate’s affiliation with the project. It is expected that the PhD candidate will be present, part of the team and partake in the activities of ICCI on a daily basis.

How to apply?

Applications must be submitted via the electronic application system. The following enclosures to the application must be submitted:

  • A copy of the applicant’s Master’s degree diploma along with a transcript of records;
  • Bachelor’s degree diploma and a transcript of records;
  • If the MA diploma and/or examination records are in another language than English, German, French, Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish, please include a translation into either of these languages in your application.
  • Documentation of English proficiency;
  • Curriculum Vitae;
  • Project description (must not exceed 12,000 characters).

For any further questions, please contact the PhD administration by e-mail: phdadmission@hum.ku.dk. If you have specific questions concerning your submitted PhD application, please use the following e-mail address: jobvacancy@pxs.hum.ku.dk

For more information please visit the official website.

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