CALL FOR CANDIDATES FOR THE 2023 PHD PROJECTS

The 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: 

 

1. 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@fsv.cuni.cz 

 

2. 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@fsv.cuni.cz
 

3. 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@fsv.cuni.cz  

 

4. 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@fsv.cuni.cz

 

5. 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@fsv.cuni.cz 

 

6. 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@fsv.cuni.cz 

 

7. 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@fsv.cuni.cz 

 

8. 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@fsv.cuni.cz 

 

9. 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@fsv.cuni.cz 
 

10. 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@fsv.cuni.cz 

 

11. 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@fsv.cuni.cz 

 

12. 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@fsv.cuni.cz 

 

Interested 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 and here. 

Please download the form for filling your dissertation project proposal here. 

For general questions, please contact the Centre of PhD Studies, at cds.iksz@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@fsv.cuni.cz, asap.