New doctor at the ICSJ! Muhammet Ali Dokumaci successfully defended his dissertation on discursive constructions of home in Prague’s student dormitories and hostels

PhD student at the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism, Muhammet Ali Dokumaci, successfully defended his PhD dissertation on March 9, 2026. The title of his PhD dissertation is “The Discursive Constructions of the Home in Prague Student Dormitories and Hostels: Hegemony, Counter-Hegemony, and Liminality”. 

His research focuses on the discursive constructions of the home through three different dimensions: hegemonic, counter-hegemonic, and liminal, based on the analysis of two student dormitories and three hostels in Prague.

The study is theoretically grounded in Laclau & Mouffe’s discourse theory, accompanied by a discourse-theoretical re-reading of the social space and home literature, which allowed for the design of a comprehensive theoretical framework addressing the hegemonic, counter-hegemonic, and liminal constructions of both social space and home.

The research deployed a synthesis of Discourse-Theoretical Analysis (DTA) and ethnography as its methods. Following the ethnographic field research, data from participant observations, field notes, online and onsite visual materials, and 25 in-depth interviews with a total of 35 diverse participants were analyzed. This analysis shows how the hegemonic construction of the home is articulated with house and control, while the counter-hegemonic with nomadism and collectivism, and the liminal with temporariness, complexities of shared domestic living, and coping strategies in the liminal home.

The analysis highlights how the same student dormitories and hostels can be constructed as liminal homes, framed as spaces of limbo through negative articulations, while also being constructed as places of counter-hegemony through positive articulations of freedom and minimalism, despite intersecting challenges. And the hegemonic home persists as an idealized form, whether desired or rejected.

Congratulations, and we wish Muhammet Ali Dokumaci continued success in his professional life!