Erasmus U Rotterdam: PhD Studentship in Doing Diversity (Netherlands)

“Studentships“Doing Diversity: Street-level decisions in super diverse neighborhoods Ph.D. Studentship, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands. Deadline: 31 July 2025.

New levels of migration and mobility have changed the face of European cities, such as Malmö. This had led to changing ‘superdiverse’ social realities, especially in ‘majority-minority’ neighbourhoods. The novelty of this emerging situation creates challenging circumstances particularly for ‘street-level workers’ such as teachers, police officers and healthcare professionals. This demands renewed understanding of the decision-making process of street-level workers.

This PhD project ‘ICONIC’ (‘International Comparative research Of street-level decisions in superdiverse Neighbourhoods In Context’) funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO Vidi grant) and led by dr. Mark van Ostaijen, will comparatively study street-level decisions in superdiverse neighbourhoods and investigate whether and why these decisions differ between Malmö, Aarhus, Bilbao, Marseille, Rotterdam and Antwerp.

This 4-year PhD project is grounded in Rotterdam, but in strong collaboration with Malmö University. Therefore, you will be based at Erasmus University Rotterdam but for the fieldwork phase, collaboration is ensured with Malmö Institute for Migration Studies (MIM) which provides with the support base to conduct qualitative fieldwork in Malmö and Aarhus. As such, this PhD project does not require additional funding, nor means to conduct fieldwork, which is all covered by project funding.

Next to qualitative and ethnographic research skills it is important that the PhD candidate holds Swedish, English (and Danish) language skills.

A second studentship is available for the same project, but with fieldwork in Bilbao and Marseille. In that case, it is important that the PhD candidate holds Spanish (Basque), English (and French) language skills.

Erasmus U: Studentship in Cultural Heritage (the Netherlands)

“Studentships“

PhD position in Cultural Heritage, School of History, Culture and Communication, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Deadline: 30 July 2023.

The Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication at the Erasmus University Rotterdam is pleased to announce a challenging PhD position that delves into community engagements with colonial heritage sites. Although tourism in relation to contested heritage and colonial heritage has been studied from a wide range of perspectives, less attention has been given to the engagement of indigenous communities to sites explicitly concerned with colonial histories. Additionally, the consequences of involuntary loss from these sites (e.g., due to colonial looting), and the influence of changing narratives surrounding these sites, are often omitted. Taking a multi-actor comparative approach, and by actively involving indigenous communities in the research process, this PhD position will produce novel theoretical and empirical contributions to the study of colonial heritage and tourism.

Candidates interested in this PhD position are to propose specific case-studies and/or regions relating to the research questions: How do indigenous communities negotiate, understand, and engage with colonial heritage sites? How have broader discussions of indigenous rights and representation in modern society been impacted by the preservation and interpretation of the material and immaterial properties of colonial sites? And how do colonial heritage sites shape the ongoing interactions between indigenous and non-indigenous communities?

 

CFP ECREA: Diaspora, Migration & the Media (Netherlands)

ConferencesCall for abstracts: Diaspora, Migration and the Media: Transnational Families and Media Practices: Methods, Ethics and Critical Approaches, ECREA International and Intercultural Communication Sections Conference, 7-9 December 2023, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands. Abstract Deadline: 28 April 2023.

Transnational families, through their ability to cross borders, connect cultures, expand the meanings and limits of national belonging, and negotiate the cultural, linguistic and psychological challenges of migration, have become exemplary models of “mobile lives” (Elliott and Urry, 2010). Transnational families offer insights into the contradictions and complexities of interculturality (Dervin, 2017) as a lived reality permeating more and less intimate interpersonal experiences. The centrality of transnational family communication in today’s world is enhanced by everyday digital media usage, the ubiquity of portable devices and the new technical affordances of platforms and apps. Transnational families therefore help us apprehend historical transformations connected to mediated experiences of crossing borders and interculturality.

While the attention of scholars has intensified around how transnational families both shape and are shaped by the (urban) spaces they leave and enter, organizers contend that more attention needs to be paid to the methodological and ethical challenges researchers face when studying transnational families and communities. This conference provides an opportunity for scholars to discuss the assumptions underpinning their research and to share critical reflections on the ethical responsibilities that researchers have when observing transnational families and communities, including through digital platforms and their connection with mobility processes in and through cities.

They invite scholars and PhD researchers to submit abstract proposals that engage with new theoretical, methodological and ethical approaches to the study of transnational families and their communication practices in Europe and beyond. They also welcome submissions that can provide historical perspectives into the (dis)continuities characterizing transnational families and their media practices. Contributions that call into question Eurocentric forms of knowledge through decolonial narratives and frameworks are especially welcome.

PHD Project: Media Tourism in China (The Netherlands)

“Studentships“

PHD position in the project “Media tourism in China: A local perspective,” Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Deadline: 7 February 2021.

The application is now open for a Chinese student who wishes to study at Erasmus University Rotterdam (The Netherlands) with a scholarship from the China Scholarship Council (CSC).

This PhD project seeks to answer the two following main research questions: How do locals perceive the representations of their places of residency in popular culture? How do these portrayals shape locals’ place-attachment, their self-identity and, also, their interactions with media tourists? China presents an excellent location to explore the above-mentioned questions due to the long tradition of media tourism in the country, the current boom of domestic popular media, and the lack of research that thoroughly explores the relationship between media representation and destination images in Asia.

Methodologically, the investigation will take a qualitative approach. Textual analysis will be used to analyze the mediated representations in a selection of popular culture texts filmed in well-established filming locations such as the Fujian Province. Participants will explore, for instance, which spaces have been represented and which ones have been excluded, and what type of locals have been portrayed and which ones have been left out. Focus groups and participatory methods (e.g. photo/video voice) will be used to reach a deep understanding about locals’ interpretations of those portrayals, as well as the consequences that these depictions have on their identities and on their relationship with media tourists.