Tag: social media

U San Francisco job ad

Tenure-track, Assistant Professor, Communication and Technology
University of San Francisco
Department: Arts & Sciences
Job Type: Full-Time

Job Summary:
The Department of Communication Studies at the University of San Francisco invites applications for a tenure-track position in Communication and Technology. This position will be at the Assistant Professor level to begin in Fall 2013.

Job Responsibilities:
Teaching responsibilities will include, inter alia, a methods-level course (Qualitative and Interpretive Methods), a foundational course for the major (Communication and Culture, Rhetoric and the Public Sphere, or Communication and Everyday Life), and upper-division courses in the area of his/her expertise. Individuals with strong lines of research in the following areas are encouraged to apply: technology, social media, or critical/interpretive organizational communication. The Department continues to increase course offerings at the junior-senior level and looks to faculty to develop compelling new courses that complement our existing course offerings. Successful applicants will have training and teaching experience in Qualitative Research Methods and one of the foundational course areas, and should also detail what possible new upper division courses they could contribute to the Department. The teaching load at USF is two 4-unit courses per semester with an additional third 4-unit course every fourth semester (2-2-2-3 over two years).

Minimum Qualifications:
Qualifications include Ph.D. (ABD considered) in Communication or a related field earned by August 2013, university teaching experience, evidence of a strong commitment to teaching, evidence of a strong and ongoing scholarly research program, experience and willingness to work in a culturally diverse environment, and an understanding of and commitment to support the mission of the University and a dedication to service to both the Department and the University. Individuals with a record of securing grants or research funding are strongly encouraged to apply.

To apply for this faculty position, applicants must submit the following information:

1) Applicants must apply for this job on USF’s Human Resources website by creating a username and login. Once logged in, applicants must fill out the pertinent contact information.
2) Applicants must submit a letter of application, curriculum vitae, graduate transcripts, brief description of their research agenda, samples of published research, statement of teaching philosophy, evidence of teaching ability (including copies of official teaching evaluations), and three letters of recommendation. As many as possible of these elements should be submitted electronically to communicationsearch@usfca.edu as separate pdf documents.

Any remaining elements that cannot be submitted electronically should be mailed to:
Communication Studies, Associate Professor, Search Committee Chair, Evelyn Ho, Ph.D.
Department of Communication Studies
University of San Francisco
2130 Fulton St
San Francisco, CA 94117-1080

Applications must be received by October 1, 2012 in order to ensure full consideration.

The University of San Francisco is located in the heart of one of the world’s most innovative and diverse cities, and is home to a vibrant academic community of students and faculty who achieve excellence in their fields. Its diverse student body enjoys direct access to faculty, small classes and outstanding opportunities in the city itself. USF is San Francisco’s first university, and its Jesuit Catholic mission helps ignite a student’s passion for social justice and a desire to “Change the World From Here.”

EEO Policy
The University of San Francisco is an equal opportunity institution of higher education. As a matter of policy, the University does not discriminate in employment, educational services and academic programs on the basis of an individual’s race, color, religion, religious creed, ancestry, national origin, age (except minors), sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition (cancer-related and genetic-related) and disability, and the other bases prohibited by law. The University reasonably accommodates qualified individuals with disabilities under the law.

Save

U Michigan Dearborn job ad

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN – DEARBORN
Department of Language, Culture and Communication
Assistant Professor, Public Communication and Culture Studies

Assistant Professor of Public Communication and Culture Studies. Full time (6 courses per year), tenure track assistant professor with a specialization in public relations and social media, effective 9/1/12.

Specialization in public relations with an emphasis in social media applications for professional and advocacy settings.  Demonstrated achievement in conducting and publishing research on social media in any of a variety of contexts, for example, global PR, non-profit PR, health communication, environmental communication, and/or risk and crisis communication.

Experience in teaching public relations required. Experience in teaching social media theory and skills highly desirable.  Knowledge of social media applications in public relations context essential.

In addition to the teaching duties, the candidate will be expected to engage in program and course development relevant to areas such as the newly formed certificate program in public relations. Ph. D. from a recognized university communications doctorate program in hand by 9/1/2012.

For full consideration, submit letter of application, CV, unofficial transcripts, samples of recent scholarly work, and three letters of reference by November 15, 2011 to Chair, Communication Search Committee, Department of Language, Culture and Communication, University of Michigan-Dearborn, 4901 Evergreen Road, Dearborn, MI 48128.

The University of Michigan-Dearborn is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic faculty committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment and strongly encourages applications from minorities and women. The University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

Media and Crisis CFP

Call for Papers:
War of the Worlds to Social Media: Mediated Communication in Times of Crisis
Editors:
Joy Elizabeth Hayes, The University of Iowa
Kathleen Battles, Oakland University
Wendy Hilton-Morrow, Augustana College
Publisher:  Peter Lang

The year 2013 marks the 75th anniversary of the 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast and provides an occasion to reflect on the possibilities and limitations of mediated communication in times of crisis.  The broadcast is remembered for causing a “panic” in over a million listeners who took the broadcast to be a genuine report of a coming invasion.  Since then, War of the Worlds has come to symbolize the power of mass media during times of crisis.

We solicit scholarly essays that take this notorious broadcast as a starting point, or point of reference, in investigating the continuities and discontinuities between old and new media and their use by citizens in times of crisis.  The broadcast event deserves attention in its own right as a milestone in media history, and because it highlights a number of issues that remain important in 21st century communication practices:  the problem of authenticity in mediated communication; the aesthetics of persuasion; the importance of social context; and the dynamic role of listeners, viewers and users in talking back to media producers and institutions.  We seek essays that bring an historical and theoretical perspective to bear on the question of media power and the ability of citizens to hear and be heard during times of crisis.

We are looking for essays that address a number of questions within three broad areas:
1) War of the Worlds and media power in times of crisis
How has the War of the Worlds broadcast served media institutions, regulators, audiences, and scholars as a touchstone for conceptualizing media power and audience agency in the 20th and 21st centuries?
In what ways do recent changes in media, especially the rise of the Internet and social media, invite us to reconsider the lessons of the War of the Worlds event?
How and why does the War of the Worlds broadcast continue to surface in popular discourse about the role of media in times of social crisis?
How have the meanings of the War of the Worlds story and event changed over time, from its original moment, through the Cold War, the decades of the 1980s and 1990s, and in the post-9/11 decade?
2) War of the Worlds, broadcasting conventions, and crisis
*       How was War of the Worlds shaped by – and how did it shape – the emerging broadcast conventions and genres of the 1930s?  Does an examination of crime dramas, horror stories, reality-based reenactments, music broadcasts, or other radio genres shed new light on the meaning of War of the Worlds?
*       In what ways did the broader social crisis of the 1930s influence the form and content of radio genres and broadcast conventions?  To what extent is “crisis” an enduring or structural aspect of broadcast address?
*       Has broadcast coverage of specific moments of political or social crisis (like the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Iranian Hostage Crisis, 9/11, etc.) directly or indirectly drawn on War of the Worlds as a point of reference?
3) War of the Worlds and the promise of social media
*       How are social media transforming the parameters and practices of citizenship, communication and crisis in the 21st century?
*       How do “new media” (web casts, Youtube videos, Twitter feeds, etc.) make use of “old media” conventions, especially in the case of crisis communication?
*       How important is the mimicking or mining of broadcasting genres for communication via social networking and Web 2.0?
*       Have we finally outrun the legacy of the War of the World broadcast, or are we still haunted by its enduring presence in our digital mediascape?

Submission Timeline
Nov. 25, 2011:  Paper abstracts are due to the editors (500 words)
Dec. 16, 2011:  Paper selections announced
March 16, 2012:  Extended abstracts or outlines due to the editors.  Interested participants submit panels to the AEJMC Conference in Chicago April 1 for presentation August 9-12, 2012
July 16, 2012:  Paper draft due
August 17, 2012:  Final papers due to editors

For more information and to submit an abstract, please contact:
Joy Elizabeth Hayes (joy-hayes@uiowa.edu)
Associate Professor, Communication Studies
Co-Director, Latin American Studies Program
147 Becker Bldg., The University of Iowa,
Iowa City, IA 52242 (319) 353-2265

Kathleen Battles
Assistant Professor
Department of Communication and Journalism
Oakland University
2200 N. Squirrel Rd.
Rochester, MI 48309-4401
battles@oakland.edu

Marquette Asst Prof

The Strategic Communication Department in the J. William and Mary Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor beginning August 20, 2012. The Diederich College of Communication includes majors in advertising, broadcast and electronic communication, communication studies, corporate communication, journalism, performing arts and public relations. A $28 million gift from the Diederich family has made possible renovations of Johnston Hall, the college’s home; laboratory and studio technology; and generous support for faculty development and travel.

Duties and Responsibilities: Teach graduate and/or undergraduate courses in the public relations field such as, Public Relations Writing, Multicultural and International Strategic Communication, Integrated Marketing Communication, Crisis Communication, PR Strategies, Emerging and Social Media, Digital Communication and Health Communication. Engage in a rigorous research program, advise undergraduate and graduate students and provide service as requested to the college and/or university.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Ph.D. required. Applicants should have Ph.D. in communication or closely related field with knowledge base in public relations or strategic communication and demonstrated potential for teaching excellence and high quality research. Competence in digital technologies and social media and professional experience in the PR industry preferred. Ability to teach in advertising is a plus.
Applications must include: 1) A cover letter that addresses interest in and qualifications for the position, including a statement explaining how the candidate’s teaching and research will contribute to the department; 2) A curriculum vitae; 3) Evidence of teaching, and 4) Names and contact information for a minimum of three references.

Applications must be submitted through the Marquette University Human Resources website. Review of applications will begin on October 15, 2011 and continue until the position is filled. Marquette University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.

Global Media Journal call

CALL FOR PAPERS

Global Media Journal-American Edition – Special Spring 2012 Issue
“The State of Media Conglomeration: Synergy, Power, Resistance”
Deadline for Submissions: October 15, 2011

The focus of this special issue of the Global Media Journal-American Edition:  Is “Big Media” dead and buried, or alive and prospering-or both?

In May 2009, Newsweek magazine eulogized “Big Media” in the aftermath of Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes’ announcement that the corporation would spin off AOL, noting that “the long-suffering Vertically Integrated Media Conglomerate (1989-2009) passed away” and suggesting that synergy was an “overhyped” business model.

Yet in early 2011, the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice approved Comcast’s 51% stake in General Electric’s NBC Universal, creating what the New York Times called, “a media powerhouse.” Comcast, the largest cable company in the United States, longed to own a major media company before its purchase of NBC Universal, as evidenced by several failed attempts to purchase Disney in recent years.  Furthermore, in 2011, AT&T announced the purchase of T-Mobile for $39 billion, which, if approved by governmental regulatory agencies, will create the largest mobile phone company and again consolidate the industry into two main players.  On the other hand, Google’s attempted purchase of social shopping site Groupon for a price of $6 billion was rejected, largely acknowledged as due to fears by Groupon that the acquisition would invoke anti-trust action toward Google.  Elsewhere, though, the largest media conglomerates, including Disney, Viacom, News Corporation, and Time Warner, appeared to be continuing their quest to purchase digital and traditional media outlets.

In light of these paradoxes, articles for this special issue may address (but are not limited to) matters such as:  the use of new synergistic strategies to create barriers to entry, corporate power and media, the use of social media technologies as resistance to dominant corporate practices and content, consolidation in the telecommunications industries, the viability of transnational and transindustrial media corporations, and alternative democratic communication systems.

Graduate Student Research:  In keeping with the mission of the journal to provide opportunities for graduate student publication, this special issue of Global Media Journal will have a graduate research section.  For submission guidelines, see this site. All papers must be submitted via electronic attachment.

Please direct all inquiries and submissions to Dr. Jennifer Proffitt, Florida State University, jproffitt@fsu.edu, and Graduate student submissions and queries should be directed to Dr. Doug Tewksbury, Niagara University, dtewksbury@niagara.edu.

Social Media/Political Change JoC call

Journal of Communication
Submission Call for Special Issue on “Social Media and Political Change”

Guest co-Editor:  Dr. Philip N. Howard, University of Washington
Editor:  Dr. Malcolm Parks, University of Washington

The “Arab Spring” as well as recent events in other parts of the world have demonstrated that new communication technologies, such as mobile phones and the internet, are simultaneously new tools for social movement organizing and new tools for surveillance by authoritarian regimes.  Though communication theory necessarily transcends particular technologies, software, and websites, digital media have clearly become an important part of the toolkit available to political actors.  These technologies are also becoming part of the research toolkit for scholars interested in studying the changing patterns in interpersonal, political, and global communication.

How have changing patterns of interpersonal, political, and global communication created new opportunities for social movements, or new means of social control by political elites?  The role of social media in new patterns of communication is especially dramatic across North Africa and the Middle East, where decades of authoritarian rule have been challenged—with varying degrees of success.  Social media—broadly understood as a range of communication technologies that allow individuals to manage the flow of content across their own networks of family, friends and other social contacts—seem to have had a crucial role in the political upheaval and social protest in several countries.  Mass communication has not ceased to be important, but is now joined with a variety of other media with very different properties that may reinforce, displace, counteract, or create fresh new phenomena.

This Special Issue seeks original qualitative, comparative, and quantitative research on social media and political change, particularly as related to events in North Africa and the Middle East, but we are also receptive to work on political change in other parts of the developing world.  We would welcome manuscripts from a diverse range of methodologies, and covering diverse communities and cultures.  Methodological innovations or mixed method approaches are particularly encouraged, and manuscripts on the interpersonal and intergroup aspects of social movement organizing are central interest.  Whatever the approach, our goal is to select manuscripts that are grounded in the actual use of social media in promoting or resisting political change in developing countries and regions.  If you have questions regarding the appropriateness of a potential submission, please contact Prof. Philip N. Howard (pnhoward@uw.edu).

Deadline for Submission is August 15th, 2011, through http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jcom.  Manuscripts must confirm to all JOC guidelines, including the use of APA 6th edition format and a limit of 30 pages total manuscript length.  Please indicate your desire to be considered for the special issue in your cover letter.

Save

Social media: Summer school

Making Sense of Social Media: Empirical Research and Future Directions
Swabian Alb, August 1 – 4, 2011
1st joint Summer School of the Leibniz Graduate School for Knowledge Media Research and the ScienceCampus Tübingen

The Leibniz Graduate School for Knowledge Media Research and the ScienceCampus Tübingen are pleased to announce their first joint Summer School for talented junior researchers. The Summer School addresses empirically oriented psychologists and social scientists dealing with questions in the field of Web 2.0 and social media. It presents a unique opportunity for young researchers to meet fellow researchers and learn from outstanding scientific leaders by developing new research ideas. Across three parallel workshop tracks (about 10 participants each), the Summer School »Making sense of social media« provides the framework to discuss recent developments from a scientific point of view, share ideas and gain insights into how we as a research community can make sense of social media.

Keynote Speakers:
Robert Kraut, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Judith Donath, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Track Leaders:
Sonja Utz, VU University, Amsterdam, NL
Track I: Learning about Others – Interpersonal Relationships
Dan Cosley, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Track II: Learning from Others – Social Navigation
Jan Van Aalst, The University of Hong Kong, RC
Track III: Learning with Others – Knowledge Building

Track I
Learning about Others – Interpersonal Relationships
Social networking sites have become the most popular form of social media. They offer potentials to maintain, extend and manage interpersonal relationships both in private and professional life. Social networks and communities rely on users’ willingness to learn about the activities and interests of others, and by keeping others informed about one’s own offline and online life. The management of interpersonal relationships touches issues such as social identity, strong and weak social ties, and mutual trust. This workshop investigates processes that foster or inhibit the management of interpersonal relationships in social networks. The aim of the workshop is to build the ground for theory-driven development of design principles for online communities.


Track II
Learning from Others – Social Navigation
Users can be easily overwhelmed by the amount of available information in the Web. Therefore, some forms of social media are geared at helping users in finding their way. Social navigation is a principle to address this issue, and it rests on collaborative principles: many users leave information signposts (e.g. via ratings, profiles, and behavioral data), thereby collectively making other users aware of valuable pieces of information. Typical applications that harness the power of the collective through social navigation are recommender systems, awareness tools, and voting systems. They have an impact both on information selection as well as processing of information. This workshop addresses psychological and technological principles that make social navigation click.

Track III
Learning with Others – Knowledge Building
The concept of social media is currently spreading in the areas of learning and education. In accordance to constructivist learning principles, Web 2.0 users now actively build rather than just acquire knowledge and information. Knowledge building constitutes a form of collaborative learning, and it becomes increasingly pervasive in schools, organizations, and everyday life. In this workshop it will be investigated how knowledge building can best be supported in social media contexts. It aims at getting an understanding of the principles that underlie collaborative learning and knowledge building.

Program
August 1, 2011 Arrival and keynote presentations in plenary session
August 2, 2011 I Workshop sessions I Working on theoretical issues and research questions
August 3, 2011 I Workshop sessions II Discussing research designs and application fields
August 4, 2011 Presentation of results in plenary session


Participants
The Summer School is designed for PhD students and post-doctoral researchers within two years after completion of their thesis in psychology or social sciences.

Application
Please submit an extended abstract of your research (500-1000 words), a short statement about your motivation to take part in an interdisciplinary workshop, including a preference of which track you want to join, and a curriculum vitae, including your subject and degree. Please send your application to Susann Pfeiffer: s.pfeiffer(aτ)iwm-kmrc.de.
The deadline for application is May 1, 2011.

Organizational details
Program, accommodation and lodging costs will be covered for all participants. The Summer School will be hosted in a hotel at the Swabian Alb. A shuttle bus will be provided from Tübingen for arrival and departure. Additional funding for travel costs can be provided for a limited number of participants. All Information you find in the flyer.

Contact
Susann Pfeiffer
Managing Director
ScienceCampus Tübingen
c/o Knowledge Media Research Center Konrad-Adenauer-Str. 40, D-72072 Tübingen
e-mail: s.pfeiffer(aτ)iwm-kmrc.de


Presented by
Knowledge Media Research Center
Leibniz Graduate School for Knowledge Media Research
ScienceCampus Tübingen