Tag: University of Washington

Study in Ghana: Information & Communication Technologies

Study information and communication technologies in Ghana this summer

Applications are open for the study-abroad seminar: “Experience Research: Communication Technologies and Development in Southern Ghana.” If you’ve ever wondered whether information and communication technologies (ICTs) are really changing lives in African countries, this is an opportunity to find out for yourself. Design and carry out a research project to answer questions you have about the role of ICTs in socio-economic development. You do not need to have research experience, and we welcome both graduate and undergraduate students.

The program will be 4 weeks long and takes place from August 26 – September 25, 2016. The course may satisfy research methods or international development requirements for some departments. Currently at the University of Washington it satisfies the research methods requirement for Informatics students (INFO 470) and qualifies as an elective for the International Development Certificate Program (IDCP). We are happy to work with you and your advisor to determine if the program could satisfy requirements for other courses.

Application Deadline is February 29, 2016.

Visit the program website to apply or get additional information. For questions, contact Araba Sey.

U Washington job ad: Communication and Difference

The University of Washington seeks a tenure track assistant professor in the area of Communication and Difference in the Department of Communication.

Difference, a perceived deviation from traditionally understood norms and patterns, is central to all of our lives. Whether we move in the margins or at the center of cultures, we live difference in a variety of overlapping, multifaceted, and distinctly experiential ways. Difference is increasingly the norm because of demographic trends, global flows, and technological developments, but scholars have more work to do to understand the myriad factors affecting and reflecting difference and the ways in which it continues to be tied to inequality across cultures. The Department of Communication includes several faculty who are involved in research, teaching, and service related to communication and difference, and we seek a colleague who will complement these faculty. Candidates may focus on race, gender, class, religion, disability, economic difference, sexuality, age, and culture, or other sources of difference; we are particularly interested in work that speaks to the intersectionality of some of these. We encourage applicants from all epistemological traditions, including social scientific, critical/cultural, and rhetoric. Candidates should have interests in at least two of our departmental areas of conceptual emphasis (for these please see our website). As such, we expect that applicants will differ from one another in the communicative contexts they tend to study. Experience mentoring underrepresented students is highly valued for this position.

The start date for this position is September 16, 2015. Applicants should have the Ph.D. degree in Communication or closely related discipline by the start of appointment. University of Washington faculty members engage in teaching, research, and service. Candidates are expected to conduct research, teach four courses during a three-quarter academic year, and supervise graduate students at the master’s and doctoral levels. The position involves teaching in the Department of Communication’s undergraduate and graduate programs. Candidates must submit (1) a letter of application that addresses research and teaching interests (on the latter please indicate fit with current courses and/or suggestions for potential new ones); (2) a curriculum vitae; and (3) names and contact information for three references. Application materials are to be submitted online. Review of applications will begin October 15, 2014. Inquiries should be directed to the search committee chair, Dr. Valerie Manusov.

The University of Washington is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer. The University is building a culturally diverse faculty and staff and strongly encourages applications from women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and protected veterans.

Louisa Edgerly – micro grant

Louisa EdgerlyDr. Louisa Edgerly, an independent scholar with a Ph.D. from the University of Washington, received one of the National Communication Association’s micro grants in Fall 2012 to travel to Brazzaville, in the Republic of Congo, where she will study the work of the International Conservation and Education Fund (INCEF), a non-profit organization that produces and distributes films on the topics of conservation and health in central Africa. INCEF’s main focus is on reaching rural audiences in remote areas, with largely illiterate populations. They bring their films to remote villages, screen them for the entire local population, and then use dialogue and discussion to enhance the learning experience initiated by viewing the films. The Republic of Congo is a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic country, and INCEF uses local speakers and local languages in their films, with the aim of connecting with local audiences. This local approach to communication aligns very closely with the approach of the ethnography of communication, and with the aims and interests of the University of Washington’s Center for Local Strategies Research, which is collaborating on the project.

The main goals of this first trip to Congo are to gain familiarity with the region, make closer contacts with INCEF’s staff, and make some initial field observations of INCEF’s dialogues and film screenings. As a pilot project for a longer-term project, this first field trip will allow Dr. Edgerly to build key local contacts, refine her overall research questions, and assess the feasibility of future field projects. In addition, this first trip will reveal what may prove to be some key terms and norms among the community of health and conservation communicators working in Congo. This information will be valuable in the longer term project of studying the communicative norms in the global health and development community.

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