Ph.D. course in Bergen: Technology and the Public Sphere
This Ph.D-course looks very interesting, but I can't come, as eh, I will most probably stay in Australia for three months after the aoIR-conference... (more later).
But oh, I would love to be there. Andrew Feenberg and Brian Winston are coming. The course is free of charge, includes lunch every day, and non-Norwegian students will be given a travel refund of 300 euro
Bergen, November 14-17, 2006
The relationship between media technologies and the public sphere is increasingly important. We will explore it theoretically and empirically during four days of intense academic activity.
Before the Bergen event we will close-read three seminal theorists. John Dewey was an American pragmatist who wrote about technology and the public sphere in the 1880s to 1930s. Marshall McLuhan was the hyper-sensitive medium theorist with oracle-status, writing in the 1950s to 1980s. Jürgen Habermas is the acclaimed wise man of the European public sphere, and has theorized its role in civil society since the 1960s. A range of articles from contemporary writers will also be discussed, among them James Carey, Chantal Mouffe and Graham Murdock.
In Bergen we will discuss the main topics during plenary sessions and debates, in parallel panel sessions and study groups, and in the evenings. Professor Andrew Feenberg (Canada) and professor Brian Winston (UK) have confirmed their presence during the course. They will give plenary lectures and take part in discussions.
For a detailed presentation of the Ph.D. course, see Kulturteknikker.
Practical information:
Doctoral students from all European countries are invited. The course is free of charge. Non-Norwegian students will be given a travel refund of 300 euro upon completion of the course. Lunch and coffee are served every day complementary of the organizers.
All students must write papers related to our topics. A first draft must be written before November 1st, and after reviews and critique during the seminar, the final version should be handed in by January 1st 2007. The course gives 10 ECTS points for the participants, and a diploma will be issued for those who complete.
If you are interested, please contact chief organizer Lars.Nyre@infomedia.uib.no before September 1st, 2006, and include a paper abstract of 500 words. The abstract should contain a description of your area of interest, method and theory. The criteria for selection of participants will be strictly academic, and the list of participants will be published on September 2nd, 2006.
The doctoral course is organized by Cultural Techniques (a research project in the Norwegian Council of Research), with financial support from the Department of Information Science and Media Studies and the Social Science Faculty at the University of Bergen, Norway. The course is promoted under the umbrella of the European Communication Research and Education Association.
6 Comments:
I won't be at aoIR but I'll surely try to be in bergen! :-).
I have to work on how to connect my phD topic with the Public Sphere concept but this doesn't seem to hard to me.
That looks fantastic, perfect for me - I use Feenberg's Questioning Technology quite a bit, and also Murdock's stuff on cultural citizenship, AND Dewey's 'pragmatic aesthetics'. Shame it's EU only :(
You should go and blog all about it for our (OK, my) benefit. did you get your AoIR paper in yet? I'm still very much drafting, gave up on the early deadline for the PhD award some time ago.
I hope it turns out to be a very good course and that you'll be able to go Luca. I can't attend it, as I have been secretely (i.e. not shouting out in my blog) trying to arrange to stay in Brisbane until Christmas, and now it seems I will. I'm not going to be bothering you to much Jean, I know you're about to submit your thesis early next year.
well, yes, we hope I'm submitting early next year. If the thesis-writing fairy would stop being so lazy and write it for me...
PS what are you going to be doing in BrisVegas all that time? We'll be like neighbours!
Jean, your very nice colleague Axel helped me and forwarded my request for a research visit at QUT and the Creative Industries Faculty, so eh, yes we'll be like neighbours!
And I'm getting somewhere with my aoIR-paper. I could perhaps submit it for the early deadline for PhD award, but... don't think so. I need to put it away for a week or so, and then spend some more time with it. I have a few other papers which I seriously need to be working on.
Brilliant! Looking forward to some interesting collaborations, good luck with your paper/s.
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