The Netherlands: PhD Positions New Media, The University of Twente
Bursa Beasiswa Newsletter
Netherlands is looking for Two Ph.D. Students (M/F, fulltime)
Two PhD students for the international research project: Evaluating the
Cultural Quality of New Media Towards a Philosophy of Human-Media
Relations.
Women are strongly encouraged to apply.
The two PhD positions are part of a prestigious and exciting
international research project in philosophy named "Evaluating the
Cultural Quality of New Media". This five-year project, which will
include five researchers and will involve collaboration with leading
international scholars and research centres, has as its aim to develop
a framework for better normative analyses of new media and new media
culture, especially in relation to their contribution to the quality of
life ("the good life") and the quality of society. Project leader
is Dr. Philip Brey. Two postdocs have already been appointed to the
project: dr. A. Briggle, PhD, University of Colorado and dr. E. Spence,
PhD, Sydney University. The project will be part of a new international
Centre of Excellence in Ethics and Technology of the departments of
philosophy of Twente University, Delft University of Technology and
Eindhoven University of Technology.
Applications are accepted for three different projects:
Ph.D Project 1 - The Quality of Virtual Environments and Tools This
subproject aims to perform a philosophical analysis of the implications
of the ever increasing virtualization for the quality of life and of
society. Virtualization is defined as the digital production of
interactive structures, whether graphical or symbolic, that mirror
things and events in the physical world. What are the implications of
this process for moral and social identity, embodiment, and conceptions
of reality, and how can these implications be normatively evaluated?
Ph.D. Project 2 - The Quality of Computer-Mediated Social Relations
This subproject focuses on computer-mediated social relations and
practices in friendships, love relationships, and community life.
Increasingly, the social world is held together by electronic networks.
More and more, communication, social relationships, and community
formation take place over such networks. The aim of the project is to
perform a philosophical analysis of the implications of this trend for
the quality of life and of society.
Ph.D. Project 3 - Societal Appraisals of the Cultural Quality of New
Media This subproject will perform a study of appraisals of new media
that are made by representatives of major ideologies or worldviews,
with the aim of assessing how they relate to conceptions of the good
life and the good society held by these ideologies. It will study
liberal, communitarian, conservative, religious and postmaterialist
evaluations of new media, and will try to assess which ideologies see
themselves as winners and losers in the development of a new media
culture. It will also provide critiques of current ideological stances
on new media.