The ZeMKI ZeMKI Doctoral Program What is the ZeMKI doctoral program? The ZeMKI doctoral program deals with media and communication change in the present and past. In profoundly mediatized societies, popular culture, politics, everyday life, education, religion and art are changing. Not only do changing digital infrastructures play a role here, but also innovative practices of media use and datafication. As phenomena in these subject areas are multi-layered, the doctoral program as a whole is based on a broad interdisciplinary approach in order to strengthen the respective disciplinary doctorates. The joint exchange from different perspectives promotes understanding and enables creative approaches to solutions and research, also in each individual discipline. The aim of the ZeMKI doctoral program at the University of Bremen is to provide cooperative and collegial support for its doctoral candidates. Participants must be enrolled as doctoral candidates at the University of Bremen and be supervised by professors working at the ZeMKI. The doctoral program is based on a binding doctoral agreement, it separates supervision from assessment and gives doctoral candidates broad opportunities to develop and complete their dissertation projects in a constructive environment. Which disciplines are involved in the doctoral program? The disciplines involved in the doctoral program are broad. In addition to communication and media studies, they include history, film studies, religious studies, sociology, political science, education and computer science. 1st Year | Focus: exposé Participation in eventsCourse leaderFrequency/Duration & SemesterBlock event: “Exposé and Project Development”2 professors at ZeMKI3x 1 day in Winter or Summer SemesterBlock event for the presentation and discussion of the projects / project ideasSupervising professors at ZeMKI1x 1 day in the semesterWorkshops on self-selected topicsPhD studentsat least 1x year x 1 dayMethod exercises of the MA programs of the ZeMKIChanging professors at ZeMKI2 SWS in Summer SemesterMethods groupsPhD studentsat least 1x semester x 1 dayTopic groupsPhD studentsat least 1x semester x 1 dayLab ColloquiaLab headsseveral times a semesterZeMKI- ColloquiaChanging professors at ZeMKIseveral times a semesterOptional events (subject-related events, key qualifications, professional career)International Summer Schools, BYRD, Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institute, external lecturersdifferent 2nd Year | Focus: empiricism Participation in eventsCourse leaderFrequency/Duration & SemesterBlock event for the presentation and discussion of the projects / project ideasSupervising professors at ZeMKI1x 1 day in the semesterWorkshops on self-selected topicsPhD studentsat least 1x year x 1 dayMethods groupsPhD studentsat least 1x semester x 1 daySubject groupsPhD studentsat least 1x semester x 1 dayLab ColloquiaLab headsseveral times a semesterZeMKI- ColloquiaChanging professors at ZeMKIseveral times a semesterOptional events (subject-related events, key qualifications, professional career)International Summer Schools, BYRD, Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institute, external lecturersdifferent 3rd Year / if necessary 4th Year | Focus: writing Participation in eventsCourse leaderFrequency/Duration & SemesterBlock event for the presentation and discussion of the projects / project ideasSupervising professors at ZeMKI1x 1 day in the semesterWorkshops on self-selected topicsPhD studentsat least 1x year x 1 dayMethods groupsPhD studentsat least 1x semester x 1 daySubject groupsPhD studentsat least 1x semester x 1 dayLab ColloquiaLab headsseveral times a semesterZeMKI- ColloquiaChanging professors at ZeMKIseveral times a semesterOptional events (subject-related events, key qualifications, professional career)International Summer Schools, BYRD, Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut, external lecturersdifferentClosing ColloquiaChanging professors at ZeMKI1x in final phase of the dissertation Exchange and Networking Lab ColloquiaEach ZeMKI-Lab organizes regular colloquium dates in the semester for a scientific exchange. The dates are organized internally by the Labs, but they are open to the other members by arrangement. Regular participation in the Labs’ appointments is explicitly desired.ZeMKI ColloquiaThe research colloquium takes place regularly on Wednesdays between 12 and 14 o’clock and includes lectures by the ZeMKI Fellows on current research projects followed by a question and discussion session. It is open to all PhD students and regular attendance is encouraged.Day of ResearchThe research day takes place once a semester. It gives an opportunity to present project work as well as individual work within ZeMKI in different formats (e.g. presentation, sketch, data session etc.). It is not necessary to present a finished project, workshop reports are also welcome. Doctoral students are also explicitly invited to provide insights into their dissertation projects.BrestolonThe ZeMKI is part of the BREmen-STOckholm-LONdon network, which meets once a year at one of the locations. It offers PhD students the opportunity to present their dissertation projects and get feedback from the other participants. An application to participate is required.Summer/Winter SchoolsThe ZeMKI supports the participation in Summer Schools (e.g.: ECREA Summer School) and Winter Schools (e.g.: Digital Methods Initiative Amsterdam) for further education. An application for participation is necessary.ErasmusWithin the framework of the Erasmus program, doctoral students can take advantage of a stay at a partner university as doctoral students or lecturers (with a teaching assignment). Thematic clusters The study group is concerned with the exchange of content and methodology on digital communication in political contexts. Specifically, the group is interested in phenomena of political participation on the Internet, the transformation of the political public sphere through digital media, the transformative effect of digital media for political systems, the use of political media content, the representation of political actors on the Internet, the dissemination of political news and its credibility. The study group aims to follow current research in these areas and to exchange theoretical, content-related and methodological findings. Among other things, they meet for a reading circle. Events of the doctoral program Doctoral Program PhD Writing Week 2024 Datum: 16. September 2024 – 20. September 2024 The Writing Retreat 2024 to this year is scheduled from September 16 to September 20. This Writing Week is designed to support the academic progress of doctoral candidates by providing an environment perfectly suited for focused writing and research. Situated in the picturesque north of Germany, this retreat offers participants a chance to advance their (…) 13. May 2024 Doctoral ProgramSpring Semester 2024 Academic Project Management Datum: 10. July 2024 – 10. July 2024Location: Bremen We are pleased to invite you to our workshop “Academic Project Management.” Effective time management and self-organization is a prerequisite for graduates. But how do you manage to structure your everyday life and keep your planning and goals under control, maintain an overview and avoid chaotic time pressure situations? This workshop explores these questions and (…) 13. May 2024 Doctoral ProgramSpring Semester 2024 Successfully Connecting Theory and Methods in the Thesis Datum: 3. July 2024 – 3. July 2024Location: Bremen We are pleased to invite you to our workshop “Successfully Connecting Theory and Methods in the Thesis.” Learn from Prof. Andreas Hepp, Prof. Christian Schwarzenegger and Prof. Stephanie Geise how to effectively integrate theoretical and methodological approaches in your thesis. The workshop is about reflecting on how theoretical work and empirical research can be related (…) 13. May 2024 Doctoral ProgramSpring Semester 2024 Qualitative Interviews und digitale Verhaltensdaten Datum: 17. May 2024 – 5. July 2024Location: Bremen We are excited to invite you to a method-focused seminar on the integration of qualitative interviews and digital behavioral data, hosted by Lisa Merten from the Leibniz Institute for Media Research. The seminar will consist of various sessions aimed at exploring the utilization of digital trace data in conjunction with qualitative interviews. We will delve (…) 2. May 2024 View all eventsSelected doctoral projects PhD project The Visual Framing of Politicians' Self-Presentation on Instagram and its Influence on Online Political Participation Political actors use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to influence potential voters and other key audiences such as journalists and civil society actors. This research will examine the self-promotion strategy of politicians from the perspective of visual framing and textual framing on Instagram. For data analysis, supervised deep learning will be used to (…) Lab Digital Communication and Information Diversity PhD project Value Formations in a Video-Game-Franchise. A Comparison of Value Formations in “The Last of Us” (2013) and “The Last of Us: Part II” (2020) (seit 2020) The video games “Last of Us” (2013) and “Last of Us 2” (2020) caused heated discussions during their release periods. While the first game prompted players’ to reflect on their moral compass through depictions of difficult decisions in crisis situations, the second instalment, published in the middle of the corona-pandemic, caused a polarizing controversy about (…) Lab Media and Religion PhD project Journalistic Tools as "Boundary Objects" - A Media-Ethnographic Study of their Specifics as well as Dynamics of Development and Appropriation in Journalism The dissertation focuses on new journalistic tools under the conditions of digital media change. The tools are understood as „boundary objects“ (Star&Griesemer, 1989). Such a socio-technological perspective makes it possible to analyze their (technical) specifics as well as to grasp the negotiation processes in the context of concrete development and appropriation processes. Methodologically, the work (…) Lab Datafication and Mediatization PhD project Journalistic narratives after the audience turn: How new journalistic narratives address their audience PhD project On the internet, the old business model of mass media is no longer viable and journalism must seek the attention of the audience in the area of conflict between quality reporting and personalized experience. An audience turn has taken place, which is also changing journalistic narrative styles.Hendrik Kühn’s dissertation project examines how this (…) Lab Datafication and Mediatization PhD project The sustainable development of research software for media and communication studies PhD project The research field of communication and media studies has changed significantly in recent decades with the spread of the internet and advancing digitalization. This applies not only to the subject area itself, but also to the methodological approach used to analyze it. Research software is an important tool in the implementation of numerous (…) Lab Datafication and Mediatization PhD project The Aesthetic Dimension of Mental Illness Films can impressively shape the everyday image of mental disorders (mental illness) and develop complex forms of expression for the representation of mental disorders that go beyond the scientific descriptions (such as the ICD-10 or DSM). In addition, they reflect scientific characterizations of mental disorders and open up new, everyday-based insights for the health sciences. (…) Lab Film, Media Art and Popular Culture PhD project Data Pratice in School Social Work When looking at the interface between school social work and digitalization, it becomes clear that there is little knowledge and even less insight into the interactions between them. The literature states, among other things, that digitalization “just happens” (Ermel 2020: 42). Nevertheless, it is becoming apparent that digital media affect school social work at different (…) Lab Socio-technical systems and critical data studies PhD project Among Anti-Vaxxers, Esoterics and Right-Wing Radicals: Anti-Covid Communities’ Social Media Activism on Telegram Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, various groups in Germany and other global regions have protested against governmental measures implemented to combat the virus. The Covid-skeptic scene in Germany particularly utilizes the social media platform Telegram for information exchange and the coordination of protest activities. In my PhD project, distinct anti-Covid communities on Telegram (…) Lab Socio-technical systems and critical data studies PhD project AI Imaginaries - The Role of (Social Media) Platforms in Shaping (Public) Future Perspectives of Technical Development Artificial intelligence is considered a key technology today, even if it is interpreted in different and ambiguous ways. As AI products become part of everyday life, new fears of job losses and promises to lighten the workload are emerging, impacting major public investment in research and industry and being reflected in political discourse and legislation. (…) Lab Platform Governance, Media, and Technology PhD project Agenda Setting and Discursive Power in the German AI Discourse Due to promises of groundbreaking technologies and a considerable hype, the issue of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is receiving increasing attention. Besides the focus on innovation driven by actors in business and research, it is primarily political and media actors who take on ethical and legal considerations, such as human-centredness or discrimination, and thus shape the (…) Lab Platform Governance, Media, and Technology PhD project The Construction of Mental Health among Muslim Influencers on Instagram. A comparative Study between German and Tunisian Actors. “Can only a Muslim therapist really treat me well? How important is it that the therapist has the same faith?” These questions come from a post on the Instagram page of a German influencer of Muslim faith. Like many other influencers on Instagram, the influencer “psych.beck” deals with questions about mental health, self-care, nutrition, fitness (…) Lab Media and Religion PhD project Claimspotting: On the Role and Automation of Fact-Checking Disinformation and fake news are not new, but digitalization and mediatization have taken the problem to a new level. The dissertation project aims to gain a better understanding and possible solutions. Through a quantitative content analysis of fact checks by German organizations, Sami wants to find out what disinformation is actually about. Which topics are (…) Lab Digital Communication and Information Diversity PhD project Discourse Power in the (Digital) Public Sphere The internet is permanently changing the structure and logic of the political public sphere: the former gatekeeping position of traditional media is disappearing and new actors are entering the arena. Jan Rau’s dissertation project investigates how and to what extent German far-right and right-wing populist actors can exploit this transformation of discursive power relations. Specifically, (…) Lab Digital Communication and Information Diversity PhD project Gender-specific Subjectivation Processes of Young People in the Informal Digital Learning and Educational Space YouTube YouTube is one of the most popular Internet offerings for young people in Germany and serves many of them as an informal learning and educational space for researching information for leisure interests, school and training (Feierabend et al., 2021; Wolf, 2015). YouTube is a space that is structured along stereotypical notions of gender (Döring, 2019; (…) Lab Media and Education PhD project 1968 and 1969 as Epochal Years. On the History and Aesthetics of Argentinean and Mexican Documentary Films and Social Movements “The camera is the inexhaustible expropriator of image-weapons; the projector, a gun that can shoot 24 frames per second.“ The 1960s have gone down in history not only in Latin America as the years of the so-called social movements and the political struggle of left-wing groups. It was about political participation and civil rights, but (…) Lab Audio-visual Media and Historiography PhD project Political Action and News Usage of the Fridays for Future Movement in Germany When we think of political action, we often think of crowds of people pushing their way through the streets with flags, signs and slogans. However, this image of political action is incomplete. Political action takes place both in the ‘analog’ world and in the digital world in a wide variety of forms. Fridays for Future (…) Lab Digital Communication and Information Diversity
Doctoral Program PhD Writing Week 2024 Datum: 16. September 2024 – 20. September 2024 The Writing Retreat 2024 to this year is scheduled from September 16 to September 20. This Writing Week is designed to support the academic progress of doctoral candidates by providing an environment perfectly suited for focused writing and research. Situated in the picturesque north of Germany, this retreat offers participants a chance to advance their (…) 13. May 2024
Doctoral ProgramSpring Semester 2024 Academic Project Management Datum: 10. July 2024 – 10. July 2024Location: Bremen We are pleased to invite you to our workshop “Academic Project Management.” Effective time management and self-organization is a prerequisite for graduates. But how do you manage to structure your everyday life and keep your planning and goals under control, maintain an overview and avoid chaotic time pressure situations? This workshop explores these questions and (…) 13. May 2024
Doctoral ProgramSpring Semester 2024 Successfully Connecting Theory and Methods in the Thesis Datum: 3. July 2024 – 3. July 2024Location: Bremen We are pleased to invite you to our workshop “Successfully Connecting Theory and Methods in the Thesis.” Learn from Prof. Andreas Hepp, Prof. Christian Schwarzenegger and Prof. Stephanie Geise how to effectively integrate theoretical and methodological approaches in your thesis. The workshop is about reflecting on how theoretical work and empirical research can be related (…) 13. May 2024
Doctoral ProgramSpring Semester 2024 Qualitative Interviews und digitale Verhaltensdaten Datum: 17. May 2024 – 5. July 2024Location: Bremen We are excited to invite you to a method-focused seminar on the integration of qualitative interviews and digital behavioral data, hosted by Lisa Merten from the Leibniz Institute for Media Research. The seminar will consist of various sessions aimed at exploring the utilization of digital trace data in conjunction with qualitative interviews. We will delve (…) 2. May 2024
PhD project The Visual Framing of Politicians' Self-Presentation on Instagram and its Influence on Online Political Participation Political actors use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to influence potential voters and other key audiences such as journalists and civil society actors. This research will examine the self-promotion strategy of politicians from the perspective of visual framing and textual framing on Instagram. For data analysis, supervised deep learning will be used to (…) Lab Digital Communication and Information Diversity
PhD project Value Formations in a Video-Game-Franchise. A Comparison of Value Formations in “The Last of Us” (2013) and “The Last of Us: Part II” (2020) (seit 2020) The video games “Last of Us” (2013) and “Last of Us 2” (2020) caused heated discussions during their release periods. While the first game prompted players’ to reflect on their moral compass through depictions of difficult decisions in crisis situations, the second instalment, published in the middle of the corona-pandemic, caused a polarizing controversy about (…) Lab Media and Religion
PhD project Journalistic Tools as "Boundary Objects" - A Media-Ethnographic Study of their Specifics as well as Dynamics of Development and Appropriation in Journalism The dissertation focuses on new journalistic tools under the conditions of digital media change. The tools are understood as „boundary objects“ (Star&Griesemer, 1989). Such a socio-technological perspective makes it possible to analyze their (technical) specifics as well as to grasp the negotiation processes in the context of concrete development and appropriation processes. Methodologically, the work (…) Lab Datafication and Mediatization
PhD project Journalistic narratives after the audience turn: How new journalistic narratives address their audience PhD project On the internet, the old business model of mass media is no longer viable and journalism must seek the attention of the audience in the area of conflict between quality reporting and personalized experience. An audience turn has taken place, which is also changing journalistic narrative styles.Hendrik Kühn’s dissertation project examines how this (…) Lab Datafication and Mediatization
PhD project The sustainable development of research software for media and communication studies PhD project The research field of communication and media studies has changed significantly in recent decades with the spread of the internet and advancing digitalization. This applies not only to the subject area itself, but also to the methodological approach used to analyze it. Research software is an important tool in the implementation of numerous (…) Lab Datafication and Mediatization
PhD project The Aesthetic Dimension of Mental Illness Films can impressively shape the everyday image of mental disorders (mental illness) and develop complex forms of expression for the representation of mental disorders that go beyond the scientific descriptions (such as the ICD-10 or DSM). In addition, they reflect scientific characterizations of mental disorders and open up new, everyday-based insights for the health sciences. (…) Lab Film, Media Art and Popular Culture
PhD project Data Pratice in School Social Work When looking at the interface between school social work and digitalization, it becomes clear that there is little knowledge and even less insight into the interactions between them. The literature states, among other things, that digitalization “just happens” (Ermel 2020: 42). Nevertheless, it is becoming apparent that digital media affect school social work at different (…) Lab Socio-technical systems and critical data studies
PhD project Among Anti-Vaxxers, Esoterics and Right-Wing Radicals: Anti-Covid Communities’ Social Media Activism on Telegram Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, various groups in Germany and other global regions have protested against governmental measures implemented to combat the virus. The Covid-skeptic scene in Germany particularly utilizes the social media platform Telegram for information exchange and the coordination of protest activities. In my PhD project, distinct anti-Covid communities on Telegram (…) Lab Socio-technical systems and critical data studies
PhD project AI Imaginaries - The Role of (Social Media) Platforms in Shaping (Public) Future Perspectives of Technical Development Artificial intelligence is considered a key technology today, even if it is interpreted in different and ambiguous ways. As AI products become part of everyday life, new fears of job losses and promises to lighten the workload are emerging, impacting major public investment in research and industry and being reflected in political discourse and legislation. (…) Lab Platform Governance, Media, and Technology
PhD project Agenda Setting and Discursive Power in the German AI Discourse Due to promises of groundbreaking technologies and a considerable hype, the issue of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is receiving increasing attention. Besides the focus on innovation driven by actors in business and research, it is primarily political and media actors who take on ethical and legal considerations, such as human-centredness or discrimination, and thus shape the (…) Lab Platform Governance, Media, and Technology
PhD project The Construction of Mental Health among Muslim Influencers on Instagram. A comparative Study between German and Tunisian Actors. “Can only a Muslim therapist really treat me well? How important is it that the therapist has the same faith?” These questions come from a post on the Instagram page of a German influencer of Muslim faith. Like many other influencers on Instagram, the influencer “psych.beck” deals with questions about mental health, self-care, nutrition, fitness (…) Lab Media and Religion
PhD project Claimspotting: On the Role and Automation of Fact-Checking Disinformation and fake news are not new, but digitalization and mediatization have taken the problem to a new level. The dissertation project aims to gain a better understanding and possible solutions. Through a quantitative content analysis of fact checks by German organizations, Sami wants to find out what disinformation is actually about. Which topics are (…) Lab Digital Communication and Information Diversity
PhD project Discourse Power in the (Digital) Public Sphere The internet is permanently changing the structure and logic of the political public sphere: the former gatekeeping position of traditional media is disappearing and new actors are entering the arena. Jan Rau’s dissertation project investigates how and to what extent German far-right and right-wing populist actors can exploit this transformation of discursive power relations. Specifically, (…) Lab Digital Communication and Information Diversity
PhD project Gender-specific Subjectivation Processes of Young People in the Informal Digital Learning and Educational Space YouTube YouTube is one of the most popular Internet offerings for young people in Germany and serves many of them as an informal learning and educational space for researching information for leisure interests, school and training (Feierabend et al., 2021; Wolf, 2015). YouTube is a space that is structured along stereotypical notions of gender (Döring, 2019; (…) Lab Media and Education
PhD project 1968 and 1969 as Epochal Years. On the History and Aesthetics of Argentinean and Mexican Documentary Films and Social Movements “The camera is the inexhaustible expropriator of image-weapons; the projector, a gun that can shoot 24 frames per second.“ The 1960s have gone down in history not only in Latin America as the years of the so-called social movements and the political struggle of left-wing groups. It was about political participation and civil rights, but (…) Lab Audio-visual Media and Historiography
PhD project Political Action and News Usage of the Fridays for Future Movement in Germany When we think of political action, we often think of crowds of people pushing their way through the streets with flags, signs and slogans. However, this image of political action is incomplete. Political action takes place both in the ‘analog’ world and in the digital world in a wide variety of forms. Fridays for Future (…) Lab Digital Communication and Information Diversity