Media, citizenship, social movements, and processes of democratization
Dates: 4.-6. oktober 2010
Course Venue: Sandbjerg Gods www.sandbjerg.dk
Sandbjerg Gods is a conference hotel located in the south of Jutland, near the town of Sønderborg. Accessible by plane or train.
Course description
The FMKJ PhD Course Media, Citizenship, Social Movements, and Processes of Democratization will analyse and discuss political, social, and cultural issues related to the role of media and ICTs in processes of democratization in Africa and Asia. The course will focus on social change, rights issues, social mobilization, and civil society as well as structural issues related to the economy, relevant legislation and accessibility of media and ICTs in these regions.
The first part of the course will be organized primarily around discussions of key readings while the second part will be a mixture of presentations from invited speakers as well as from participating PhD students.
Invited speakers
Professor John Downing, Guest Professor Information and Media Studies, University of Aarhus
Professor Francis Nyamnjoh, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cape Town
Associate Research Professor Winnie V. Mitullah Department for Development Studies, University of Nairobi.
Professor Charles Ess, Institute of Information and Media Studies, University of Aarhus
Associate Professor Poul Erik Nielsen, Institute of Information and Media Studies, University of Aarhus (Course convenor).
Requirements for Participation
A course package of required readings will be compiled and circulated to participants three weeks prior to the course. The participants are required to read the full package of scholarly texts and to take an active part in discussing them.
Each Ph.D. student will have to present a paper (10-12 pages) (either related to the theme of the course or focused on selected portions of their current PhD projects) and each student will be asked to comment specifically on the papers submitted by one of his/her fellow Ph.D. students.
ECTS value
3 ECTS (with paper presentation, 1½ ECTS without paper).
Course enrolment
Registration form available at http://www.fmkj.ruc.dk/eng/skemaer/
Registration deadline
Wednesday, September 1, 2010, to the FMKJ Secretary at fmkj@ruc.dk.
The application must be accompanied by a 2-page PhD project description and a paper to be presented at the course.
Costs
The Danish Research School FMKJ covers all participation expenses (travel, meals, accommodation) for doctoral students who are enrolled in the School.
Doctoral students from other institutions will have to pay their own travel, accommodation and meals, while participation in the course is free of charge.
Accommodation and meals are estimated at app. DKK 1000. Prior to the course an invoice for this amount will be sent to applicants, who must document payment before being fully registered for the course.
The course organizers have sent an application to the Aarhus University Research Foundation for supportive grants, which – if the application is accepted – may reduce the required fee. Prospective participants should register by the deadline, and indicate whether their attendance is dependent on such a grant.
Program:
Monday October 4, 2010
Introduction and readings
12-13: Lunch
13.00-15.00: Course introduction (Poul Erik Nielsen)
Key readings and discussions on Citizenship, Participation, Power, and Media (John Downing and Poul Erik Nielsen)
15-16: Coffee break and time for a walk
16.00-16.45: Key readings and discussions continued (John Downing and Poul Erik Nielsen)
PhD presentations
17.00-17.30: Jacob Thorsen: The throes of academic objectivity: methodological reflections on the practitioner-cum-researcher continuum (Stephen Langole)
17.30-18.00: Modesta Grigaliunas: Civil empowerment in the public (communicational) new media space. The comparative analysis of the situation of Lithuanian‘s counterpropaganda (Walid Al-Saqaf)
18-19: Dinner
19-22: Film and video clips and discussions.
Tuesday October 5, 2010
8-9: Breakfast
Citizenship and Social Movements
9.00-10.00: John Downing: Social Movement Media: Comparative Perspectives
PhD presentations
10.15-10.45: Nanna Schneidermann: Do you feel Lucky?! – music videos, Good Life and the subjunctive in Gulu, Uganda (Modesta Grigaliunas)
10.45-11.15: Teke Ngomba: Circumnavigating De-Westernization: Theoretical Reflexivities in Researching Campaign Communication in Africa (Grace Githaiga)
11.30-12.00: Rogers Orock: Democratisation and the Formation of Elite Social Movements in Cameroon since 1990: An Illustration from the South-West Elite Association (SWELA) (Rose Reuben)
12-13: Lunch
Media, Participation, and Conflict
13.00-14.00: Bent Nørby Bonde: Media, Pre and Post Conflict
14.15-15.15: Linje Manyozo: Mediated Community Engagement and Local Governance (title not confirmed)
15-16: Coffee and time for a walk
PhD presentations
16.00-16.30: Grace Githaiga: Uptake of ICTs by Young Women in Informal Settlements: the Case Study of Mathare Pioneer Youth Group (Nanna Schneidermann)
16.30-17.00: Rose Reuben: Media Ethnography of Tanzanian Adolescent Women (Rogers Orock)
17.15-17.45: Stephen Langole: Reflections on Filmmaking for Research in Post-conflict Northern Uganda (Teke Ngomba)
17.45-18.15: Walid Al-Saqaf: Internet Censorship Challenged(Jacob Thorsen)
18.15-19.15: ‘One on one’ supervision
19.30: Dinner
Wednesday October 6
8-9: Breakfast
Media systems and processes of democratization
9-10: Poul Erik Nielsen: Media Independence and Pluralism in Different Media Systems
ICT in Africa
10-12: Winnie Mitullah: Institutional Context of ICT and Citizen Participation in Kenya
Wolfgang Kleinwächter: Governance of the Internet and Bridging the Digital Divide: Consequences from the UN World Summit on the Information Society
12-13: Lunch
Processes of democratization
13-15: Panel: John Downing, Poul Erik Nielsen and Bent Nørby Bonde:
How to study Media and processes of Democratization
15-16: Wrap up
16-17: If needed ‘One on one’ supervision – time for a walk.