<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><br><div><blockquote type="cite"><div bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Vacancy:
Full Time PhD position, Free University of Brussels</span></b></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">The Centre for Ethics and
the research centre IBBT-SMIT of the Free University of Brussels
(Vrije Universiteit Brussel) offer a full time PhD position in
the fields of Media and Communication Studies and Philosophy.
The vacancy is open for a research position of 4 years, in order
to realize a PhD on virtual media, the reconfiguration of
proximity and the social, cultural and moral consequences
thereof. The position starts <b style="">February 1<sup>st</sup>
2011</b>, and is supervised by Prof. J. Bauwens, Prof. M. Van
den Bossche and Prof. K. Verstrynge.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Candidates are expected to
show strong affinity with and interest in the domain of media
philosophy and media sociology, and are holder of a Masters
degree in Philosophy or Communication Studies. Applications are
to be sent latest by <b style="">January 6<sup>th</sup> 2011</b>
to Prof. J. Bauwens or Prof. K. Verstrynge. When applying, a
motivation and an elaborated vision on the theme under concern
are expected to be included with the CV.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Contact information:</span></b></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Prof. dr. J. Bauwens</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Dept. of Media and
Communication Studies</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Free University of
Brussels (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Pleinlaan 2 </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">B-1050 Brusssels</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">E-mail: <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:jbauwens@vub.ac.be">jbauwens@vub.ac.be</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Tel.: (0032) 2-629 1829</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Prof. dr. K. Verstrynge</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Dept. of Philosophy</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Free University of
Brussels (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Pleinlaan 2 </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">B-1050 Brussels</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">E-mail: <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:karl.verstrynge@vub.ac.be">karl.verstrynge@vub.ac.be</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Tel.: (0032) 2-629 2596</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Description of the
research theme:</span></b></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">The increasing
virtualisation of processes of communication and interaction has
important consequences for the definition and experience of
proximity. In particular the reconfiguration of time and space
is, according to several media-theoreticians, the crucial
challenge of the ‘digital age’ (a.o. Virilio 1996; Morley 2007;
Castells 2001): the accelerated speed of communication affects
in a determining way the meaning of presence and absence of
others, of their distance and the community they belong to
(Silverstone 2007; Moores 1999).</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">In a virtual context, the
dialectical relation between distance and proximity, as a
condition for genuine interpersonal relations (e.g. Levinas
1961; Bauman 1993; Silverstone 2007; Virilio 2009), is subjected
to great pressure. In line with this observation, two important
evolutions can be detected. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">First, the increasing
interaction with others takes place through mediatised, i.e.
digitized and virtual representations of the other (e.g. avatars
in games, chatpartners in chatrooms, textualized and
photographed ‘friends’ on social network sites). In this
perspective, several studies have shown that this ‘evaporation’
of (online) alterity does not harm the strong affective
character of online relationships.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Second, there is a
changing role of emotionality in our society, by some described
as ‘post-emotionality’ (Mestrovic 1997; cf. Giddens 1991), by
others conceived as ‘affectual postmodernism’ (Maffesoli 1988a)
or even as a sort of hyper-emotionality (cf. ‘communisme des
affects’, Virilio 2009).</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Both these observations
are the background for a philosophical and media-theoretical
research project that focuses on the question how emotionality
and affectivity should be understood in virtual forms of social
interaction, from a phenomenological, ethical-existential and
sociological point of view. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB">Because of the growing
success of all kinds of social virtual worlds (ranging from
social networking sites as Facebook to Instant Messaging
communities and MMORPGs) and its impact on the meaning of social
connectivity, closeness and grouping, this project addresses the
following key research question: How do emotions and affections
underpin the rise, organization, maintenance and disappearance
of virtual tribes? This key research question is addressed from
a philosophical and social theoretical perspective. The first
tackles the philosophical discussion of the altering meaning of
emotion and affect in virtual environments. The second
perspective is rooted in media and communication theory and
draws on sociology of emotions, cyber-anthropology and
cyber-sociology to understand the role of emotionality and
affectivity in computer-mediated interactions. The research
project advocates a theoretical cross-fertilization of different
fields of research and thought.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-GB"></span></p></div></blockquote></div></body></html>