<videovortex> Fwd: PhD Scholarship in Screen and Media Studies at the University of Waikato

[Sabine Niederer]

PhD Scholarship in Screen and Media Studies at the University of Waikato

Enquiries are invited for a full-time Research Scholarship to contribute to a Marsden funded project ŒPlaying with reality? Online documentary culture and its users‚ (see Project Description below). The Scholarship is available for three years (2011-13) which covers tuition fees at the New Zealand rate plus an annual stipend of NZD$25,000 per year (Australian applicants would be considered as NZ residents for the purpose of fees). The PhD student will be based in the Screen and Media Studies programme at the University of Waikato and will be contributing data to the overall project.
Apart from contributing this data, the student will be encouraged to devise his or her own thesis topic within the frame of the project.

Project Description
Outside of the institutional constraints and professional practices which still govern documentary production in film and television, online users appear to be drawing upon the full range of familiar modes of media presentation, often in playful Œmashups‚ that mix factual evidence with personal expression, autobiography, performance, and impassioned rhetoric. This project will investigate the creation and interpretation of such short-form audio-visual documentary-related material by online users. Despite a growing literature on documentary, particularly on the nature and significance of recent television Œhybrid‚ forms popularly known as Œreality TV‚, there are relatively few empirical studies which address the complexities of audience responses to the full breadth of documentary and reality-based media. The need for audience research into documentary culture has increased with the growth of digital media which provide the means for users (audiences) to engage directly in the creation and exchange of documentary-related material. Our research focuses on New Zealand users within the broader Australian context. This qualitative research will integrate analysis of software employed by users, analysis of a digital archive of online material, and audience research into the producers and users of such material.

Requirements for applicants
Applicants should hold at least a B+ Honours degree (or H2A or above) in Media Studies, Communication Studies or Computer Science and preferably have an interest in both quantitative and qualitative data and analysis. A background in documentary theory is preferred but not essential.

Please send a CV including information about qualifications and any publications or research experience, plus the names and contact details of two referees, and a statement of interest/proposed topic, to the email address below by Monday 31 January 2011: Dr Craig Hight (hight at waikato.ac.nz).

For further information please contact Dr Craig Hight (hight at waikato.ac.nz)

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