Two positions for PhD candidates in cultural studies informed project Televised football and race/ethnicity (Polish or Spanish context)
The Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture (ERMeCC) is pleased to offer two PhD candidate positions in the cultural studies informed research project ‘How racist is televised football and do audiences react?’
Expressions of Interest are due before 1 October 2018
Job description: We are looking for two highly motivated PhD Candidates who wish to conduct their PhD research in the context of a research project funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research
(NWO) entitled How racist is televised football and do audiences react?
Project description: Televised men’s football (soccer) is one of the most visibly mixed ethnic cultural practices. Despite the alleged social function of football as a uniting social force, numerous studies have also shown how football journalists incorporate racial/ethnic stereotypes in their commentary associating Black footballers with bodily, athletic qualities but not with domains that require intelligence. It remains unknown, though, how these discourses come about. We therefore need to shift the research-focus towards the – mainly White – journalists who produce the football coverage. The research question guiding the project is: How do discourses of race/ethnicity play a role in televised football production and how are these discourses articulated at the nexus of televised football content and audience receptions? The study will be conducted across four European countries: Poland, Spain, England, and the Netherlands. We look for 1) a PhD candidate who will explore meanings given to race/ethnicity in men’s televised football in Spain and 2) a PhD candidate who will explore meanings given to race/ethnicity in men’s televised football in Poland. Data collection will combine content analyses of football screenings with individual interviews, focus group interviews, and participant observations, amongst football journalists and televised football audiences. The project will be informed heoretically by insights from cultural studies and whiteness studies, amongst other things.
The candidates will be appointed for a period of four years. They will be located in Rotterdam but an important part of the data collection will take place in either Spain or Poland.
How to apply: Your application letter should be accompanied by a concise research proposal of no more than 750 words, in which you explain what you consider to be the most pressing issues in the study of televised football in relation to race/ethnicity, in either Poland or Spain (depending on your preferred PhD position), along with corresponding research questions. The selection committee will invite a small number of candidates for an interview. Candidates may be asked to submit a more detailed research proposal and/or give a test lecture as part of the application procedure.
To apply, please send your application letter with your research proposal, your resume, your publication list (if applicable), and the names and contact details of two referees before October 1 2018 by e-mail to vacancies@eshcc.eur.nl. Please mention “PhD Televised football”.
More information: For more information about the scholarship including the department, eligibility criteria and conditions of employment, please see the following links:
http://www.academictransfer.com/48959
http://www.academictransfer.com/48958
Additional information about or questions regarding the vacancies can be obtained from project leader dr. Jacco van Sterkenburg (sterkenburg@eshcc.eur.nl ).