Two PhD Positions in Critical Humanities Approaches to Platform Society

As a PhD candidate you will be responsible for one of the three subprojects within the ERC-funded project “Platform Discourses: A Critical Humanities Approach to the Texts, Images, and Moving Images of Tech Companies”. This project studies how companies like Google, Facebook, and Airbnb increasingly position their for-profit online platforms as neutral spaces for social exchange, while addressing their users as “digital citizens”. The project employs methods of literary analysis, visual analysis, and film studies to explore the visions of humanity that speak from tech company discourses, forming an integral part of these companies’ branding strategies (from advertising and corporate blogs to manifestos and user interfaces). The first subproject, on discourses of everyday life, is carried out by the Principal Investigator (Dr Niels Niessen). The two vacancies concern two other subprojects. The second subproject examines the topic of digital citizenship: How do tech companies intervene in debates on democracy and state structures? The third subproject explores the topic of climate crisis: What visions of humanity are ingrained in tech companies’ self-presentation as green?
Your findings will be presented in a successful PhD thesis, written under the supervision of Prof. Anneke Smelik (thesis supervisor) and Dr Niels Niessen. You will also seek to publish at least one article in an international scientific journal, along with conference papers. Additionally, you will be expected to participate in workshops at the Radboud Institute for Culture & History, including the monthly seminar of the newly formed Critical Humanities research group.

Please indicate in your motivation letter which subproject you are applying for (or both, if applicable) and how you relate to the topic(s). Please also describe briefly how your previous research experience (from your MA or Research MA programme) links up with this project. Finally, briefly indicate what you hope to achieve by pursuing a PhD.