The Joint International Doctorate in Social Representations, Culture and Communication is an international, inter/trans-disciplinary and cross-sectoral PhD programme aimed at advanced training in the social sciences.
The Doctorate covers the area at the intersection of Social Representation Theory, Cultural Studies and Communication Studies.
The PhD programme is coordinated by Sapienza and awards a joint diploma with Universities of Pécs and Iasi. The programme involves a consolidated network of prestigious universities and international research centres (in Europe, Latin America, North-Africa, Asia), which makes it a point of reference for a vast scientific community in the social sciences.
TRAINING GOALS
The PhD aims to provide a solid theoretical and methodological preparation for continuation in the field of research, and in public and private employment sectors. PhD students will acquire advanced knowledge in the fields of social representation theory and its most recent developments, social and cultural psychology, sociology of culture and communication sciences, and related fields. They will develop soft skills relevant to social research on individual and collective behaviours, and in the research design, scientific communication and dissemination of results, and public relations.
A further aim of the doctorate is to foster the ability to apply the acquired knowledge both in research activities and in public institutions and private companies, which require experts in areas of social and communication sciences.
THEMES
The PhD programme focuses on complex problems and socially relevant issues in the context of global, mediatised and culturally fragmented societies. Themes cross several transdisciplinary research areas, including:
- Environmental sustainability and ecological transition, with primary reference to SDGs and energy transition processes, risk perception and socio-technological innovations;
- Migration and intercultural relations, e.g. discursive processes in intergroup relations, stereotyping and inclusion, empowerment practices,
- Health and education, e.g. health communication and practices, education practices, teaching of sensitive issues, social intervention, agency and advocacy, power and dialogue between scientific and lay knowledge;
- Work and occupation, including social representations and occupational choices, work climate and organizational culture;
- Processes of democratisation and construction of citizenship, including institutional discourse analysis and political psychology, populism, communication and affective dimensions of the public sphere, rights, power, peace psychology;
- Diversity communication, minorities and inclusion, with particular reference to social influence of minority, violence, and to the role of media and journalistic discourse in framing and countering the discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, migration, etc. |