Communication & Creativity Research Flagship - Study
Current Postgraduate Opportunities…
The Swinburne Institute is currently seeking people to take up scholarships to undertake postgraduate research in the following areas:
- Topic:
- Contemporary communications law and policy
- Supervisors:
- Prof Jock Given
- Description:
-
We are seeking postgraduate students interested in working on a number of project related to contemporary communications law and policy. These include digital TV and radio, broadband, media ownership. Work on international trade in media and communications services would also be welcome, as would research proposals related to the history of the multinational media enterprises.
- Topic:
- Informal economies and audiovisual industries: histories, dynamics, legal and policy responses
- Supervisors:
- Prof Julian Thomas and Dr Ramon Lobato
- Description:
-
From streetside DVD vendors to file-sharing networks, informal distribution circuits play a major role in today’s global media environment. These circuits are poorly understood, yet they connect with mainstream industries in ways that, now more than ever before, are crucial to the future of media. Our project investigates the structural and historical connections between formal and informal audiovisual markets, and the degree to which they are increasingly interdependent. We welcome proposals from prospective students who are interested in researching particular informal, subterranean or pirate film/TV/online media circuits, especially (though not exclusively) in the Asia-Pacific region.
- Topic:
- Youth media enterprises and social development
- Supervisors:
- Prof Denise Meredyth, A/Prof Ellie Rennie, Dr Aneta Podkalicka, Dr Liza Hopkins
- Description:
-
This project is about Australian and international enterprises, such as Youthworx, Youth Radio and One Economy, amongst others, which are experimenting with new social enterprise business models in community media. These enterprises offer alternatives to formal education for vulnerable young people, including refugee, indigenous and disdvantaged youth, enabling them to develop new skills as pro-am media creators, broadcasters, journalists, entrepreneurs and organizers, while helping local communities develop culturally relevant content. We are seeking students who would like to investigate aspects of this phenomenon, in various national contexts.
- Topic:
- Thrift cultures and economies: trans-disciplinary critique and research into contemporary consumption practices
- Supervisors:
- Dr Aneta Podkalicka
- Description:
-
The expansion of the Internet and the recent economic downturn coupled with growing public concerns over environmental sustainability, have seen a change in consumption practices. Emergent studies across cultural research, sociology and economics have noted a shift from high levels of consumption to behaviours of thrift and conservation. These can be variously perceived as critiques of consumerist society, unsustainable life-styles, or more prosaically, as enforced economic adaptations. Our research addresses issues of everyday practices, social and informal economies, re-distribution markets and 'collaborative consumption'. We are particularly interested in contemporary practices, meanings and uses of an older thrift ethos, including its links to green and ethnical consumption behaviours. We are looking for a student to conduct a study of this social and economic trend. The student could explore 'thrift cultures and economies' across different contexts: for example, web-based secondhand sites such as eBay or freecycle; traditional secondhand stores, including charities such as The Salvation Army stores in Melbourne; or household or community environments.
Study at The Swinburne Institute…
The Swinburne Institute offers excellent opportunities for postgraduate study under the supervision of leading research academics in each of its four research flagships.
The institute is one of the largest social science and humanities research centres in Australia, with an international reputation for independent, innovative and timely work. Staff work across disciplines including sociology, economics, political science, history, philosophy, and media studies. Along with a range of research projects operated on behalf of, and/or with government, non-government and industry partners, The Swinburne Institute hosts the Public Interest Journalism Foundation and Democratic Audit of Australia. It is also a node of the ARC’s Centre of Excellence in Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI) and the Swinburne-Monash Research Centre of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI). The institute contributes to online public policy discussion through its websites Australian Policy Online, Creative Economy and Inside Story.
The Swinburne Institute boasts a range of highly qualified supervisors who are respected figures in their fields, regular contributors to Australian public policy debate and have an exceptional track record in supervising higher degree students through to completion. Staff profiles provide a list of their research interests and the research students they are currently supervising (and their topics).
The institute has a growing cohort of postgraduate students who work closely with research staff. They often take the opportunity to be involved in joint projects and The Swinburne Institute’s broader research planning. Many are full-time and are supported by Australian Research Council scholarships and Linkage grants with industry, and by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. Others come to The Swinburne Institute as part-time students building on their work experiences in the public, non-government and private sectors. As well as excellent supervision, The Swinburne Institute offers regular postgraduate activities. Students give papers and attend regular seminars, as well as participating in The Swinburne Institute's other social and collegial activities. International exchanges are available and encouraged, as is attendance at conferences.
The Next Step…
The Swinburne Institute staff are happy to discuss options for scholarships and funding that might support a candidacy. Students wishing to obtain a scholarship in the end of year round must submit an application by 31 October 2010
For scholarship guidelines and to make an application visit Swinburne Research.
For further information about postgraduate opportunities at The Swinburne Institute, contact the Postgraduate Co-ordinator:
Grace Lee
Telephone: +61 3 9214 5286
Email: glee@swin.edu.au
Contact The Swinburne Institute
The Swinburne Institute
for Social Research
Mail 53
PO Box 218
Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122
Australia
+61 3 9214 8825