RMeS Mission
The Netherlands Research School for Media Studies (RMeS) is a national network of academic experts in media research.
RMeS Podcast
In this podcast series the RMeS PhD council interviews media doctors that either work in or outside academia.
Join RMeS at Discord
The RMeS PhD Council invites RMa, PhD students, and postdocs in Media Studies to join the RMeS Grad Students Discord!
Participating Universities
Explore the complete list of Participating Universities involved with the Netherlands Research School for Media Studies.
PhD Defence: Jeroen Boom (Radboud University Nijmegen)
/in PhD Researchers, PhD Alumni /by Chantal6 March 2024 | 16.30hrs | Aula Radboud University Nijmegen
Strangers Unseen explores images of refugees and migrants that are deliberately obscure, opaque, and illegible. It examines these images within a group of recent essay films that employ fractures and frustrations as expressive cinematic elements to engage with the different realities of displacement and statelessness.
PhD Defense: Gemma Newlands (University of Amsterdam)
/in PhD Alumni, PhD Researchers /by Chantal22 June 2023 | 16:00hrs | Agnietenkapel
As new occupations emerge in response to the growth of the digital economy, the relationship between digital technology and labour has resulted in significant changes in how work is evaluated. By critically examining the ways in which humans and artificial intelligence (AI) are co-evolving and the ways in which work is becoming more technical and less human(e), this dissertation provides insights into the challenges and opportunities of this rapidly changing landscape.
PhD Defense: Kun He (University of Groningen)
/in PhD Alumni, PhD Researchers /by Chantal29 June 2023 | 14.30hrs | Academy building RUG
Chinese populism exhibits unique features that distinguish it from populism observed in democratic settings. Notably, Chinese populism encompasses two distinct forms: communist populism and online bottom-up populism, each operating in its own distinct manner. Communist populism is propagated through the party-state system, mobilizing against perceived corrupt elites in the name of the majority Chinese people.
PhD Defense: Constanza Gajardo (VU University)
/in PhD Alumni, PhD Researchers /by ChantalFriday 20 October 2023 at 13:45 hrs | VU University – Amsterdam
From a traditional normative perspective, it is understood that if people do not consume news, democracy loses an informed foundation for an engaged citizenship (Christians et al., 2010; Schudson, 2008; McNair, 2009). Hence, the acquisition of factual information, primarily about politics and public affairs, is often considered what people need from journalism (McQuail, 2013). However, such normative formulations seem to primarily represent the viewpoint of journalists. The audience’s perspective has only been tangentially included in the normative framework of journalism, mainly based on predefined definitions of what it means for individuals to fulfil a citizen’s role (Moe, 2020).
PhD Defence: Anouk Mols (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
/in PhD Alumni, PhD Researchers /by Chantal8 December 2021 at 13:00
On an ordinary Wednesday evening, a family is about to have dinner. Meanwhile, the father receives WhatsApp messages from the neighbourhood crime prevention group, the mother checks the student tracking system of the youngest son, and the daughter instructs a smart speaker to play music. In this scenario, personal information of the family members is collected, processed and shared. In other words; they are the subject of surveillance.
PhD Defence: Esther Hammelburg (Hogeschool van Amsterdam)
/in PhD Alumni, PhD Researchers /by Chantal3 December 2021 | University of Amsterdam
Liveness is a key concern in media studies, yet has been mostly theorized as a phenomenon related to broadcasting and is understudied for the Internet and social media. This study is an appeal for preserving liveness as a concept that continuously evolves as new media technologies emerge.
PhD defence: Rashid Gabdulhakov – Erasmus University Rotterdam
/in PhD Alumni, PhD Researchers /by ChantalOn 7 October 2021, Rashid Gabdulhakov is scheduled to defend his PhD dissertation “Digital vigilantism in Russia: Citizen-led justice in the context of social change and social harm”. The defence will take place at 10:30 CET at the Senate Hall of Erasmus University Rotterdam.
PhD Defence: Roel Lutkenhaus – Erasmus University Rotterdam
/in Education Archive, PhD Alumni /by Chantal29 October 2020 | Erasmus University Rotterdam
On Thursday 29 October 2020 at 15:30hr, Roel Lutkenhaus will defend his PhD dissertation.
In 1992, a scene from the TV show Medisch Centrum West—a popular Dutch medical drama— sparked conversations in Dutch living rooms about organ donation. On screen, a doctor had just informed a couple about their son, who had been admitted to the ICU after a car accident. The parents are torn between emotions as the doctor brings up the inevitable: “I am sorry. I know you don’t want to hear this, but Bart’s heart could save the life of another child.”
Promotie: Peter Veer – Bewogen landschap
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalOp vrijdag 18 sept. 2020 om 16.00 uur zal Peter Veer zijn proefschrift: Bewogen landschap – een cultuurhistorische studie over de filmpraktijken van het ministerie van Landbouw 1945-1985 verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel, Amsterdam.
Gezien de corona maatregelen is er slechts ruimte voor een zeer beperkt aantal mensen en is het helaas niet mogelijk hierbij aanwezig te zijn. De bijeenkomst is wel te volgen op internet.
Virtual defence and real memories: Doing academia in times of CODIV-19 pandemic
/in PhD Alumni, PhD Researchers /by Chantal“While being familiar with one-on-one video chat, I could only imagine what a virtual PhD defence would be like. After all, it turned out to be a memorable experience”. Dr. Min Xu defended her PhD titled “Getting close to the media world: An ethnographic analysis of everyday encounters with the film industry in contemporary China”. What makes her defence especially unique is the fact that it was done entirely online. In this interview, Min shares her story with us.
PhD Defence: Min Xu – Getting Close to the Media World
/in PhD Alumni, PhD Researchers /by ChantalOn Thursday 9 April 2020, Min Xu defended her PhD dissertation, entitled: ‘Getting Close to the Media World: An ethnographic analysis of everyday encounters with the film industry in contemporary China’.
PhD Defence: Tim Groot Kormelink – Capturing and making sense of everyday news use
/in PhD Alumni /by Chantal12 November 2019 | VU University
On the face of it, both journalism and Journalism Studies have witnessed a shift toward the users of news. However, while news users have taken center stage in discussions about journalism, they are still more often spoken about rather than spoken with.
Promotie: Rik Spanjers – Comics Realism and the Maus Event: Comics and the Dynamics of World War II Remembrance
/in PhD Alumni /by Chantal1 November 2019, 11:00 | Aula – Oude Lutherse kerk, Amsterdam
Van stripverhalen werd lange tijd gedacht dat die niet geschikt zijn om de geschiedenis op een ‘juiste’ manier te verbeelden. De strip ‘Maus’ van Art Spiegelman bracht daar verandering in. In Maus toont Spiegelman zijn vaders ooggetuigenverslag van Auschwitz en de verlammende last van dit verleden op vader en zoon.
PhD Defence: Stephanie de Smale – Utrecht University
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalOn 27 September Stephanie de Smale defended her PhD thesis Ludic Memory Networks: Following Translations and Circulations of War Memory in Digital Popular Culture in the University Hall.
PhD Defence Lianne Toussaint (Radboud University Nijmegen)
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalOn September 6, 2018 at 14:30, Lianne Toussaint will defend her doctoral thesis, Wearing Technology, When Fashion and Technology Entwine.
PhD Defence Yu Sun
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalOn July 12, 2018 at 11:00,Yu Sun will defend her doctoral thesis, Engaging in politics: everyday political talk in online China.
PhD Defence Joëlle Swart (University of Groningen)
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalOn June 28, 2018 at 16:15, Joëlle Swart will defend her doctoral thesis, Haven’t you heard? Connecting through news and journalism in everyday life.
Arjen Nauta | Governing Through Reality TV in China: The Case of Hunan Satellite TV
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalArjen Nauta | University of Amsterdam
My research seeks to address the surge of reality television in China in the 21st century within strategies of governance. First, I analyze the political economy in which television makers operate. Then, based on one year of ethnographic research at HSTV in Changsha, I show how political and economic factors influence the daily labor of production.
PhD defence Tom Slootweg (University of Groningen)
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalOn Monday April 9, 2018 at 16:15, Tom Slootweg will defend his doctoral thesis Resistance, Disruption and Belonging. The thesis returns to the period before the explosive rise of YouTube. The slow introduction of video as a consumer media technology, from the mid-1960s onwards, set in motion a long phase during which expectations were rife with video’s potential for everyday users in terms of participation and media democratisation.
Stefan Baack: Knowing what counts. How journalists and civic technologists use and imagine data
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalStefan Baack | University of Groningen
My dissertation examines how the growing reliance on data and the steady quantification of social life affects democratic publics. It studies the practices and social imaginaries of two actors who facilitate the use quantitative techniques in key areas of public space: data activists and data journalists. As data activists, I describe activists in the open data and civic tech movements who develop projects that aim to make engagement with authorities easier for citizens, e.g. parliamentary monitoring websites that make parliamentary speeches more accessible.
Leonieke Bolderman: Musical Topophilia. A Critical Analysis of Contemporary Music Tourism
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalLeonieke Bolderman | Erasmus University Rotterdam
Music tourism is an increasingly popular practice. Why would people be interested in visiting places related to music? How can something abstract like music lead to tourism, and what makes this activity meaningful to those concerned? In this dissertation these questions are answered by analyzing music tourism as a form of ‘musical topophilia’: creating, developing and celebrating an affective attachment to place through and with music
Stephanie de Smale: Postwar representation and remembrance in media-based collectivities
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalStephanie de Smale | Utrecht University
How is wartime suffering is imagined and remembered in translocal digital culture communities? The empirical research conducted offers an in-depth case study analysis of everyday practices of remembrance within digital culture, read in relation to peacebuilding and postwar reconstruction in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
PhD Defence: Rik Smit (University of Groningen)
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalImage: Sylvia van Schie, illustrator
On Thursday 29 March 2018, Rik Smit will defend his PhD Thesis Platforms of Memory: Social Media and Digital Memory Work.
PhD Defence: Tim van der Heijden (Maastricht University)
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalOn Thursday 18 January 2018 at 16:00h, Tim van der Heijden will defend his PhD dissertation Hybrid Histories: Technologies of Memory and the Cultural Dynamics of Home Movies, 1895–2005. This research project analyses how throughout the twentieth century various generations have recorded their family memories on film, video and digital media.
PhD Defence: Christian Gosvig Olesen (University of Amsterdam)
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalWhen? Wednesday 10 May 2017, 14:00 Where? Agnietenkapel at the University of Amsterdam, Oudezijds Voorburgwal 229-231, Amsterdam. The doors close at the exact time and latecomers will not be able to enter. On Wednesday 10 May 2017, Christian Gosvig Olesen will defend his PhD Dissertation Film History in the Making – Film Historiography, Digitised Archives […]
PhD Defence: Birte Schohaus (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)
/in PhD Alumni /by Chantal14 maart 2017
Redacties talkshows vermijden risico’s. Format tv-show bepalend voor keuze politieke gasten
Niet de presentator, niet de opvattingen van de redactie maar het ‘format’ bepaalt volkomen welke politici worden uitgenodigd in de zes belangrijkste Nederlandse talkshows. Zij worden, naar gelang de aard van het programma, geselecteerd op politieke relevantie en ‘talkability’. Redacties zijn daarbij huiverig om te experimenteren met onbekende hoofdgasten. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van Birte Schohaus, die op 14 maart promoveert aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Ze weerlegt in het onderzoek ook de kritiek dat talkshows de ‘gewone man’ te weinig aan het woord zouden laten.
PhD Defence: Alex Gekker (Utrecht University)
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalUniquitous Cartography: Casual Power in Digital Maps When? 9 December 2016, 14:30 Where? Senaat hall of the Academiegebouw (academy building) of Utrecht University, at Domplein 29, 3512 JE Utrecht. The doors close at the exact time and latecomers will not be able to enter. On 9 December 2016, Alex Gekker will defend his PhD Thesis […]
PhD Defense: Enis Dinç (University of Amsterdam)
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalPerforming Modernity: Atatürk on Film (1919-1938) Supervisors: Frank van Vree, M. Şükrü Hanioğlu and Esther Peeren Date: 13 December 2016, 12:00 hrs, Agnietenkapel When Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founding father of the Turkish Republic, took the lead in the national resistance movement in Anatolia in 1919, he was far from being a household name. Nevertheless, […]
Promotie: Merel Borger (Vrije Universiteit)
/in PhD Alumni /by Chantal18 oktober 2016
De komst van digitale technologie heeft de verwachting opgeroepen dat iedereen voortaan zou kunnen deelnemen aan het maken en verspreiden van nieuws. Op basis van literatuurstudie, kwalitatieve analyse van diepte-interviews en inhoudsanalyse van nieuwsberichten onderzocht Merel Borger hoe participatieve ontwikkelingen in de journalistiek invloed hebben op conventionele opvattingen over wat telt als journalistiek en wie telt als journalist.
PhD Defence: Niels Kerssens
/in PhD Alumni /by ChantalCultures of Use – 1970s/1980s: An Archaeology of Computing’s Integration with Everyday Life Date: Wednesday 25 May 2016, at 10am sharp. Venue: Agnietenkapel, University of Amsterdam (address: Oudezijds Voorburgwal 231 Promotors: Prof. dr José van Dijck & Dr Bernard Rieder You are cordially invited to attend the public defence, which will take place in the Agnietenkapel, […]