PhD Courses in Denmark

Dates and time: 30-31 May 2024 from 9:00 to 16:00

In 1997, members of the Birmingham School of Cultural Studies devised a theory of the circuit of culture. The theory highlighted the reciprocity between consumption, production, regulation, representation and identity in analysis of cultural texts and artefacts. Their method marked a break with existing approaches to cultural analysis as it studied the biography of a cultural artefact through a broader set of distinct processes. Mobilizing the Walkman as an analytical case study, Du Gay et al. (1997, 3) made the argument, that the five elements "complete a sort of circuit – what we term the circuit of culture – through which any analysis of a cultural text or artefact must pass if it is to be adequately studied".  

Considering today’s music streaming possibilities, where immediate access is granted to millions of songs, the Walkman has entered the annals of the history of technology. Yet, the circuit of culture persists as a preeminent model for analysing cultural phenomena. This course will mobilize the model to analyse what is arguably one of the cultural texts that has most fundamentally transformed cultures today: the platform. Platforms are instrumental in shaping infrastructures, economic processes, governmental frameworks, cultural practices and imaginations (Poell, Nieborg & van Dijck 2019). Tech giants such as Meta, Google, Amazon and ByteDance own and operate influential platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok and therefore govern and shape large volumes of artefacts, objects, texts and practices within modern cultural industries. Responding to recent calls in platform studies (Poell 2020) this course draws inspirations from the original circuit of culture. For this, we invite contributors to think of new circuits of culture emerging out of platforms and platformisation. Central to these are the figures of the creator, the user, the platform and the policies that they are encapsulated by. This 2-day PhD course specifically zooms in on these figures and the processes that connect them.  

The course welcomes contributions that further look at: 

- The notion of the digital creator as a cultural producer
- The working conditions of digital creators
- The rights of digital creators
- Biases (gender, race, class) in the representation of creators in algorithmic curation
- Users and digital labour
- User-agency and platforms
- The relationship between users and creators
- The organizational principles of platforms
- The economics of platforms
- The cultural curation of platforms
- The politics of platforms
- The governing by platforms
- The governing of platforms

References
Du Gay, P., Hall, S., Janes, L., Mackay, H. & Negus, K. (1997). Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of the Sony Walkman. London: Sage.
Poell, T. (2020). Three challenges for media studies in the age of platforms. Television & New Media, 21(6), 650-657.
Poell, T., Nieborg, D. & van Dijck, J. (2019). Platformisation. Internet Policy Review: Journal of Internet Regulation, 8(4), 1-13)

Organisers
The PhD course is organised by the Follow Me (FoMe) research project, funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark and located at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen. To read more about the project and its members, please visit the project’s website: https://artsandculturalstudies.ku.dk/research/follow-me/

Invited speakers

• Professor Thomas Poell, Data, Culture & Institutions, Media Studies, University of Amsterdam
• Francesca Sobande, Senior Lecturer in Digital Media Studies, School of Journalism, Media and Culture, Cardiff University

Application process
Deadline for applications is 1 March 2024. Applicants must deliver an abstract of up to 300 words and a biographical statement in a single paragraph. Applications should be sent to valtysson@hum.ku.dk
Upon acceptance, participants must hand in an extended abstract of max. 3500 words.
Deadline for extended abstracts is 15 April 2024

Programme
Day 1 (30 May) starts with two inspirational talks from the invited speakers, followed by discussions. After lunch, members of the FoMe project will facilitate discussions based on assigned texts which participants should read prior to the course (texts will be distributed in advance).
Day 2 (31 May) is fully focused on the work of the PhD students, where they present and discuss their work in smaller groups.

Course organiser: Bjarki Valtýsson, Associate Professor, Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen.

Working language: English.

ECTS credits: 3 ECTS for participation with presentation.

Travel and accommodation: Participants are expected to cover travel and accommodation expenses themselves.

Meals: Lunch both days and dinner on the first day

Max. numbers of participants: 20.

Texts: Reading materials of approximately 300 pages will be made available to the participants as of 15 April.

Further information: Questions should be directed to associate professor and PI for the FoMe project Bjarki Valtysson – valtysson@hum.ku.dk