PRR Project

Summary

UA is committed to attracting and retaining the best talents, it also values community participation in scientific research. Citizen science involves the active involvement of citizens in research projects, enabling broader collaboration and a greater diversity of perspectives.Investing in the strengthening of our research teams is essential to drive innovation and discovery. This includes providing adequate resources, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and offering opportunities for professional development.In the Department of Languages and Cultures (DLC) at UA, where the research Centre for Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (CLLC) is located, there is broad consensus on the need to establish a connection between humanities and the digital world. The alignment of different research groups within CLLC occurs at a time of notable faculty renewal due to age-related reasons, making it imperative to stabilize and project careers.This step is essential to keep research lines up-to-date and to welcome students who are already immersed in communication technologies and digital platforms, exposed to artificial intelligence, constantly active in the use of their mobile phones and engaged in digitally mediated consumption practices.These circumstances give us an opportunity and indeed a need to create a cutting edge renewal and a novel focus in DLC teaching and CLLC research. The hiring of personnel with a specific profile is a part of this rationale.The outlined profile of an Assistant Researcher for the prospective hire includes the following skills:1-Mastery in communication and Cultural Studies (CS), with a particular inclination towards digitally mediated communication (social networks, digital platforms, streaming consumption, app logic, application of digital resources in knowledge construction and dissemination, etc.).2-Knowledge and research capability in the field of critical digital humanities, with a foundational background in Cultural Studies and/or Communication Sciences. It is emphasized that digital humanities cannot be restricted to user logic; rather, it involves questioning the reduction of citizens to users and its social and political consequences. It involves investigating social and cultural transformations in the world of work and social relations in general. What cultural shift are we witnessing? What does "datification" mean, and what philosophy underlies "dataism"? What are the civic and political challenges and consequences?3 - Ability to participate in the design of new courses and the reformulation of disciplines, incorporating critical digital theory perspectives.4 - Interdisciplinary vision and proactivity to articulate and promote collaboration among different CLLC research groups.5 -Effective communication and training skills to conduct seminars for various CLLC groups.6 - Competence in organizing events, participating in networks, and emphasizing internationalization.7 - Familiarity with the academic publishing universe, as well as the main journals in areas relevant to CLLC studies.8 - Capacity and availability for supervising postgraduate theses.9 - Demonstration of the ability to integrate into an active group with a high scientific production dynamic that focuses on establishing networks as a strategy for internationalization and knowledge dissemination.10 - Alignment with the goals of DLC and UA, as well as with the guidelines of the European Union and the 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development (namely the 4th, 5th and 10th).The previously outlined profile entails various responsibilities, including:a) Conducting research and obtaining results in the field of critical digital studies;b) Contributing to the teaching of the PhD in CS;c) Promoting collaboration among the three CLLC groups;d) Organizing events, developing and maintaining active networks;e) Participating in the design of new courses and the reformulation of disciplines, introducing the perspective of critical digital studies.f) Applying for national and international projects to secure significant funds for the development of the CS Group at CLLC;g) Establishing an editorial team that can create an internationally recognized journal in CS;h) Teaching or promoting training seminars that foster collaboration between humanities, social sciences, CS, and the digital world;i) Publishing research results in international impact scientific journals.In summary, it is inevitable today that we consider digital humanities within a context of the irreversibility of technological advances and the development of AI while simultaneously developing a critical vision that questions techno-instrumental rationality and its cultural and political consequences. This is especially true when witnessing the widespread platformization of society and a profound reconfiguration of culture and cultural practices.