Humanities and Communication

Communication
Thesis Proposals 1. Communication Researchers Research Group
 
Communication, city, and citizenship
 
This research line focuses on studying the construction of discourses on the city and/or citizenship in the digital era. This approach arises from the interest in analyzing the construction of the public sphere in urban settings and the right to the city. Within this framework, doctoral theses on the role of communication in the following areas are welcome:
  • Subaltern voices and urban margins.
  • Care networks in the city.
  • Communicative action as social activism in the urban context.
  • Audio-visual narratives and the city.
  • Women and the right to the city.
  • Participatory methodologies and urban studies.

Ágora
Event organization and protocol
 
Companies and institutions are increasingly aware of the importance of establishing good relations and effective communication with all their publics and stakeholders. Therefore, event organization and protocol are key tools for managing communication and contributing to the success of an organization's mission and vision.
 
From an academic perspective, this research line addresses the conceptualization of protocol and its implementation based on existing standards, both from a theoretical and applied perspective. The study also focuses on the ceremonial and organizational aspects of corporate events, considering various types of occasions, including official events, conferences, open houses, trade fairs, among others, and new trends being adopted in this growing sector.
 

GAME
Institutional relations, reputation, and corporate social responsibility
 
Today, organizations need to establish, maintain, and consolidate fluid, positive, and productive relationships with public and private entities capable of influencing their activities and/or those they aim to influence to advance their interests. This is the field of institutional relations, one of the thematic axes of this research line.
 
Through the effective development of these institutional relations and other communication strategies, organizations can strengthen their reputation, defined as a collective mental construction around their trajectory and the ability to meet the expectations of their strategic public and/or stakeholders. Reputation and its implications form the second axis of this research line.
 
Finally, today reputation cannot be conceived without due attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Given that the public increasingly demands transparency and commitment to environmental and social issues, organizations must work on their communication strategies to demonstrate this responsibility and the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the UN.
 
 

GAME
Scientific communication in the open science field
 
As a new scientific paradigm, open science needs to understand how traditional forms of science communication will evolve to reach the general public and also enable their participation in research design. Science communication can provide new narratives and tools that help knowledge, mainly in the form of monographs and academic articles, reach different layers of society. Additionally, it may include work on alternative bibliometrics to citations, often based on social media metrics, as well as forms of scientific communication that promote new ways of evaluating the social impact of research.
  
Critical studies on digital culture, design, and network communication
 
Mediaccions is an interdisciplinary research group dedicated to the study of digital culture and communication. Our vision involves a critical approach to collective creation and everyday online practices as a source of transformative knowledge that contributes to understanding current communication forms.
 
We conduct a diverse and innovative methodological approach based on ethnography and include both digital methods and others based on citizen action and participation. From a broader perspective, candidates can focus on studying:
  • Participatory and collective creative practices, their processes, and structures both inside and outside cultural and creative industries.
  • Citizen labs, communities, DIY creativity, and self-managed cultural action processes.
 
Our main research line is:
 
Sustainability, storytelling, and design: We study the role of storytelling and design actions as a way to express and communicate environmental and sustainability issues, from everyday activism through social media, future imaginaries about climate change and sustainability, the narrative turn in environmental communication, creative methodologies to foster collective imagination about possible futures, and creating new spaces for public debate and action through storytelling, world-building, fiction stories ("what if"), reimagining cities and rural areas, etc.
 
 
 
 MEDIACCIONS
Design studies
 
We investigate the disciplinary boundaries of design and its expansion to other fields of knowledge, delving into methodological changes, research processes, and the political pulse of design practice in the 21st century. We study the impact of the Internet on design and how it has changed production, distribution, professional profiles, and research in an interconnected and interdependent society. Candidates are invited to explore the following topics:
  • Open design.
  • Technology and design.
  • Design education.
  • Design methods.
  • Innovation in brand design.
 
 
 MEDIACCIONS
Experiential storytelling
 
We investigate the role of stories, new narrative formats, and collective storytelling forms at the level of conceptualization, design, development, and experience. We aim to explore the centrality of narratives from a social perspective in various creative and professional fields, as they articulate expressive and personal forms, their relationship with audiences, as well as their potential to generate alternative imaginaries and possible futures.
  • Transmedia and transmodal projects, digital narratives (stories set in social media environments).
  • Fictional characters on Twitter.
  • Hybrid media projects.
  • Alternate reality and immersive narrative experiences.
  • Narrative games, podcasting, etc.
 MEDIACCIONS
Communication, diversity, and social inclusion
 
This proposal invites doctoral candidates interested in exploring the multiple dimensions of diversity - including processes of visibility and invisibility, social inclusion, and exclusion - and how they shape contemporary communication dynamics. Candidates are invited to explore, among other topics:
  • Discursive and visual representations of difference and diversity.
  • Gender and communication.
  • Emergent literacy and social inclusion.
  • Critical pedagogy and inclusive communication.
  
Specialized communication: linguistic strategies to enhance the understanding of specialized texts
 
Communication between experts in a field and non-expert recipients has always been a complex issue. The cognitive domains of both interlocutors are different, and the sender must be able to adapt their discourse to make it understandable to the non-specialized recipient.
 
This research line aims to analyze, from a linguistic perspective, the factors that specialists need to consider when writing texts from their field of expertise but intended for non-expert audiences. The goal is to identify the linguistic strategies that must be applied to avoid comprehension problems that hinder effective communication. Although the study is conducted from a linguistic perspective, it also considers the cognitive dimension of specialized communication.
 
The proposed specialized fields for research are law and medicine, as it is essential that recipients fully understand the texts they receive in these areas. However, it is possible to agree on other specialized fields.
  
Narratives about the environmental crisis
 
Research on environmental communication oriented towards citizen participation. Projects in two lines:
  • Participatory methods, gamification, and co-design of experiences on this topic.
  • Storytelling on social networks based on personal narratives and emerging activism profiles.
We are open to developing theses on other lines that delve into these topics and have social impact.
 
 MEDIACCIONS
Creative industries and cultural practices
 
We explore how creative industries (including film, audiovisual media, music, and sound media) are reconfiguring their production, distribution, and consumption models in a context of technological disruption. We also examine how emerging cultural practices and new forms of cultural consumption (such as streaming and digital platforms) are transforming contemporary culture. Key topics include: production cultures; emerging cultural practices and digital audiences; political economy of creative industries; impact of technology on creation and consumption; and diversity, accessibility, and inclusion in creative industries.
 
 
 
 
 
  
Game studies and ludic experiences
 
Game studies aim to examine the cultural, social, psychological, aesthetic, economic, and technical aspects of games (digital or otherwise), their design, and their impact on society. We are interested in delving into topics related to game theory, narrative studies, Ludology vs. Narratology, analysis of games' cultural impact (identities, cultures, ideologies), game design, or the economy and industry of video games (microtransactions, freemium models, etc.). We also consider phenomena included in the “Gamification of Culture,” such as gamification, serious games, “game thinking,” “playful design,” simulations, or “pervasive games,” in any of their applications (e.g., entertainment, learning, persuasion, motivation, awareness, physical or mental well-being, etc.).
 
  
Citizenship, digital activism, and social learning
 
We address various aspects related to the interaction of citizens with communication media and social interaction platforms, including ways of accessing information and knowledge, emphasizing the emerging needs for media literacy, as well as the different types of social and political activism developed in these media and platforms. New ways of accessing and disseminating information pose challenges for both information and communication professionals and the citizens who use these media, highlighting phenomena such as disinformation, geopolitical propaganda (including aspects like hate speech, climate activism, and gender activism).
Dra. Ana Bernal-Triviño
Email: abernalt@uoc.edu
 
Dr. Marc Compte-Pujol
Email: mcomptepuj@uoc.edu
 
Email: flalueza@uoc.edu

Dr. Manel Jiménez-Morales
Email: manel.jimenez@uoc.edu

Dr. Àlex López-Borrull
Email: alopezbo@uoc.edu

Dra. Silvia Martínez-Martínez
Email: smartinezmartinez1@uoc.edu

Dra. Mireia Montaña-Blasco
Email: mmontanabl@uoc.edu
 
Dra. Sandra Sanz Martos
Email: ssanzm@uoc.edu

Dr. Daniel Aranda
Email: darandaj@uoc.edu
  
Strategic communication practices and impact on audiences
 
We investigate the development of corporate and advertising communication from both strategic and creative perspectives, exploring how organizations and brands structure their messages and the impact these have on reputation, perception, behavior, and the effects on various audiences (consumers, employees, citizens, etc.), with special attention to the most vulnerable groups. One focus is on sustainability and communication in ESG, both in content creation and communicative practices, analyzing how organizations integrate CSR into their narratives. Another focus is the impact of these communicative practices on the well-being of their audiences, especially regarding their mental health. Key topics: internal communication, digital communication, institutional communication, ESG and sustainability communication, youth, diversity, digital well-being.
 
 
 
  
Visual culture and cultural studies
 
We aim to deepen the analysis of the articulation between media, society, and culture by focusing on the processes of constructing subjectivities, identities, and power relations in contemporary visual culture. From an intersectional and transdisciplinary approach, we examine the dynamics and phenomena of visual culture to study their configurations and networks of relationships. Key topics include: the role of visual culture in contemporary societies; critique and visual representation; studies on gender, race, and sexuality in visual culture; visual culture and identity; cultural history of the image; aesthetics and ethics of images.
 
  
Research through design: The intrinsic value of making
 
Research through design is a research approach where design practice becomes a way of inquiry, a method to explore and generate knowledge. It focuses on the creation and reflection on design artifacts, using these artifacts to explore ideas and generate insights.
 
This research proposal invites PhD candidates to engage in transdisciplinary and applied research addressing current social, cultural, and technological challenges through the intrinsic value of making. From a broad perspective, candidates can work on:
  • Design as inquiry, creating artifacts not only as functional products but also to generate knowledge, concepts, or critiques.
  • Emphasizing artifacts that are not only practical solutions but also essential parts of research that provide insights and generate wisdom depending on how they are designed.
  • Producing knowledge not limited to individual cases; this intermediate-level knowledge includes robust concepts, patterns, or design frameworks.
 
Email: emor@uoc.edu
 
 
 DARTS