Under the Project “Departments of Excellence 2023-2027” awarded by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR), the Department of Philosophy “Piero Martinetti” of the University of Milan is offering a post-doc position of 1 year (renewable) within the activities of the PhilTech Research Center https://philtech.unimi.it/
Project
Communication and new media: pragmatic aspects and ethical-political repercussions.
Description
Over the past thirty years, the pragmatics of language has been enriched by two new research directions. The first, sometimes called digital communication pragmatics or Internet Pragmatics, examines the forms and mechanisms of communication in digital contexts (see in particular the work of Yus). The second, which might be called political pragmatics, studies the devices of communication manipulation, and the ethically and politically relevant uses of language (see especially the studies of Saul). To these, one may add the theoretical and empirical study of information and disinformation dissemination (infodemics) in networks of agents by means of simulation techniques, in order to model criteria of consensus and polarization, which now has a substantial literature.
Project activities:
1) Carry out research at the crossroads of the two agendas, investigating online communicative manipulation and developing strategies to counter it, in particular:
– On-line and off-line hate speech and counterspeech strategies
– Language acts and online scientific information
2) The theoretical study will also be accompanied by agent modelling to computationally translate the formulated principles and test them in empirical analyses.
3) Publication of scientific results in international (peer-reviewed) journals, on topics within the scope of the research project.
4) Participation in the activities of the PhilTech Research Center and affiliated Labs, contributing to the organization of seminars and conferences.
Profile
A PhD degree in a relevant field is a prerequisite, with a preference for a Degree in Philosophy within the domain of Philosophy of Language, Epistemology and Pragmatics, or alternatively in Computer Science within the domain of Network Sciences. The candidate will have the opportunity to develop his or her research in the context of PHILTEC activities and apply for further funding opportunities. English but not Italian is required. In addition, the ideal candidate has a great aptitude for teamwork, with good organizational skills.
The research will be supervised by prof. Elisa Paganini.
HOW TO APPLY & DEADLINE
The deadline for application is on November 27th, 2023 at 23:59 CET (strict – please note that late applications cannot be considered). Please follow carefully the instructions available on the official call, published at
Online interviews are scheduled on 12th December 2023 at 09:30am CET.
For any informal inquiry please write to elisa.paganini@unimi.it