Doctoral Projects

“Can only a Muslim therapist really treat me well? How important is it that the therapist has the same faith?” These questions come from a post on the Instagram page of a German influencer of (…)

This doctoral project investigates how interpretable machine learning can advance communication science — from the transparent identification of protest-related news and the recognition of AI-generated images to the analysis of political TikTok communication in the (…)

“The camera is the inexhaustible expropriator of image-weapons; the projector, a gun that can shoot 24 frames per second.“ The 1960s have gone down in history not only in Latin America as the years of (…)

How do data-based algorithmic systems affect people who are particularly vulnerable — and what forms of injustice can arise as a result? From a legal philosophy perspective, this dissertation examines how government AI applications in (…)

Disinformation and fake news are not new, but digitalization and mediatization have taken the problem to a new level. The dissertation project aims to gain a better understanding and possible solutions. Through a quantitative content (…)

According to the 2018 LEO study, 6.2 million German-speaking adults in Germany have significant problems with reading and writing. The 2023 PIAAC study also reveals deficits in everyday mathematical competences. Those affected can attend literacy (…)

The dissertation focuses on new journalistic tools under the conditions of digital media change. The tools are understood as „boundary objects“ (Star&Griesemer, 1989). Such a socio-technological perspective makes it possible to analyze their (technical) specifics (…)

The internet is permanently changing the structure and logic of the political public sphere: the former gatekeeping position of traditional media is disappearing and new actors are entering the arena. Jan Rau’s dissertation project investigates (…)

How is the digital platform society changing our perception of climate change — and who is shaping public knowledge about it today? This dissertation examines how visual communication practices, new groups of actors, and the (…)

PhD project On the internet, the old business model of mass media is no longer viable and journalism must seek the attention of the audience in the area of conflict between quality reporting and personalized (…)

YouTube is one of the most popular Internet offerings for young people in Germany and serves many of them as an informal learning and educational space for researching information for leisure interests, school and training (…)

This dissertation project uses sociological discourse analysis to examine how the RKK draws organizational boundaries, communicates these both internally and externally, and what consequences this has for the institution’s relationship with its members. The focus is on the public communicative positioning of actors within the RKK who operate at various organizational levels.