CDA-PHD-CLASS: A new list for Ph.D students of CDA

Teun A. van Dijk teun at HUM.UVA.NL
Sat Nov 6 15:04:11 UTC 1999


ANNOUNCEMENT

This is to announce a new internet list, CDA-PHD-CLASS, specially
created for advanced Ph.D. (doctoral) students who are specializing in
any field of critical discourse analysis, and who are writing their
doctoral thesis on a CDA-topic.

The list will be monitored by Teun A. van Dijk (University of Amsterdam,
and --in 1999-2000-- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona).

This list will be like a virtual 'class' in which a selected group of
Ph.D. students from various countries will participate in order to
mutually discuss issues in CDA, exchange bibliographical and other
information, provide mutual support, and create a global community of
PhD students of CDA.

CDA research is here understood as the explicit, systematic,
theory-based and critical study of text or talk in their socio-political
context, with special interest in the role of discourse in the
enactment, expression and reproduction of --or the resistance against--
power abuse, domination and social inequality.

There are many reasons why this list/class has been set up. Many PhD
students of CDA in the world are engaged in such research in an
environment in which CDA is marginal or non-existant, or dominated by
mainstream research in the various disciplines of the humanities and
social sciences. But even when supported and supervised by local
professors specialized in CDA, students may often feel isolated and in
need to be in contact with other PhD students in the world who are
engaged in related projects, or facing similar theoretical, analytical
or methodological challenges. Daily communication with academic peers
all over the world, and from several disciplines, may significantly
contribute to the successful completion of a PhD thesis at an
international level. And conversely, specialists in CDA who will be
among the yearly 'visiting professors' of the class will thus be able to
communicate with probably the best Ph.D. students of CDA  in the world,
especially with those who are working in the same area of
specialization.

Subscribers of the CDA-PHD-CLASS list are also expected to actively
participate in the general list of the CDA community, CRITICS-L, to
which they will automatically be subscribed.

One of the joint and ongoing activities of the class will be to
contribute to an international bibliography of CDA publications, which
will regularly also be published on the CRITICS-L list so as to be of
use for other researchers in the field of CDA.

Students will primarily communicate among themselves, but will also be
able to communicate directly with, and to ask advice from the
coordinator of the class as well as yearly appointed 'visiting
professors', who are internationally renowned specialists in CDA.

More detailed rules of communication and interaction in the class will
be (jointly) developed later.

ELIGIBILITY

The CDA-PHD-CLASS is reserved for those advanced students who *at least*
satisfy the following criteria:

1. Preparing a Ph.D. degree, and writing a Ph.D. thesis on a CDA topic.
2. Having worked on the thesis for at least one year.
3. Having a good knowledge of both local and international CDA research.

4. Being able to read and write in English -- since the list/class will
be conducted in English.
5. Willing to actively contribute to the list/class by regular
contributions.
6. Willing to assist other members of the list in the same area of
specialization.
7. Willing to contribute to the international bibliography of CDA
publications.
8. Being prepared to inform the list/class once a year about one's own
research progress.
9. Having submitted a detailed description of their ongoing Ph.D.
research project.

The number of students to be admitted will provisionally be limited to a
maximum of 50. If more eligible students apply, selection on later to be
determined criteria will take place.

>>From the start, decisions on admission will not only depend on the
quality and originality of the research project of a candidate
subscriber, but also be influenced by criteria of diversity: At least
half of the class will consist of women, and students will be selected
from as many countries/cultures in the world as possible. Students are
preferred who are able to read academic literature and/or use discourse
data also in another than their own mother tongue.

Crucial for admission to the 'class' is that the research project of the
applicant *explicitly* deals with the relations between discourse
structures and social structures.

Participation in the class ends with the completion and successful
defense of the PhD thesis, or whenever a participant wants to leave the
'class' before that.

Yearly one or two of the best research papers produced by members of the
class will be published in the international journal DISCOURSE &
SOCIETY.

Specialists of CDA are requested to stimulate their best PhD students to
apply for membership in this international class if these satisfy the
criteria of eligibility.

Candidates should apply *personally* by writing to list moderator Teun
A. van Dijk (teun at hum.uva.nl). They will then receive a form and format
in which to provide information about their research project.

Recommendation by one or more professors specialized in CDA may be
useful, but is not required: Essential are the quality and the
originality of the CDA research project of the candidate.

Suggestions for the improvement of this list and the eligibility
criteria are welcome.

Further information may be obtained from list moderator Teun A. van
Dijk: teun at hum.uva.nl.



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