[Air-L] Post-Doctoral Position in Security and Privacy Studies

[Hector Postigo]

Please Distribute. Apologies for cross-posting

____________________________________________
POST-DOCTORAL POSITION IN SECURITY/PRIVACY STUDIES
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION AND THEATER, PHILADELPHIA PA, USA.

As part of an international initiative undertaken with the support of 
the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme, Temple University 
is offering a 1 year, post-doctoral position in security/privacy studies 
with a target start date of January 1, 2010 at the earliest; however, 
this is flexible dependent on the selected candidate’s availability. The 
selected post-doctoral fellow, along with the Project Director, will be 
responsible for administering a project on “Privacy Awareness through 
Branding of Security Organisations” (PATS) in cooperation with 
institutions in Germany, the UK, Finland, Israel, Poland, and the United 
States.

Project Summary and Responsibilities: Temple University’s role in the 
project will be to increase the knowledge of existing symbolic 
representation of security agencies and security functions of private 
industry in the U.S and in the other partner countries. Symbolic 
representations are seen as one of the main sorts of communication 
between security organizations, industry, and citizens as members of the 
public. This project will research the specific significance of signs 
and labels in order to reconstruct security practices – and 
self-understanding of security agencies – through a set of cultural 
categories. The methodology will include content and discourse analysis, 
ethnographic fieldwork, and photographic techniques. The selected 
candidate should be skilled in qualitative and ethnographic methods and 
will oversee data collection (1) at select security conferences that are 
open to the public; (2) through systematic coding of privacy symbols and 
discourses on web pages, brochures, and in security trade publications; 
and (3) through photographic representations of security and privacy 
protection in public places.

The post-doctoral researcher along with the director will also be 
responsible for 1) coordinating with partner countries other components 
of the research project managed by partner researcher, 2) hosting an 
international workshop on security and privacy in Philadelphia 3) 
attending project meetings hosted at partner countries 4) hosting a 
workshop to improve privacy awareness among security agencies.

Salary is commensurate with experience and includes full fringe and 
health benefits. All travel related to research, workshops and project 
meetings is covered by the Seventh Framework Programme funding.

Qualifications:
Applicants must have an earned doctoral degree in Communication or a 
field related to security/privacy studies. Candidates with pending 
degrees who will have successfully defended their dissertations by the 
position start date will also be considered.
In addition, applicants must have relevant expertise in one or more of 
the following subjects/methodologies: security/privacy studies, visual 
rhetoric, rhetorical analysis, discourse analysis, narrative analysis, 
media analysis and qualitative methods.
Temple University is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer 
and educator where diversity is an essential source of vitality and 
strength. The University is committed to nondiscrimination based on 
race, color, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, 
religion, age and disability.

Deadline: Review of Applications will begin December 1, 2009 and 
continue until the position is filled. We hope for a start date of 
January 1, 2010 but that is flexible and dependent on when the position 
is filled.

Application Instructions: Please email all application materials and or 
questions to the Project Director:

Hector Postigo
Associate Professor
Broadcasting Telecommunications and Mass Media
School of Communication and Theater, Temple University
hector.postigo at temple.edu


When applying include as MS Word attachments:

1. Cover Letter stating your interests in the position and how your 
research and expertise will contribute and relates to the project.
2. An up to date CV
3. Names and contact information for 2 references
4. Sample of written work (published or unpublished).

-- 
Hector Postigo Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Temple University
Dept. of Broadcasting, Telecommunications & Mass Media
School of Communication and Theatre
Annenberg Hall
2020 North 13th Street Room 205
Philadelphia, PA 19122