Digital media and transgressive communication
Digital Media and Transgressive Communication is a PhD-level course that examines boundary-breaking forms of communication in digital and digitalised media. The course introduces key theoretical perspectives on platform affordances, context collapse, epistemic insecurity, and informational threats, and explores how these dynamics affect public discourse, polarisation, and democratic communication. Participants apply these perspectives to their own research through workshops, discussions, and a short academic paper.
In a time of general lack of trust in communication and public discourse, researchers need to pay attention to how old boundaries between private and public discourse collapse and current discourses transgress against established norms. The aim of this course is to look at transgressive or boundary breaking communication using digital media (for instance hate speech in social media, the spread of conspiracy theories, misinformation and online harassment) With transgressive communication we understand messages, topics, culture and communities that carry a risk of discomfort and fear for the researcher, all the way to a risk of retaliation. We will look at alternative and offensive use of comment fields, context collapse in social media, and how to understand platform affordances. We will use this to recognise informational threats and their connection to polarisation and epistemic insecurity. How to perform and utilize digital research will be an important part of the course discourse. The course has a meta-approach to methods, where the understanding of threats and opportunities is in focus.
The digitalisation of media has caused rapid shifts both in the practices and foundations of legacy media, while the different social media platforms are developed and altered at an even higher rate. This means that the course needs to take into consideration the need to follow this constantly changing media ecosystem through flexibility in content, literature and focus, and it will be adjusted to the candidate’s specific research approach within the frame of the course.
This course is designed for Ph D researchers working in media studies, communication, platform studies, social sciences and other related fields, who have an interest in understanding more about functions and dysfunctions of the digital and digitalised media.
All students must be fluent in English and hold a completed master’s degree within a relevant subject area.
PhD students will be given priority.
The course is aimed at doctoral students in the Governance and Democracy in Transition specialication and other social scientists working on relevant topics. Students must have previously obtained a Master’s degree, or else be registered upon a PhD programme at the time of the course.
The course has 20 seats, with a minimum number of participants of 5. If the number of applicants exceeds the available number of seats, applicants will be ranked from category 1-4.
Category 1: Doctoral students in the Governance and Democracy in Transition specialisation at Nord University
Category 2: Doctoral students enrolled in a PhD program
Category 3: Applicants with a relevant master's degree (120 ECTS) or equivalent. (A Norwegian Master‘s Degree of 5 years or 3 (bachelor's degree) + 2 years (master's degree)).
Category 4: Postdoctoral researchers
After completing the course, the student must have obtained:
Knowledge
The candidate:
- demonstrates advanced and critical understanding of epistemic insecurity, including its theoretical foundations, societal relevance, and potential consequences for public discourse
- has in-depth knowledge of informational threats and can critically assess how such threats emerge, circulate, and impact digital and digitalised media environments
- possesses advanced knowledge of digital platforms and their affordances, and how these shape communicative practices and power relations
- demonstrates theoretical understanding of context collapse and can critically analyse its relationship to platform affordances
- understands polarisation as a structural and epistemic phenomenon, and can analyse it in relation to informational vulnerability in contemporary media ecosystems
Skills
The candidate:
- can critically analyse and compare affordances in legacy media and social media, and assess their implications for communication, journalism, and research
- can independently design and refine research questions relevant to digital and digitalised media, grounded in appropriate theoretical perspectives
- can critically evaluate and apply strategies for fact-checking and identifying informational threats as part of advanced digital research practice
General competence
The candidate:
- can critically communicate and teach advanced knowledge on digital media and transgressive communication at different educational levels, and adapt complex research-based insights to diverse academic audiences
- demonstrates advanced understanding of the challenges and ethical implications of popularising research, including risks related to visibility, misinterpretation, and epistemic vulnerability
- can independently and critically select, assess, and justify relevant literature for advanced academic courses and research contexts
- can initiate, organise, and lead peer-learning activities, working groups, and collaborative research practices in interdisciplinary settings
- can conduct independent digital research based on advanced critical competences, including ethical judgement, methodological reflexivity, and analytical rigour
Theory course. Elective course.
The course is elective for students at PhD in Social Science.
The course combines lectures, workshops, and participant-led discussions focusing on theoretical perspectives and applied analysis of digital media and transgressive communication. Learning activities include collaborative paper planning sessions, critical discussions of platform practices, and guided reflection on academic communication in digital and public arenas. Participants actively apply course concepts to their own research through short public posts, peer feedback, and the development of a research-based short paper.
Course outline (minor adjustments may occur):
Week 34, Thursday 20 August
09:15–10:00
Introduction, practical information, and introduction to the course platform
10:15–12:00
Overview of theoretical perspectives
12:00–13:00
Break
13:00–15:00
Platforms and affordances
15:15–16:00
Everything That Can Go Wrong, Will
Afternoon
Independent work: Make your first social media post
Week 38
Monday 14th of September. On campus, Bodø
11:00–11:30
Welcome and presentations
11:30–12:15
Lunch
12:15–13:30
Context collapse and social norms
13:45–15:00
Epistemic insecurity and polarization
15:15–16:00
Research communication in short form – discussion
Afternoon
Independent work: Make your second social media post
Tuesday 15th of September. On campus, Bodø
09:15–11:00
Digital ethnography in risky fields: Protection of sources / protection of researchers
11:15–13:00
Transgressions and new boundaries
13:00–14:00
Lunch
14:00–14:45
Paper planning session (candidate-led)
Roundtable on paper planning
15.00–16:00
Strategic use of social media in academia – discussing current posts
Afternoon
Independent work: Make your third social media post
Wednesday 16th of Semptember, on campus, Bodø
09:15–11:00
Editorial responsibility, fake news, and chaotic structures
11:15–13:00
Reading comment sections / The dangers of scraping the internet
13:00–14:00
Lunch
14:00–14:45
Paper planning session (candidate-led)
15:00–16:00
Examples of academic use of social media and what can go wrong
Afternoon
Independent work: Make your final social media post
Thursday 17th of September, on campus, Bodø
09:15–11:00
This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things – Academic Discourse in the Media Edition
11:15–12:00
How can social media be used to support your academic career? – A discussion of your posts, relevant platforms, and strategies for self-care in the age of social media (students provide examples)
12:00–13:00
Lunch
13:00–15:00
Paper planning session – presentations and feedback
15:15–16:00
Summary, evaluation, and the way forward
Assessment:
1. OD Compulsory participation: Mandatory attendance minimum 80% of the course (pass/fail) Compulsory participation must be approved in order to hand in assignment (OP).
2. AK: Assignments. 4 social media post. (pass/fail). Assignments must be approved in order to hand in assignment (OP).
3. OP. The course is assessed through an individual written short paper (5 pages) linked to the participant’s own research. All assessment components must be passed to receive a final grade (pass/fail).
