[URBANTH-L] PhD opportunity on Technological Urbanism at Maastricht University

[Bas Van Heur]

Please circulate

The Science, Technology and Society Studies (STS) program within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Maastricht University offers the following PhD position (4 years, 75 % research, 25 % teaching):

Title
Technological Urbanism and Knowledge Production

Research Theme
>From the informational city to digital cities to cybercities to the open source city, the always complex relation between cities and technologies has over the last decades become rephrased in the language of digital technologies and the internet. This PhD project focuses on the epistemological dimensions of this shift. What does it mean for knowledge production about the city when this knowledge is increasingly acquired through the use of new media techniques, methods and metaphors? Who are the main actors involved in this process and in what ways do these epistemologies of the city reproduce old and create new lines of in- and exclusion?

Within this research theme, interested applicants are encouraged to develop a historical focus by analyzing how different cases at different times have used ‘new technologies’ to shape our knowledge and vision of the city. This approach in turn will enable a better evaluation of the supposed newness of contemporary new media cities and will contribute to a more refined view of technological innovation in urban environments. Empirically, depending on the background of the PhD candidate, the project studies concrete cases in fields such as architecture, urban planning or infrastructure.
Theoretically, the study is informed by science and technology studies and highlights the social and cultural construction of urban technologies.

For more information, please read carefully the graduate school website:
http://www.fdcw.org/phdprogram/2007/06/sts.html

Those interested, contact and e-mail a CV plus a brief expression of interest to Bas van Heur before Sunday 1 March: b.vanheur at vks.unimaas.nl

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