Current dissertation projects
Faime Alpagu
Migration Narratives Juxtaposed: A Sociological Analysis of Photos, Letters and Biographies of "Guest Workers" from Turkey living in Austria
Her dissertation Project 'Migration Narratives Juxtaposed: A Sociological Analysis of Photos, Letters and Biographies of "Guest Workers" from Turkey living in Austria' analyses photographs and letters of Turkish "Gastarbeiterinnen". The letters and photographs are contrasted with her recently conducted biographical-narrative interviews as well as official documents such as employment contracts. The aim is to develop a method to systematically interrelate visual and linguistic forms of expression and their differing time references. Faime Alpague’s dissertation project was awarded with the Dissertation Award for Research on Migration by the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Supervisor: Roswitha Breckner
Klaus Lehner
Bildbeeinflussungen: Zur Regierung der Bildung im Alter. Eine Bild-Diskursanalyse
In his dissertation Project Klaus Lehner examines visual discourses on aging, in particular, in the phase of life after retirement, from a governmental perspective. In the analysis, the meaning making in the context of ageing, images of ageing and modes of address in images are identified in data material from ministries, local governments and senior citizens’ organisations of political parties in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
Supervisor: Roswitha Breckner
Margarita Wolf
"It is also normal to live here": a sociological analysis of processes of normalisation in the biographies of people who live on or near the former concentration camp site Gusen.
The dissertation project deals with the reuse of the former concentration camp site Gusen in Upper Austria as a residential area. Through the analysis of biographies and photographs and from an ethnomethodological perspective it is investigated how people who live on or near the former camp ground experience their place of residence and in what ways they normalize this historical place in their life stories. The dissertation project is situated at the intersection of biographical research, visual sociology and memory studies.
Supervisor: Roswitha Breckner
Irene Zehenthofer
On the representation of social power relations. A reflection on the negotiation of social inequalities, conflicts and grievances in Austrian film between 1980 and 2010
The dissertation project deals with narrative constructions and negotiations of social inequality in a comprehensive sample of Austrian feature films which were produced in the 30 years following the initiation of the state funding for film. Based on film sociological analysis, relational unequal distribitution of life chances, autonomy of action and recognition, which are constructed by means of representation of figures as well as narrative relations, are being investigated. Particular attention is being paid to representations of gender-related social inequalities. Within the research, the embeddedness of filmic narration culture and the framework of the given conditions of production are taken into account.
Supervisor: Eva Flicker
