POSTDOC POSITION for the project “VISUAL TRUST. Reliability, accountability and forgery in...

This is a 3-years full-time postdoctoral academic research job (contracts are of 1 year renewed annually). The candidate will conduct research under the supervision and direction of the principal investigator (Roger Canals – University of Barcelona – Department of Social Anthropology). The general objective of this project is to analyse through a qualitative, comparative and bottom-up approach, the relationships of (mis)trust that individuals from different socio-cultural milieu establish with “social”, “religious” and “scientific” images. In other words, the principal aim is to understand how visual (mis)trust is “crafted”, “distributed”, “experienced” and “assessed”. Therefore, this project will also address the issue of the “visual fake” and the notion of “authenticity” and “originality” of current images, adopting a practise-based approach. This research will be conducted on-line and off-line through audio-visual research methods along the lines of Visual Anthropology and Multi-Modal Anthropology. It will lead to several research outcomes (films, articles, book chapters, among others).

This postdoctoral researcher will be part of a research team based at the Faculty of Geography and History at the University of Barcelona. She/he will conduct research on Task 1.2: Digital Images, Internet, and the Visual Fake (Authenticity, Deception and the role IA). This task consists in an on-line and off-line ethnographic research on the production, circulation, reception resignification of images on Internet in which the issue of their “authenticity” or “veracity” is addressed –in other words, images in which the question of the “trust” in images is posed. Special attention will be paid to those images meant to provide a reliable account of the so-called “real” life and to those that tackle the idea of visual deception for various purposes (artistic, satiric, commercial, among others). For example: the person in charge of this task will analyse, within the theoretical framework of the project and following the methodology proposed by the PI, the role of IA in images like deep-fakes and similar, the role of software of image-manipulation and, especially, the attitudes, expectations and conceptualizations that producers and “consumers” of these images adopt. This is an important point to clarify: this is a qualitative research, which means that this researcher will have to contact producers and users of these images and, through on-line and off-line methodologies, talk with them and, if possible, observe how they relate with images (and through them).

This research will be based on audio-visual methods (photo-elicitation, video-elicitation, interviews, participant observation and work with focus group with the aid of a camera). It will include doing participant observation and interviews (on-line and off-line) with image-makers, agents of image-circulation (websites, social networks, blogs, and face-to-face events like exhibitions) and “receivers” or “users” of these images (of different ages and belonging to different social contexts).

This research will include off-line research with studies of image-making, organizations of fact-checking and image-checking, journalists and influencers, among others. Special theoretical attention will be paid to the principles used to assess the reliability of images and the perception of the Visual Fake.

The off-line research will take place mainly in Spain. Additionally, it can be conducted in other European countries. Contact with individuals not dwelling in the EU will be carried out on-line. The person in charge of this task will work at the Faculty of Geography and History of the University of Barcelona.

During the fieldwork, this research will have to comply with the ethical and methodological protocols specified in the project.

The principal duties and responsibilities of this researcher will be:

-Elaborate a state of the art in relation to current investigations on anthropology of images applied to the study of digital images, Internet, IA, Social Networks, Fact-Checking and design.

-Contact agents involved in the making, dissemination and “reception” of digital images that challenge our perception in terms of “trust”. This researcher will make interviews and participant observation with these agents basing on an ethical and methodological protocol provided by the PI. This fieldwork will include the using of audio-visual devices. Training on the specific methodology of the project will be provided. This researcher will have to safely store the research documentation and share it with the PI, according to the established protocol. Technical devices will be provided by the project.

-Code the interviews and the images filmed or gathered during fieldwork using software for qualitative data analysis. Training for this software will be provided.

-Attend relevant public events (conferences, meetings, exhibitions) as part of the research project.

-Participating actively in the updating of the website of the project, the social networks of the project and in the scientific meetings.

-Disseminate the results of the research conducted via scientific papers, films or photographs co-signed with the PI to be presented at international, academic conferences and to be submitted to international, scientific journals. The project will cover the travel expenses related to data collection and to the participation in Conferences (up to a maximum established in the budget approved by the ERC).

Acronym

VISUALTRUST

FBG project number

402214

Project title

VISUAL TRUST. Reliability, accountability and forgery in scientific, religious and social images

IP

ROGER CANALS

Department

SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Gross salary per year

33.000€

Required documents

Application letter (3-5 pages), Curriculum vitae, 2 recommendation letters

Send your application to:

email

[email protected]

Name

Roger Canals

email subject

Postdoc 1.2 Job offer. VISUAL TRUST