PhD Position – Deconstructing small islands’ challenges in the global discourse on climate change
We are looking for a highly motivated, creative PhD researcher to join the Department of Human Dimensions in Coastal Areas in an analytical study on deconstructing small islands’ challenges in times of climate change. The position is limited to three years.
In the media and international discourse, small islands are commonly stylized as victims of climate change. The general narrative of drowning islands, however, overlooks crucial regional natural differences and varying socio-political contexts, as well as the broader range of internal and external stressors that put pressure on the sustainable development of islands. In order to understand the full dynamics of island development in times of climate change, it is necessary to deconstruct the dominant narrative surrounding small islands. This requires a dual natural and social science perspective, analyzing the state of the art on natural dynamics shaping and affecting small islands, examining political agenda setting on the national and international level, as well as scrutinizing the various internal stressors affecting islands and their impact on future development.
The 3-year PhD project will carry out an analysis of current state of the art knowledge on global natural island dynamics in combination with stereotyped narratives on islands in science and media. During the course of your PhD, you will contribute to an understanding of the rationale, role and forms of regional differentiation. You will also scrutinize media coverage and its repetition of stereotypes, the constraints this poses for changing the narrative of islands as victims, and the role that is played by different political contexts. From this context the specific focus can be chosen, the approach and methodology will be developed in collaboration with your supervisors and includes natural science analysis and statistics, as well as empirical social science methods, e.g. media and document analysis, surveys and interviews. The framing of your study will interdisciplinary access different knowledge claims and consider how stereotyped storylines relate to ambitions of change. You are expected to draw on various theoretical concepts in the development of your analytical approach. The appointed candidate will join the team of “Human Dimensions of Coastal Areas” and benefit from working alongside a larger group of researchers across Hereon and Hamburg University.
Your tasks:
The successful applicant is expected to work independently as part of a wider study. As part of completing a PhD, key tasks will include:
- analysis of different knowledges of global island morphological dynamics within a broader context of socio-ecological systems approaches
- developing an analytical concept for investigating global/regional conditions of island development in contrast to national/local political agenda setting surrounding small islands and climate change
- carrying out empirical work and synthesizing results
- preparing manuscripts and conference presentations, including a PhD at the University of Hamburg
- contribute to other work of the department related to this topic
Essential qualifications:
- Master or Diploma degree in an appropriate field (geography, environmental sciences, political sciences, social sciences etc.)
- proficiency in writing and orally presenting research results
- ability to work independently
- skills in scientific analysis and willingness to explore new thinking