Doctoral Research 2023: What Did the New Nordic Doctors Study?

Misinformation, gaming cultures, digital media, and emotional contagion – these were among the topics of the new doctoral theses defended at Nordic universities last year. In 2023, the Nordic region welcomed 53 new doctors. Congratulations to all!

Through searches across databases including DiVA in Sweden, Cristin in Norway, NORA in Denmark, and Finna in Finland, we found 53 accepted theses in 2023. None were found in Iceland. The University of Turku in Finland emerged with the highest number of accepted doctoral theses in the Nordic region last year.

Congratulations to all the graduates of last year! If you are aware of any theses that are missing from the list, please let us know. 

Doctoral Theses 2023

Denmark (7)

Grønlund, Anders: Greenlandic Frames: Screen Production in and about Greenland, University of Copenhagen

Jahn, Laura: Curbing Amplifiation Online: Towards Improving the Quality of Information Spread on Social Media Using Agent-Based Models and Twitter Data, University of Copenhagen

Nolsøe, Turið: Autonomy’s Double Bind: The Rhetorical Intersection of Geopolitics and Biopolitics in Danish Media Coverage of Faroese Abortion Rights, University of Copenhagen 

Patel, Shama: The Summer of 2020: Situating Digital Media in Scaling Affective Contagion: A Case of the George Floyd Video, Copenhagen Business School 

Pedersen, Leif Hemming: The Struggle for Recognition in Times of Deep Mediatization, Roskilde University 

Sivertsen, Morten Fischer: Stratified Publics: A Sociological Study of Inequality in Citizenship, Media, and Public Formation in the Digital Era, Roskilde University 

Vulpius, Julie: In Muddy Waters: Attuning to News and News Audiences in a Digital Era, Roskilde University 

Vestergaard, Mathias Bukh: Competing on Credibility: How Political Parties Strategically Use Policy Commitments in Their Public Communication, Aarhus University 

Finland (24)

Biri, Ylva: Stancetaking in Interest-Based Online Communities: A Corpus Pragmatic Comparative Analysis, University of Helsinki

Bounab, Yazid: Social Media Mining for Affective and Business Cues, University of Oulu

Glotov, Serge: Film Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue: Focus on Cultural Representation, Tampere University

Holm, Suvi K: Preferences, Emotions, and Visual Attention in the First-Person Shooter Game Experience, University of Turku

Khalimzoda, Ilkhom: Russian Speakers’ Acculturation in Finland and Latvia: The Role of Language and News Media Engagement, University of Jyväskylä

Koljonen, Juha: Text as Data and Finnish Politics: Case Studies of Computational Text Analysis Methods in the Finnish Political Context., University of Helsinki

Koivunen, Kati: Co-Creating Professional Brand Identity on Social Media in a Career Transition, University of Oulu

Korkeila, Henry: Resources, Capital, and Players Inside the Game Worlds: Bourdieusian Approach to Game Cultures, University of Turku

Koski, Johannes: Producing Affection: Affect and Mediated Intimacy in Pokémon, University of Turku

Luukela-Tandon, Anushree: Fear of Missing Out on Social Media: Implications for Private and Professional lives,University of Turku

Lu, Chien: Shallow Representations, Profound Discoveries: A Methodological Study of Game Culture in Social Media, Tampere University

Luoto, Tim: Digital Magic Circle: Physically Activating Properties of the Augmented Reality Games in the Northern Context, University of Oulu

Maaranen, Anna: Socio-Technological Encounters and New Discursive Dynamics in Social Media Spaces, Hanken School of Economics

Patel, Laura Savolainen: Who Is the Algorithm? Interfacing the Social, Emotional, and Algorithmic, University of Helsinki

Puhakka, Anna: Resistances in Online Body Positivity Activism in Finland in the Late 2010s, University of Jyväskylä

Ruokolainen, Hilda: Misinformation in Encounters: A Qualitative Study of Misinformation as a Social Phenomenon, Åbo Akademi University 

Salomaa, Saara: Media Education as Part of Early Childhood Education Teachers’ Work and Training: Media Education Awareness as an Interpretive Framework, Tampere University

Scacco, Lorella: A Phenomenological Approach to Media Art Environments: The Immersive Art Experience and the Finnish Art Scene, University of Turku

Tammisalo, Kristiina: Connecting and Disconnecting: Information and Communication Technology in Family Relationships, University of Turku

Tiusanen, Kaisa: Nice Food, Good People: Technologies of Subjectivity and Class Distinction in Media Texts about the Right Kind of Food, Tampere University

Tuominen, Jesse: Young Consumers on Social Media, University of Jyväskylä

Varjakoski, Hanna: Resistance, Playing with Age Identities and Activist Grannies: Portrayals of Ageing in the Finnish Media, University of Turku

Välisalo, Tanja: Who Is Your Favourite Character? Audience Engagement with Fictional Characters, University of Jyväskylä

Zosa, Elaine: Analysis of News Media with Topic Models, University of Helsinki

Norway (13)

Føreland, Tone: Filmarven fra Fjøset: Filmproduksjon i Landbrukets Film- og Billedkontor 1942–1985, NTNU

Gallofré Ocaña, Marc: Journalistic Knowledge Platforms: From Idea to Realisation, University of Bergen 

Huntebrinker, Berit: Narrating Environmental Citizenship: Norwegian Picturebooks and Comics in the Anthropocene, University of Agder

Kriachko Roeren, Anastasia: Documenting the Nation: How TV Documentaries Reflect and Shape Russian National Identity, University of Oslo 

Natvig, Anne: Fragmented Professionalism: Journalism Culture in Cuban State Media, University of Oslo 

Øfsti, Marius: Norway After Netflix: Local Distributor Strategies in a Global Movie Market, NTNU

Robinson, Jessica Yarin: Networked Cosmopolitans: Making Connections in a World of Politics, University of Oslo

Sandberg, Magnus Henrik: Fra skuespill til dataspill: En studie av meningspotensialet i Peer Gyntspillet, NTNU

Spjeldnæs, Kari: Digital Influence, Digital Platforms and Disconnected Presence: Long-form Leisure Reading in the Era of Ubiquitous Digital Connectivity, Univeristy of Bergen

Stifjell, Celina: She-Monsters and Sea Changes: Imagining Submersion in Speculative Feminist Fiction, NTNU

Trasti Rogstad, Egil: Virtual(ly) Women Athletes: Gendered Power Relations in Esports, Nord University

Wallace, Benedikte: AI-Generated Dance and the Subjectivity Challenge, University of Oslo

Sweden (8)

Edlom, Jessica: Show Me Love: Emergent Strategic Communication Practices and Fan Engagement within the Popular Music Industry, Karlstad University

Farkas, Johan: This Is Not Real News: Discursive Struggles over Fake News, Journalism, and Democracy, Malmö University

Fossås, Ole Johnny: Extracting Versatility: Films Commissioned by the Mining Industry in Postwar Sweden, Stockholm University

Helgesson, Elin: The Many Faces of Public Affairs: A Study of Constructs, Conditions and Claims in a Disputed Field of Practice, Mid Sweden University

Karlsson, Martin: Governing the News: A Study of Poblems and Solutions in Swedish Public Service Broadcasting News and Policy Between 1954 and 2015, Stockholm University

Kibarabara, Joy: The Discourse and Practice of Constructive Journalism, Stockholm University

Mohamed, Ali: Collective Identity Formation in Social Media: Interaction in Three Facebook Groups, Stockholm University

Najem, Chafic T.: Smuggle: Frame, Shoot: Illicit Media Practices and Visual Insurgency from Lebanese Incarceration, Stockholm University

Is your thesis missing? Let us know and we will complement the list! 

Image: Adobe Stock

Doctoral Theses in 2022

In 2022, almost 60 doctoral theses were defended in the field of media and communication studies. Among the studied subjects were artificial intelligence, datafication, algorithms, open science, climate change, online identity politics, media literacy, and seniors and aging.

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Doctoral Theses in 2020

In 2020, there were more than 70 doctoral theses published in the field of media and communication research in the Nordic countries.

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