Summer School: Political Communication

Rationale

The emergence of new media and increased citizen journalism is redefining the public sphere and social contract between the citizen and government. Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are enjoying new roles for enhanced social mobility in bringing about a major change in the social fabric; a prominent example can be witnessed in form of Arab Spring in Middle East. This role of internet, post Arab Spring, has attracted special importance and attention from the global community, especially the academia. However, the fact remains that there is a profound digital gap between the North and South. Depending upon the digital literacy and technical capacities, in many parts of the world, the new media (social networking, blogs and/or internet) has not yet outdone the importance of ‘traditional’ media (radio, television, newspaper). Thus, this new role of political activism assumed by the new media has received limited attention as an academic discipline in many institutions.

For this purpose, the Chair of Muslim Culture and Religious History, Prof. Dr. Jamal Malik at the University of Erfurt, Germany, initiated a project in 2012, by the title of Changing Role of Social Media in Muslim Countries to review the curricular trends in communication and political science in Pakistan.

In this regard, the University of Erfurt is inviting applications for its summer school on Political Communication in Erfurt, Germany, from 7th to 18th August 2013. This Summer School focuses on three themes, 1- Politics/Governance, 2- Media and 3- Civil Society/Community with the view to draw attention of the participants to these new roles of modern communication media coupled with academic excursions to political and media outlets in Erfurt, Weimar and Berlin.