Dear all
Please see details of PhD studentship for a project concerning the mediation of public health messaging during the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone based at SOAS and LSHTM, University of London http://www.bloomsbury.ac.uk/studentships/studentships-2017/mediating-public-health-messaging-during-the-ebols-crisis-in-sierra-leone
Mediating Public Health messaging during the Ebola Crisis in Sierra Leone
Principal supervisor: Professor Paul Basu (SOAS)
Co-supervisor: Professor Melissa Parker (LSHTM)
This project is concerned with public health messaging during the recent Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone. A key tension to emerge during the outbreak was at the interface between international health agencies and local populations. This was exacerbated by failures of communication, which often took the top-down, unidirectional form of international experts 'educating' local populations about infection control, rather than more dialogical approaches based on knowledge exchange.
In 2014, the Government of Sierra Leone published a National Communication Strategy for Ebola Response, which included setting up a 'Messaging and Dissemination' sub-committee. Attempting to learn from mistakes made early on in the outbreak, this acknowledged the need to engage effectively with different community groups to counter the spread of 'rumours, myths, misconceptions and misinformation'.
The project seeks to investigate ethnographically approaches to 'messaging and dissemination', and the processes through which the knowledge and discourse of external experts was translated into locally-meaningful messages using local communication media (including murals, banners, posters, radio, music, etc.). As well as documenting such materials, the project asks how such messaging was perceived by communities in Sierra Leone, and to what degree these approaches succeeded in dispelling 'rumours, myths and misconceptions'.
The project considers how lessons learned during the Ebola epidemic are informing initiatives intended to strengthen preparedness for possible future health crises. In particular the project will engage with the National Ebola Museum being established at Njala University, where an archive of materials and oral testimonies is being assembled.
It is anticipated that the methodology will be broadly ethnographic, but the project will also employ interdisciplinary approaches drawn from media/communication studies and public health. It is envisaged that the research will be at least partly based at the National Ebola Museum and that the student will assemble materials that will be deposited at the Museum, as well as working with the existing archive. Research will be conducted with a range of communities throughout Sierra Leone, as well as with individuals directly involved in mediating messages as part of the Ebola response.
Candidate Requirements:
Candidates should have a strong academic track record including a Master's degree in anthropology (or an anthropological subfield such as media anthropology, medical anthropology or visual anthropology). The studentship would suit candidates with interests across anthropology, public health, media, and global processes, and particularly those with an interest in West African visual culture and popular community media. Previous experience in West Africa would be advantageous.
In addition to research methods training, the successful candidate will be encouraged to take advantage of relevant courses available at both SOAS and LSHTM, including Culture and Society of West Africa, Comparative Media Theory, Health Promotion Approaches and Methods, and Medical Anthropology and Public Health modules. Language training is also available.
Due to funding restrictions, this studentship is only open to candidates classified as 'Home/EU' student for fee purposes.
Please see http://www.bloomsbury.ac.uk/studentships/studentships-2017/mediating-public-health-messaging-during-the-ebols-crisis-in-sierra-leone for full details and application instructions. Deadline 15 February 2017.
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Paul Basu
Professor of Anthropology
Department of Anthropology and Sociology | SOAS University of London | Thornhaugh Street | Russell Square | London WC1H 0XG | UK
Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
http://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff104140.php
http://www.sierraleoneheritage.org<http://www.sierraleoneheritage.org/>
New MA in Museums, Heritage and Material Culture Studies<http://www.soas.ac.uk/anthropology/programmes/ma-museums-heritage-and-material-culture-studies/>
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