Peter Lyman Graduate Fellowship in New Media

Prof. Peter Lyman (UC Berkeley)

Call for Applications:

Summer Stipend of $3000.00
Applications Due: 1 Feb 2009

The Peter Lyman Graduate Fellowship in New Media, established in the memory of esteemed UC Berkeley Professor Peter Lyman provides a summer stipend to a UC Berkeley PhD candidate to support the writing of his or her PhD dissertation on a topic related to New Media. Some preference will given to those doing research related to children and youth, and to BCNM Designated Emphasis students.

Originality and quality of the research are the primary criteria. The amount of the stipend depends on the size of the fund. In Summer 2009 the fellowship amount will be $3000.00.

Any UC Berkeley PhD candidate who has passed the Qualifying Exam and is in good standing can apply. Applications must include a one-page research summary describing how the research is relevant to the Fellowship, brief reference from the student's Research Advisor, list of the PhD Committee members, expected completion date, and student's full contact information.

Applications must be received by 1 February and should be submitted to the BCNM Student Affairs Officer.

Applications will be reviewed by a faculty committee from the Berkeley Center for New Media.

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April 2009: BCNM is pleased to announce the first Peter Lyman Graduate Fellow in New Media. The Fellowship, established in the memory of esteemed UC Berkeley Professor Peter Lyman provides a summer stipend to a UC Berkeley PhD candidate to support the writing of his or her PhD dissertation on a topic related to New Media.

The first Peter Lyman Graduate Fellow is:

Janaki Srinivasan, PhD Candidate,
School of Information, UC Berkeley

Dissertation Title:
The Political Life of Information: Information and Development in India

The Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD) domain has so far focused on how the "T" in "ICTD" shapes developmental change. While this is indeed an important aspect to study, it tends to assume that the "I" is relatively unproblematic. As development agencies are increasingly influenced by the idea that "information empowers," I challenge the universalistic connection between information, ICTs and empowerment, asking instead how and in what circumstances information has been empowering. I propose that different conceptions of information differ in their understanding of what information can "do", in their use of ICTs for information provision, and, consequently, in the opportunities for developmental change that they create. In my research, I focus on different conceptions of information - a dominant conception that treats information as an objective input with intrinsic value and alternative conceptions that perceive information as embedded in social relations from which information draws its value - and propose that these differences are critical to the functioning of information-based development initiatives. Using ethnographic modes of enquiry, I will study three initiatives from rural India that have a shared development objective, but use different conceptions of information. Based on my study, I will analyze the linkages between different conceptions of information and the nature of political engagement.