Ph.D. viva: Sarah Wagner successfully defends her thesis

CNSC doctoral student Sarah Wagner succesfully defended her dissertation on January 28, 2020. In her thesis, titled “A multi-sited ethnography of the decolonization of mobile media among Guaraní,” Sarah explores the politics of everyday communication—particularly, mobile media—among members of Guaraní communities in Bolivia and Argentina, and accounts for the many factors that interrelate to shape individuals’ senses of agency over mobile media. Her findings challenge some assumptions that continue to permeate ICT-related studies and interventions in indigenous contexts, and calls for a change in thinking to the techno-optimism inherent in digital inclusion discourse.

In her oral defense, Sarah addressed questions from the Examination Board, formed by Dr. Caroline Wamala-Larsson (Stockholm University), Dr. Roxana Barrantes Cáceres (Institute of Peruvian Studies), and Dr. Elisenda Ardèvol Piera (Open University of Catalonia). Her thesis supervisor, Mireia Fernández-Ardèvol, also intervened briefly during the presentation. Finally, the Examination Board granted Sarah’s thesis the “International Mention” and the mark of “Excellent.”

Check out the links section to read Sarah’s dissertation.

TODAY! Our Ph.D. student Sarah Wagner defends her thesis dissertation titled "A multi-sited ethnography of the decolonization of mobile media among Guaraní" #ICT4D #PhDLife @UOCphd @IN3_UOC @UOCuniversity 💪💪 pic.twitter.com/Z5l4UegKED
— CNSC (@CNSC_IN3) January 28, 2020
  

Links:

• A multi-sited ethnography of the decolonization of mobile media among Guaraní