Students Without Borders? : an analysis of the role of digital media in the lives of international students at Lund University
(2019) MKVM13 20191Media and Communication Studies
- Abstract
- International students at Lund University are constantly engaged with their mobile devices. Communication conducted through these devices across a variety of digital and social media platforms facilitates a significant amount of everyday communication, on both a local and transnational level. The overall aim of this thesis is to examine how these increasingly digitally mediated communicative practices relate to the manner in which international students construct their everyday habitus in a personal, social and academic capacity. This research also seeks to understand how individuals from culturally diverse backgrounds negotiate their everyday lives in the multicultural and media saturated context which characterises life as an... (More)
- International students at Lund University are constantly engaged with their mobile devices. Communication conducted through these devices across a variety of digital and social media platforms facilitates a significant amount of everyday communication, on both a local and transnational level. The overall aim of this thesis is to examine how these increasingly digitally mediated communicative practices relate to the manner in which international students construct their everyday habitus in a personal, social and academic capacity. This research also seeks to understand how individuals from culturally diverse backgrounds negotiate their everyday lives in the multicultural and media saturated context which characterises life as an international student at Lund University.
This thesis argues that the ubiquity of digital media accessed through mobile digital devices has led to the increased intersection of the offline and the online surrounding everyday communication and socialisation practices. A significant degree of this communication occurs through social media platforms, as well as other digital applications. The differing functions of these applications allow for the organisation of differing spheres of communication and sociality. The transnationally mobile respondents use digital and social media to develop a mediated sense of belonging and community while studying at Lund University, which is here defined as phenomenological geography.
This thesis also argues that Lund’s heterogenous international student environment is populated by cosmopolitan individuals who are open to encountering cultural difference. An openness to these social encounters allows for the negotiation of cultural plurality, which leads not only to social harmony but also communicative tension. These social encounters are also assisted by the institutional framework provided by Lund University. While this mediated environment fosters intercultural exchange, respondents also experienced limitations integrating into Swedish society during their studies, such as making Swedish friends and learning Swedish. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8976248
- author
- Parker, Timothy LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MKVM13 20191
- year
- 2019
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- International Students, Digital Media, Social Media, Mediatization, Cosmopolitanism, Conviviality, Multiculturalism, Transnationalism, Sweden, Mobility.
- language
- English
- id
- 8976248
- date added to LUP
- 2019-06-19 08:57:35
- date last changed
- 2019-06-19 08:57:35
@misc{8976248,
abstract = {{International students at Lund University are constantly engaged with their mobile devices. Communication conducted through these devices across a variety of digital and social media platforms facilitates a significant amount of everyday communication, on both a local and transnational level. The overall aim of this thesis is to examine how these increasingly digitally mediated communicative practices relate to the manner in which international students construct their everyday habitus in a personal, social and academic capacity. This research also seeks to understand how individuals from culturally diverse backgrounds negotiate their everyday lives in the multicultural and media saturated context which characterises life as an international student at Lund University.
This thesis argues that the ubiquity of digital media accessed through mobile digital devices has led to the increased intersection of the offline and the online surrounding everyday communication and socialisation practices. A significant degree of this communication occurs through social media platforms, as well as other digital applications. The differing functions of these applications allow for the organisation of differing spheres of communication and sociality. The transnationally mobile respondents use digital and social media to develop a mediated sense of belonging and community while studying at Lund University, which is here defined as phenomenological geography.
This thesis also argues that Lund’s heterogenous international student environment is populated by cosmopolitan individuals who are open to encountering cultural difference. An openness to these social encounters allows for the negotiation of cultural plurality, which leads not only to social harmony but also communicative tension. These social encounters are also assisted by the institutional framework provided by Lund University. While this mediated environment fosters intercultural exchange, respondents also experienced limitations integrating into Swedish society during their studies, such as making Swedish friends and learning Swedish.}},
author = {{Parker, Timothy}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Students Without Borders? : an analysis of the role of digital media in the lives of international students at Lund University}},
year = {{2019}},
}