About
PhD project: Praxe in Oporto university context: discourses and practices
Reference: SFRH/BD/136101/2018
Supervisor: João Teixeira Lopes (IS-UP); Co-supervisor: Lígia Ferro (IS-UP)
Timeline: 2018-2022
Abstract: Hazing is nowadays a central phenomenon in the framework of the sociability dynamics of higher education students in Portugal. It is a relevant object of analysis and reflection primarily for its sociological interest as a context of activation, encouragement, creation and inhibition of dispositions and skills. This project aims at studying this phenomenon thoroughly on the Porto university context. Its main objectives are: a) to characterise hazing in Porto, contextualising this analysis within the framework of the socio-historical dynamic of hazing in the country, and carry out comparative exercises with equivalent international phenomena; b) in-depth study of each of the multiple dimensions that make up the phenomenon, problematising them in a coordinated manner for a holistic reading thereof; c) interpretation of the different ways of relating with hazing, through the analysis of the discourses and attitudes of the different higher education system actors; d) analysis of hazing experiences, including experiences against it; 6) a review of the main ritual ceremonies, to systematise and make the performative dimension of the phenomenon understandable; 7) discuss the public perception created around hazing, by setting up a press observatory. In the framework of a comprehensive paradigm, we propose to develop a methodological strategy characterised by the complementarity of procedures and techniques (interview, observation, photography), based on the idea of urban ethnography.
