Congratulations to our newest CAMRI PhD graduate: Nathan Schneider

Many congratulations to Dr Nathan Schneider, Assistant Professor in Media Studies at University of Colorado Boulder, on passing his VIVA without corrections for a PhD by Published Work entitled The Study of Negative Space, with a portfolio of publications including one monograph and three academic articles.

Reflecting on his achievement, Nathan commented: “I am grateful to have had the opportunity to join the long legacy of media studies at the University of Westminster and CAMRI. Thanks to the mentorship of Prof Meikle I had a rare chance to step back and reflect on my trajectory as a scholar so far and into the future. I am already trying to bring the spirit of support I experienced at Westminster to my own department and students”.

Prof Graham Meikle, Nathan’s Director of Studies, commented: “Nathan is an inspiring scholar and a wonderful writer: always insightful, always reflective. I learned a lot from working with him on this, and am really delighted to see him earn his doctorate”.

External Examiner Natalie Fenton, Professor of Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London, praised Nathan’s work: “I thoroughly enjoyed examining the submitted works which were incredibly well written, provocative and impressively self-reflexive throughout. Each of them signals in different ways future possibilities for a more just media economy in relation to issues (mostly) concerned with governance and ownership. Notably, Nathan’s work is a wonderful example of praxis as method – engaged scholarship at its best, undertaking action research in pursuit of just futures. Long may it last – well done Nathan, richly deserved.”

Internal Examiner, Dr Anastasia Kavada (CAMRI) noted: “Nathan’s work constitutes a truly original contribution to knowledge, focusing on what he calls ‘negative space’, the potential for a more democratic governance of online spaces and digital tools such as blockchain technologies. What I found particularly effective is the ways in which the submission probes the links between politics and economics, investigating democratic governance as a matter of creating greater political and economic equality through the governance on online platforms, as well as through instruments such as cooperatives and employee stock ownership (ESOP). I was grateful to learn from Nathan’s work and I’ll be citing his writings for years to come.”

We extend or best wishes to Nathan for continued success in his future endeavours!