Faculty and Staff — Strategic Communication

• KEYS 4014 Social Movements and the Impact of Technologies
• GLBC 1200 Global Cornerstone Seminar
• MDST 1010 Media Foundations
• MDST 2100 Media Literacy
• MDST 2200 Ethics in the Media
• MDST 4110 Digital Media and Culture
• MDST 4200 Media Research
• MDST 4500 Political Communication
• PBRL 1010 Fundamentals of Strategic Communication and Public Relations
• PBRL 2920 Writing for Public Relations
• PBRL 4300 Crisis Communications and Issues Management
• SPCM 1040 Public Speaking
• SPCM 1280 Interpersonal Communications

Bradley E Wiggins, PhD, has been associate professor and department head of Media Communications at Webster Vienna Private University since July 2015. His research interests include digital culture, new media, games and simulations, and intercultural communication.

His scholarship has been published in competitive journals, such as Simulation & Gaming, New Media & Society, International Journal of Communication and International Journal of Game-Based Learning. He has presented his scholarship at the National Communication Association, International Communication Association, Popular Culture Association and at conferences in Switzerland, Germany and Turkey.

Prior to his start at Webster he was assistant professor of media communication at the University of Arkansas in Fort Smith. There he became department head in July 2014 and developed a new undergraduate program in strategic communication, improved assessment techniques, served on several successful search committees, worked as an active advisory council member for the Western Arkansas Technical Center and served as faculty advisor for the student-run online newspaper The Lion’s Chronicle.

Bradley Wiggins received his Doctor of Philosophy in Communications Media and Instructional Technology from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania in May 2011. Prior to his doctoral study he managed the language and intercultural training and interpreting division of Echo International in Pittsburgh, PA. He worked as a freelance trainer in Poland and Germany from 2003-2006.

He received his MA in German Language and Literature and a Certificate in the Teaching of English to Students of other Languages from the University of Pittsburgh in 2002, where he also gained a BA in German and History with a Russian minor in 1999. From 1999-2000 he was a Fulbright teaching associate at the Schiller Gymnasium in Offenburg, Germany.

Education

• PhD in Communications Media and Instructional Technology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 2011
• MA in German Language and Literature and TESOL Certification, University of Pittsburgh, 2002
• BA in History and German; Russian, University of Pittsburgh, 1999

Monograph

• Wiggins, B.E. (2019). The Discursive Power of Memes in Digital Culture: Ideology, semiotics, and intertextuality. Routledge.

Peer-Reviewed Articles

• Wiggins, B. E. (2020). Boogaloo and Civil War 2: Memetic antagonism in expressions of covert activism. New Media & Society.
• Wiggins, B.E. (2019). Memes and the media narrative: The Nike-Kaepernick controversy. Internet Pragmatics.
• Wiggins, B.E. (2017). Intercultural games and simulations. In Y.Y. Kim & K. McKay-Semmler (Eds.). “International Encyclopedia of Intercultural Communication” (pp. 1-12). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Wiggins, B.E. (2017). Navigating an immersive narratology: Fake news and the 2016 U.S. Presidential campaign. International Journal of E-Politics 8(3), 16-33.
• Wiggins, B.E. (2017). Digital dispatches from the 2016 US election: Popular culture, intertextuality and media power. International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, 13(1-2), 197-205.
• Wiggins, B.E. (2016). Crimea River: Directionality in memes from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. International Journal of Communication, 10(2016), 451-495.
• Wiggins, B.E. (2016). >An overview and study on the use of games, simulations and gamification in higher education. International Journal of Game-Based Learning, 6(1), 18-29.
• Wiggins, B. E., & Bowers, G. B. (2015). Memes as genre: A structurational analysis of the memescape. New Media & Society, 17, 1886-1906.
• Wiggins, B.E. (2013). Flexible coherence: Re-thinking e-learning design principles for linguistically and culturally diverse students. Contemporary Educational Technology, 4(1)¸30-49.
• Wiggins, B.E. (2012). Toward a model of intercultural communication for simulations. Simulation & Gaming, 43(4), 550-572.

Invited Talks

• Wiggins, B.E. (2020, Sept. 16). Media and Reporting: COVID-19. Invited for panel discussion as part of the Long Nights of Interculturality hosted by the International Cultural Diversity Organization. Vienna, Austria.
• Wiggins, B.E. (2018, Dec. 13). The impacts of social media on human rights and activism. Invited Keynote for Seminar held at Webster Geneva Campus in honor of International Human Rights Day. Geneva, Switzerland.
• Wiggins, B.E. (2018, Feb. 22). Upholding democracy in an age of fake news. General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly. Vienna, Austria.

Books

• Wiggins, B.E. (2019). “The Discursive Power of Memes in Digital Culture: Ideology, semiotics, and intertextuality.” Routledge.

External Links

ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3500-1778

Email: bradley.wiggins@webster.ac.at

 

Alexandra Pekackova Modelska joined Webster Vienna in February 2022 and has an academic background in International Relations, English Philology and History.

Alexandra has over four years of experience in academic research and administration. During her doctoral studies Alexandra has been involved in multiple international research projects, including the EU-funded 4EU+ University Alliance. Prior to joining Webster, she has worked as English Programs Coordinator at Charles University in Prague.

Education

• PhD in Modern History – ongoing  (Charles University, Prague)
• MA International Relations & Diplomacy (Anglo-American University, Prague)
• BA International Relations (Anglo-American University, Prague)
• BA English Philology (Kherson State University)

 

Email: alexandra.pekackova@webster.ac.at

• FRSH 1200 From Tattoo to iPad: Media and Cultural Development
• FRSH 1200 The Development of Communication
• MEDC 1010 Introduction to Mass Communications
• MEDC 1050 Introduction to Media Writing
• MEDC 1630 Media Literacy
• MEDC 2200 Ethics in the Media
• MEDC 2800 Cultural Diversity in the Media
• MEDC 3150 African Media and Culture
• VIDE 3150 Webcast Production
• FLST 3170/ ART 4920 Seminar in Visual Culture: Topics in Documentary Film Studies
• MEDC 3190 Introduction to Media Research
• MEDC 3260/INTL 3260, Surveillance, Privacy, and the Media
• MEDC 3260/INTL 3260 International Communications: The Media Wars in the Middle East
• MEDC 3260/INTL 3260, International Communications: Media Diversity, Culture, and the Nation-state
• MEDC 3260 International Communications: Media Freedom and Power in the Arab World
• MEDC 3700: Topics in International Communications: Media, Globalization and Culture
• MDST 3700 Topics in International Communications: Media Convergence, Governance, and Regulation
• MEDC 4100 The Law and the Media
• MEDC 5310/INTL 5600 Media and Culture: South Africa – A Historic Transition
• ANSO 1010 Introduction to Anthropology/Sociology
• ANSO 1070 Cultural Anthropology
• ANTH 1100 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
• ANTH 2890 Culture and Disease: African Situations and Solutions
• GNST 1250 Freshman Seminar: Globalization
• GNST 1250 Freshman Seminar: Cultural Identity
• PHIL 1010 Introduction to Critical Thinking
• PHIL 1100 Introduction to Philosophy
• PHIL 2110 Introduction to Ethics
• PHIL 2320 Contemporary Moral Problems
• HIST 2000 Social History
• HIST 2450 African History
• HIST 3150 Economic, Political and Social Aspects of Globalization
• INTL 3600 Methods of Political Inquiry
• POLT 3600, Methods in Political Science

Anthony Löwstedt, PhD, worked at the International Press Institute in Vienna from 1994 to 2005 with press freedom and media monitoring-related human rights work, including research, documentation, publications and consultation. He organized, contributed, and attended seminars, conferences and congresses, and is the editor of Africa (1997-2000) and Middle East/North Africa (2000-2005) sections of the annual World Press Freedom Review.

From 2004 to 2005 Löwstedt worked as Senior Consultant for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at Miftah – The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, Media and Information Programme, in Ramallah and Jerusalem, as part of the UNDP Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People: Transfer of Knowledge. He also taught philosophy/cultural studies at Bir Zeit University, Palestine in 2005. Löwstedt was an adjunct professor at the Austrian Media Academy, Kuratorium für Journalistenausbildung, European Journalism Training Association, Salzburg, Austria / Universität Leipzig, Germany from 2013 to 2015.

He is a board member of OLive (Open Learning Initiative) at Universität Wien, and of the International Cultural Diversity Organization; consultant to the International Press Institute and to the UNDP; and member of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), the International Communication Association (ICA), Gesellschaft für Phänomenologie und kritische Anthropologie, and the Arab-U.S. Association of Communication Educators. He is a peer reviewer for: Journal of Media Ethics, IAMCR, ICA, International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, International Review for Information Ethics, Gesellschaft für Phänomenologie und kritische Anthropologie, Political Research Exchange, Journal of Greek Media and Culture, Media and Communication, International Journal of Digital Television and Journal of Digital Media and Policy.

Since 2018, he has also worked as an external evaluator for Portugal’s public science and technology agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I. P. (FCT), on the Media and Communications, Law and Political Science panels. His research interests center on ethical principles of communication, transnational media regulation, media development, communication theory and on media, communication and conflict.

Education

• Doktor der Philosophie (PhD), Philosophie und gewählte Fächer, University of Vienna, 1994
• Magister (MA), Philosophie und gewählte Fächer (philosophy and selected disciplines: Psychology, Linguistics and Theory of Science), University of Vienna, 1986
• Philosophy studies on an exchange grant between the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research and Svenska Institutet at the University of Vienna, Austria, 1984-1985
• History of Ideas, Philosophy, and Theory of Science studies at the University of Göteborg
• Secondary school in Hong Kong and in Göteborg, Sweden

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• Löwstedt, A. & Kapidzic, A. (2021, forthcoming). Communication, Equality and Dignity in Early Antiquity: The Ethics of Ptahhotep.
• Löwstedt, A. (2020). Developmental Stages of Information and Communication Technology. Communication Theory.
• Löwstedt, A. (2019). Do We Still Adhere to the Norms of Ancient Egypt? A Comparison of Ptahhotep’s Communication Ethics with Current Regulatory Principles, International Communication Gazette.
• Löwstedt, A. & Mboti, N. (2017). Media Racism: Beyond Modernity and Postmodernity, in Power and Media: Ownership, Sponsorship, Censorship, edited by A. Löwstedt, M. Schwärzler-Brodesser, & B. E. Wiggins, Issue 1-2 of the International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, Vol. 13, pp. 111-130.
• Löwstedt, A., & Al-Wahid, S. (2013). Cultural diversity and the global regulation of new media technologies. International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, 9(2), 195-200.
• Löwstedt, A., & Madhoun, H. (2010). Wenn Fakten auf der Strecke bleiben: Die Rollen der Medien im Nahostkonflikt (‚When the Facts Don’t Make It: The Roles of the Media in the Middle East Conflict’). International: Die Zeitschrift für internationale Politik, 31(2), 36-38.
• Löwstedt, A. (2007). Rights versus diversity? The accelerated extinction of languages and cultures as an aspect of current globalization trends. International Review for Information Ethics, 9(07). Retrieved from http://www.i-r-i-e.net/inhalt/007/21-loewstedt.pdf

Books

• Abdel Rahman, W., Bahour, S. & Löwstedt, A. (2005). “Here We Are: A Photo Essay on Palestine and the Palestinians,” with photos by Osama Silwadi and a Foreword by Hanan Ashrawi. Ramallah: Miftah.
• Leaper, G. W., Löwstedt, A., & Madhoun, H. (2003). “Caught in the crossfire: The Iraq war and the media – A diary of claims and counterclaims,” Vienna: International Press Institute, 2003, ISBN 3-9501125-1-0.
• Löwstedt, A. (1995). “Kultur oder Evolution? Eine Anthropologische Philosophie” (‘Culture or Evolution? An Anthropological Philosophy’), Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Verlag, ISBN 3-631-48178-0

Book chapters

• Löwstedt, A. & Igropoulou, D. (2021, forthcoming). Between rights and diversities: Can the regulation of communication help prevent climate change and promote sustainable development? In J. Servaes & M. J. Yusha’u (Eds.) “Global Handbook of International Communication and Sustainable Development.” London: Palgrave-MacMillan.
• Löwstedt, A. (2021). Fighting Censorship: A Shift from Freedom to Diversity. Chapter 1 in M. Deflem & D. M. D. Silva (Eds.). “Media and Law: Between Free Speech and Censorship (Sociology of Crime, Law, and Deviance: Vol. 26).” Bingley, UK: Emerald Press, pp. 9-23.
• Löwstedt, A. & Palac, J. (2019).Media and other biocultural diversities, Chapter 1 in K. Holtzmann, T. Hug, & G. Pallaver (Eds.) (2019). “Das Ende der Vielfalt? Zur Diversität der Medien, Innsbruck: Innsbruck University Press, pp. 19-34.
• Löwstedt, A. (2018). Globalization and Media Ethics, in “Ethics in Communication,” edited by P. L. Plaisance, Volume 26 in de Gruyter Mouton Handbooks of Communication Science series, P. Schulz and P. Cobley (series editors). Berlin: De Gruyter-Mouton, pp. 367-390.
• Löwstedt, A. (2015). Femicide in Apartheid: The Parallel Interplay between Racism and Sexism in South Africa and Palestine/Israel, in “Israel and South Africa: The Many Faces of Apartheid,” London: Zed Books/University of Chicago Press, edited by I. Pappe, 2015, pp. 191-238.
• Löwstedt, A. (2010). Globalisierungsstress: Über das unvermeidliche Ende des Neoliberalismus, den dringenden Bedarf einer demokratischen Weltrepublik, und die vorherige Notwendigkeit von globaler Finanz- und Medienmarktaufsicht” (‘Globalization stress: on the inevitable end of neoliberalism, the urgent need for a democratic world republic, and the prior need for global finance and media market regulation’). In C. Zehetner, H. Rauchenschwandtner &B. Zehetmayer (Eds.): “Transformationen der kritischen Anthropologie” (pp. 325-340). Vienna: Löcker Verlag, ISBN: 978-3-85409-539-2.
• Löwstedt, A. (2003). The need for a global association of independent press councils. In K. Hafez (Ed.): “Media ethics in the dialogue of cultures: journalistic self-regulation in Europe, the Arab World, and Muslim Asia” (pp. 228-232). Hamburg: Deutsches Orient-Institut.
• Löwstedt, A., & Hahsler, K. (2003). Global guardians of the freedom of expression. In “Publizistik - Vierteljahreshefte für Kommunikationsforschung, Sonderheft” 4/2003: W. R. Langenbucher (Ed.), Die Kommunikationsfreiheit der Gesellschaft (pp. 385–402). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

Book reviews and interviews

• Löwstedt, A., & Anon (2010). A ray of hope from Israel: Shlomo Sand visits the birthplace of Zionism, and his own [Review of the book ‘The invention of the Jewish people’]. ZNet. Retrieved from https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/a-ray-of-hope-from-israel-by-anthony-l-wstedt/
• Löwstedt, A. (2010). Refusing to be an enemy [Review of Alice Rothchild: Broken promises, broken dreams: stories of Jewish and Palestinian trauma and resilience, Pluto Press, 2nd Edition, 2010]. Vienna Review.
• Elshhati, F., & Seki, M., & Löwstedt, A. (2010). The ethnic cleansing of Palestine [An Interview with Ilan Pappe]. Counterpunch. Retrieved from www.counterpunch.org/2010/01/01/the-ethnic-cleansing-of-palestine-2/
• Löwstedt, A., & Madhoun, M. (2009). "…They bite the dust" – Desmond Tutu receives honorary doctorate, Vienna Review.
• Löwstedt, A. (2007). The beginnings of a strong, pro-Palestinian position in the West? [Review of Jimmy Carter: Palestine: peace not Apartheid, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006; John Dugard: Report of the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, United Nations, Human Rights Council, 2007; John J. Mearsheimer & Stephen M. Walt: The Israel lobby and U.S. foreign policy, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007]. Arabic Media Internet Network.

Conference papers

• Löwstedt, A. (2020). Electronic and digital media and their precursors, Section: History, at ‘Reimagining the Digital Future’, International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Congress 2019 (online), July 15.
• Löwstedt, A. (2020). Censorship, diversity, dignity and equal rights, Working Group: Ethics of Society and Ethics of Communication, at ‘Reimagining the Digital Future’, International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Congress 2019 (online), July 13.
• Löwstedt, A. (2019). Cultural Diversity, Biodiversity and the Future of Humankind. The Long Nights of Interculturality, Keynote speech. Speech, Rathaus Wien, September 1-4, 2019.
• Löwstedt, A. (2019). Communication and Dignity in Early Antiquity, research paper presented at ‘Communication, Technology and Human Dignity: Disputed Rights, Contested Truths’, Working Group: Ethics of Society and Ethics of Communication, International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Congress 2019, Madrid, Spain, July 7-11, 2019.
• Löwstedt, A. (2018). Diversität als politische Aufgabe und persönliches Erlebnis in Medienwelten (‘Diversity as political task and personal experience in media worlds‘), keynote speech, Medientag 2018: Das Ende der Vielfalt? Zur Diversität der Medien (‘The End of Plurality? On Media Diversity‘), Universität Innsbruck.
• Löwstedt, A. (2018). How Could Global Media Regulation Safeguard and Promote Human Rights as Well as Cultural Diversity? research paper presented at ‘Voices”, Communication Law and Policy Unit, International Communication Association (ICA) Conference 2018, Prague.
• Löwstedt, A. (2018). Online Hate Speech against Women, presentation at “Against Online Hate – For More Online Civility”, concluding event of the International Symposium on Corporate Social Responsibility, University of Vienna.
• Löwstedt, A. (2017). Cultural Diversity and the Ethics of Globalization, World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute, Vienna.
• Löwstedt, A. (2017). Violence, Justice, and Art, presented at “Music, Diversity and Diplomacy”, a symposium organized by the International Cultural Diversity Organization and EMMA for Peace, the Euro Mediterranean Music Academy, Lerici.
• Löwstedt, A. (2016). A Comparison of the Communication Precepts of Ptahhotep with Current Regulatory Principles,research paper presented at ‘Memory, Commemoration and Communication’, International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Congress 2016, Leicester.
• Löwstedt, A. (2015). Global media regulation. Paper presented at Arab-US Association of Communication Educators (AUSACE) Annual Conference, Global Trends and Prospects in Mass Communication, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
• Löwstedt, A. (2015). Regulating globally: beyond international and state regulation of the media. Paper presented at AIPCE Annual Conference, Alliance of Independent Press Councils of Europe, Vienna, Austria.
• Löwstedt, A. (2015). Media history and anthropology: from pictographic to prographic media. Paper presented at Bridges and Boundaries: Theories, Concepts and Sources in Communication History, European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), Venice, Italy.
• Löwstedt, A. (2015). Postmodern racism and the media. Paper presented at Media Trends VI: ‘Power and Media: Ownership, Sponsorship, Censorship’, an international conference organized by MEDC department colleagues and myself at Webster Vienna Private University, under the patronage of the City of Vienna, Austria.
• Löwstedt, A. (2014). Transnational media regulation: how to balance human rights, cultural diversity and regionalism? Paper presented at ‘Region as Frame: Politics, Presence, Practice’, International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Congress, Hyderabad, India.
• Löwstedt, A. (2014). Global instead of international media regulation. Paper presented at Media and Privacy Invasion, the 5th International Media Trends Conference, organized by the Department of Media Communications, Webster Geneva Campus, Switzerland.
• Löwstedt, A., & Ebner-Daigle, J. (2013). The child’s development of mastering information and communication technologies. Paper presented at Challenging Crossroads: Children and the Media, the 4th International Media Trends Conference, organized by the Department of Media Communications, Webster Geneva Campus and the Institute for Global Governance (Geneva), Switzerland.
• Löwstedt, A. (2012). Cultural diversity and the global regulation of new media technologies. Paper presented at ‘Digital Policy: Connectivity, Creativity and Rights’, an Economic & Social Research Council Workshop, organized by the Department of Communication Science at the University of Vienna, the University of Brighton, University of Leicester, and the University of Oxford, held at the University of Vienna, Austria.

External Links

ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5690-5122

Email: anthony.loewstedt@webster.ac.at