Dr Joan Ramon Rodriguez-Amat PhD
Principal Lecturer, Department Research and Innovation Lead
Summary
I joined SHU in 2015. Here, I teach and research about the politics of Media Technologies and Industries, with particular attention to how they shape the conditions for social communicative interactions.
My international record of posts, publications and research includes a postdoc at the University of Vienna (2011-2015), and guest research and teaching experience in more than a dozen universities including Germany, France, Austria, Spain, Catalonia, Argentina, and Malaysia.
About
I teach in the Media Undergraduate Course and I lead the MA. in Media and Global Communications. I am also Subject Group Leader for Media and Photography.
My research focuses on the factors that shape the communicative spaces: this is, the integration of social interactions with mobile and digital social platforms, with the physical-geographic space.
To study communicative spaces I use digital methods and qualitative and quantitative analysis of the communicative activity around social events/moments.
I have been invited and participated in teaching and research exchanges in more than ten different universities around Europe including Austria, Germany, France, Spain and Catalunya and of course, the United Kingdom; and I have presented more than 50 research papers in International Conferences.
As a social scientist, I fight monsters of social injustice, social discrimination and social inequalities reproduced by technologies and by wrong decisions; and as a teacher I find personal pleasure in learning, that is for me a form of changing the ways of thinking. Perhaps this explains why I study technology, and why science is for me also a way of creativity more than a Techne, or why I am so terribly scared of monkeys with weapons.
Teaching
Governance of Media Technologies.
Research
My work is structured around the three aspects that shape the communicative space: 1. The Infrastructures and media materialities -physical and virtual 2. Communities and their practices of definition and identification 3. The governance of the communicative spaces -including regulation, policies and the structures of property and media industries.
Publications
Journal articles
Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2024). Platforms, influencers and distributed narratives. Obra digital, (25), 10-24. http://doi.org/10.25029/od.2024.431.25
Atteneder, H., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2024). Ideologies in Geospatial Futurism: a computational and critical discourse inquiry into the Arcgis and ESRI-blogs. Media and Communication, 12. http://doi.org/10.17645/mac.8193
Brantner, C., Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Stewart, J. (2024). Gauging the Google gaze: A digital visual analysis of images of a semi-peripheral town. Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research, 16 (1). http://doi.org/10.3384/cu.4303
Galletero-Campos, B., Saiz-Echezarreta, V., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2023). Pensar la reforma mediática desde las zonas despobladas: análisis de las percepciones sociales sobre el periodismo local (Thinking about media reform from depopulated areas:analysis of social perceptions about local journalism). Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 82, 1-22. http://doi.org/10.4185/rlcs-2024-2055
Madrid-Morales, D., Rodriguez-Amat, J.R., & Lindner, P. (2023). A Computational Mapping of Online News Deserts on African News Websites. Media and Communication, 11 (3). http://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v11i3.6857
Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Duller, N. (2023). Space sex-machines: trans-planetary ethics and the mediatization of things. MedienJournal, 47 (1). http://doi.org/10.24989/medienjournal.v47i1.2219
Oliveira, E., Rodriguez-Amat, J., Ruiz-Mora, I., & Zeller, I. (2023). The fluid and disruptive shape of activism. Strategic communication in #Fridaysforfuture. International Journal of Strategic Communication. http://doi.org/10.1080/1553118X.2023.2204299
Fernandez, J.L., Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Scolari, C. (2022). Mediatización(es). Un libro para acelerar la circulación transatlántica de sus discursos científicos. DeSignis: Publicación de la Federación Latinoamericana de Semiótica ( FELS ), (37), 281-288. https://www.designisfels.net/capitulo/i37-21-mediatizaciones-un-libro-para-acelerar-la-circulacion-transatlantica-de-sus-discursos-cientificos/
Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Belinskaya, Y. (2022). ‘No Coronavirus Can Leave Us without Sex’: Relations of Complicity and Solidarity on Pornhub. Porn Studies. http://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2022.2085161
Morris, P., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2022). Collaborative design in kinetic performance: safeguarding the uilleann pipes through inertial motion capture. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 6 (11). http://doi.org/10.3390/mti6110097
Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2022). Hacia una gobernanza de los datos de las plataformas. Explorando los desajustes entre los datos y el sentido (Towards platform data governance. Exploring the mismatches between data and meaning). RAE-IC. Journal of the Spanish Association for Communication Research, 9 (18), 45-74. http://doi.org/10.24137/raeic.9.18.4
Gindin, I., Cingolani, G., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2021). Autoridades interpretativas: una perspectiva teórica sobre datificación y producción de sentido. Palabra Clave, 24 (3). http://doi.org/10.5294/pacla.2021.24.3.6
Belinskaya, Y., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2021). Strip-Teasing COVID-19 Porn: A promising silhouette of a community, or the dark alley of a platformized industry? First Monday, 26 (10). http://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v26i10.11078
Brantner, C., Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Belinskaya, Y. (2021). Structures of the public sphere: Contested spaces as assembled interfaces. Media and Communication, 9 (3), 16-27. http://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v9i3.3932
Rodriguez-Amat, J., Belinskaya, Y., & Brantner, C. (2020). Revisitando la esfera pública (urbana): un modelo de análisis. Letra, Imagen y Sonido. Ciudad Mediatizada, (20), 106-133.
Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Duller, N. (2019). Sex Machines as Mediatized Sexualities -Ethical and Social Implications. . http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-26212-9
Scolari, C., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2018). A Latin American approach to mediatization: specificities and contributions to a global discussion about how the media shape contemporary societies. Communication Theory, 28 (2), 131-154. http://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtx004
Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Jeffery, R. (2017). Student protests. Three periods of university governance. tripleC. Communication, Capitalism and Critique, 15 (2), 526-542. http://doi.org/10.31269/triplec.v15i2.771
Rodriguez-Amat, J.R., & Brantner, C. (2016). Occupy the squares with tweets. A proposal for the analysis of the governance of communicative spaces. Obra Digital, (11), 2-19. http://doi.org/10.25029/od.2016.106.11
Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Brantner, C. (2016). Ocupar las plazas con tuits. Una propuesta para el análisis de la gobernanza de los espacios comunicativos. Obra Digital, 11, 1-19. http://revistesdigitals.uvic.cat/index.php/obradigital/article/view/106
Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Brantner, C. (2016). Space and place matters : a tool for the analysis of geolocated and mapped protests. New Media & Society, 18 (6), 1027-1046. http://doi.org/10.1177/1461444814552098
Brantner, C., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2016). New “Danger Zone” in Europe: Representations of Place in Social Media–Supported Protests. International Journal of Communication, 10, 299-320. http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/3788
Sarikakis, K., Krug, C., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2015). Defining authorship in user-generated content : copyright struggles in The Game of Thrones. New Media & Society, 542-559. http://doi.org/10.1177/1461444815612446
Sarikakis, K., & Rodriguez-Amat, J.R. (2014). Intellectual property law change and process : the case of Spanish Ley Sinde as policy laundering. First Monday, 19 (3). http://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v19i3.4854
Humphreys, P., Phelan, S., & Rodriguez-Amat, J.R. (2012). BOOK REVIEWS. International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, 8 (1), 127-135. http://doi.org/10.1386/macp.8.1.127_5
Belinskaya, Y., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (n.d.). The Choreographic City: Flows, Streams and Trajectories of Bodies in Space. Journal Festival Chania Dance Days.
Galletero-Campos, B., Saiz Echezarreta, V., & Rodriguez-Amat, J.R. (n.d.). Percepciones sobre un periodismo valioso para las comunidades de zonas despobladas: oportunidades para una reforma mediática. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, (82). http://doi.org/10.4185/rlcs-2024-2055
Conference papers
Duller, N., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2021). Heteromatic Robots on Mars: Ethics of going Outer Space. In Austrian Robotics Workshop 2021, Vienna, 10 June 2021 - 11 June 2021 (pp. 57-63). Vienna: University of Applied Sciences: https://www.roboticsworkshop.at/
Belinskaya, Y., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2020). Interfaces of Political Participation: Challenging the Analysis of Communicative Spaces. SOTICS 2020, The Tenth International Conference on Social Media Technologies, Communication, and Informatics, 1-7. https://www.thinkmind.org/index.php?view=article&articleid=sotics_2020_1_10_60009
Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2017). Games of piracy and fandom: technology, copyright and industry [abstract only]. In Game of Thrones Conference 2017, Hertfordshire, UK, 6 September 2017 - 8 September 2017. https://www.herts.ac.uk/research/groups-and-units/media-research-group/game-of-thrones-conference-2017
Book chapters
Belinskaya, Y., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2025). Discourses of misinformation in the Russian diaspora: Building trust across instant messaging channels. In Udupa, S., & Wasserman, H. (Eds.) WhatsApp in the World:Disinformation, Encryption and Extreme Speech. New York University Press
Belinskaya, Y., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2023). Discourses of misinformation: building trust across instant messaging channels (WhatsApp Volume). In Udupa, S., & Wasserman, H. (Eds.) WhatsApp Volume. WhatsApp Volume
Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Belinskaya, Y. (2022). Desflecando Telegram: un campo de batalla en la esfera pública desbordada rusa. In Iranzo Cabrera, M. (Ed.) Congreso Mediaflows 2021 (provisional). Tirant Lo Blanch, Valencia
Rodriguez-Amat, J., Gindin, I., & Cingolani, G. (2022). ¿Puede la mediatización ayudar a entender la datificación? In Berman, M., & Tobi, X. (Eds.) Interacciones mediatizadas: contactos y vínculos antes y durante la pandemia. (pp. 21-36). Rosario : UNR Editora: https://cim.unr.edu.ar/assets/archivos/pub_ebookcim_2022-1-205620.pdf
Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2021). Geodatification: epistemologies of a metahuman presence. In Valdettaro, S. (Ed.) Mediatization (s) Studies. CIM 10th Anniversary. (pp. 399-429). Universidad Nacional de Rosario: https://cim.unr.edu.ar/publicaciones/1/libros/166/-mediatization-s--studies-cim-10th-anniversary
Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Belinskaya, Y. (2021). #Germancinema in the Eye of Instagram: showcasing a method combination. In Herrschner, I., Stevens, K., & Nickl, B. (Eds.) Transnational German Cinema: Encountering Germany Through Films and Events. (pp. 109-131). Cham, Switzerland: Springer: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72917-2_7
Rodríguez-Amat, J.R., Scolari, C.A., & Fernández, J.L. (2020). Introduction: Resuming the conversation. In Mediatization(s): Theoretical Conversations between Europe and Latin America. (pp. 1-13).
Rodríguez-Amat, J.R., Fernández, J.L., & Scolari, C.A. (2020). Conclusion: On the possibility of intellectual trading zones. In Mediatization(s): Theoretical Conversations between Europe and Latin America. (pp. 200-212).
Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2020). Monstruos y Plataformas del Dataceno(1). In Valdettaro, S. (Ed.) Conversaciones en PanMedia. (pp. 45-54). Universidad Nacional de Rosario (Argentina) UNR: https://cim.unr.edu.ar/publicaciones/1/libros/158/conversaciones-en-panmedia-del-cim
Brantner, C., & Rodriguez-Amat, J.R. (2015). Mediatisierung und Visualisierung von Ort und Raum : zur Erforschung partizipativer digitaler Praktiken in Geomedien im Rahmen sozialer Proteste. In Lobinger, K., & Geise, S. (Eds.) Visualisierung und Mediatisierung : Bildliche Kommunikation und bildliches Handeln in mediatisierten Gesellschaften. Köln: Herbert von Halem Verlag: http://www.halem-verlag.de/2015/mediatisierung-und-visualisierung-von-ort-und-raum/
Sarikakis, K., & Rodriguez-Amat, J.R. (2014). COPYRIGHT "POLICY LAUNDERING": NOTES ON AN EVASIVE OBJECT OF RESEARCH. (pp. 33-38).
Sarikakis, K., & Rodriguez-Amat, J.R. (2014). iAuthor : the fluid state of creativity rights and the vanishing author. In Lievrouw, L.A. (Ed.) Challenging Communication Research. (pp. 141-155). New York: Peter Lang: http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseiten&seitentyp=produkt&pk=79115
Sarikakis, K., & Rodriguez-Amat, J.R. (2013). Regulating Media Convergence: Supranational and Global Paradigms. In Media and Convergence Management. (pp. 337-350). Springer Berlin Heidelberg: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36163-0_22
Sarikakis, K., & Rodriguez-Amat, J.R. (2013). Regulating media convergence : supranational and global paradigms. In Diehl, S., & Karmasin, M. (Eds.) Media and Convergence Management. (pp. 337-350). Berlin: Springer: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36163-0
Sarikakis, K., & Rodriguez-Amat, J.R. (2013). Copyright and Privacy Governance: Policy Intersections and Challenges. In Communication and Media Policy in the Era of the Internet. (pp. 147-159). Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG: http://doi.org/10.5771/9783845243214-147
Rodriguez-Amat, J.R., & Sarikakis, K. (2012). The Fandom menace or the Phantom author? : on sharecropping, crossmedia and copyright. In Ibrus, I., & Scolari, C.A. (Eds.) Crossmedia innovations : texts, markets, institutions. (pp. 128-146). London: Peter Lang: http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseiten&seitentyp=produkt&pk=65167
Montiel, F.J., Peña, J., & Rodríguez, J.R. (n.d.). Country-Branding als Identitätsmetapher. In Anspruchsgruppenorientierte Kommunikation. (pp. 421-438). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-91204-2_26
Books
Scolari, C., Fernandez, J.L., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (Eds.). (2021). Mediatization(s). Theoretical Conversations between Europe and Latin America. Bristol: Intellect. https://www.intellectbooks.com/mediatizations
Scolari, C., Fernandez, J.L., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (Eds.). (2021). Mediatization(s). Theoretical Conversations between Europe and Latin America. Bristol: Intellect. https://www.intellectbooks.com/mediatizations
Media
Rodriguez-Amat, J., Brantner, C., & Lynch, J. (2023). Geomedia Podcast, Karlstad University. [Podcast online]. Geomedia Studies
Presentations
Trentham-Black, S., & Rodriguez-Amat, J.R. (2023). Contested understandings of technology in cultural and heritage site engagement. Presented at: IAMCR 23. Inhabiting the planet: challenges for media, communication, and beyond, Lyon, France, 2023
Rodriguez-Amat, J., Zhang, H., & Deller, R. (2023). Waka Waka and the Platform Influencers Labor in the Spanish Speaking Music Industry. Presented at: Global Perspectives on Platforms and Cultural Production, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Deller, R., Murphy, K., Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Zhang, H. (2022). Siblings that vlog together brand together: analysing networked connections between YouTuber siblings. Presented at: 9th European Communication Conference, Aarhus, Denmark
Rodriguez-Amat, J.R., & Belinskaya, Y. (2022). Digital cultures of protest in the TikTok-sphere. Presented at: 9th ECREA Conference, Aarhus University, Denmark
Zhang, H., Deller, R., Kathryn, M., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2022). Are real-life siblings also algorithmic siblings? Mapping algorithmic connections between YouTuber brothers and sisters. Presented at: Global Perspectives on Platforms and Cultural Production, University of Amsterdam, 2022
Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Belinskaya, Y. (2022). Controlling beyond the Reach: Inside the Russian Telegram Channels. Presented at: ICA Conference, Paris
Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Belinskaya, Y. (2022). The Tik tok Sphere - Russian encounters. Presented at: ICA Conference, Paris, 2022
Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Belinskaya, Y. (2022). Can AI EveR Be as Smart as Sherlock Holmes? Presented at: Fandom Conference, Chicago
Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2021). Contested Urban Spaces: Protests, festivals, and city walks (Keynote). Presented at: Research Week, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Barcelona
Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Belinskaya, Y. (2021). Inside the Russian Telegram channels: Chat mobs about Navalny. Presented at: Media Flows Conference, Valencia (Spain)
Belinskaya, Y., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2021). Russian encounters in the TIKTok-sphere. Presented at: TikTok and Social Movements, Perth, Australia, Online, 2021
Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2021). Exploring the wires: Submarine internet cables and ownership Digital Culture and Communication. Presented at: ECREA Conference 2021, online (Braga, Portugal)
Rodriguez-Amat, J., Ruiz-Mora, I., & Oliveira, E. (2021). Strategic communication beyond organizations. The case of fridays for future. Presented at: ECREA Conference 2021, online (Braga, Portugal)
Duller, N., & Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2021). From SpaceX to Technosex. An Experimental Discussionof MediatizedIntimacy in Outer Space. Presented at: 6th International Congress Love and Sex with Robots, online, 2021
Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Belinskaya, Y. (2021). Silences Under Siege? Conflicting Representations of Navalny’s Poisoning in the Twittersphere. Presented at: ICA Annual Conference, online, 2021
Zhang, H., Rodgers, D., Rodriguez-Amat, J.R., & Belinskaya, Y. (2021). Algorithmic Alchemy: The Power of the Witch on YouTube. Presented at: ICA 2021 - 71st Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado [online]
Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Brantner, C. (2021). Geomediatization of public spheres: Deconstructing geomedia, for a genealogy of the public sphere. Presented at: Conference Off the Grid. Geomedia 2021, online + Siegen (Germany), 2021
Zhang, H., Rodgers, D.A., Rodriguez-Amat, J.R., & Belinskaya, Y. (2021). The Shape of Witchcraft. Analytics of Recommendation Algorithms and the Platformization of Culture. Presented at: Algorithms in Film, Television and Sound Cultures: New Ways of Knowing and Storytelling, Bilgi University, Istanbul [online]
Rodriguez-Amat, J., Gindin, I., & Cingolani, G. (2021). Can mediatization help understanding datification. Presented at: Colloquium CIM, online + Rosario (Argentina), 2021
Rodriguez-Amat, J. (2021). The Relationship between visibility and Attention. Unequal visibility in digital spaces. Presented at: Unequal visibility in digital spaces, online - Bochum. Germany
Rodriguez-Amat, J., & Belinskaya, Y. (2020). Algorithmed Gods of Wine: representations in the Internet. Presented at: 11th nternational Conference on Textual Analysis Trama y Fondo, online
Rodriguez-amat, J., & Brantner, C. (2018). Barriers, Shifts, and Flows: Public Sphere and Structures of Communicative Spaces. Presented at: International Communication Association Annual Conference, Prague, 2018
Posters
Hall, C., Rodriguez-Amat, J., Trentham-Black, S., & Turner, D. (2023). Digital skills on/off campus: Learning & Teaching Strategies for International Research Trips. Presented at: Learning, Teaching & Assessment Conference 2023 : Developing Digital Pedagogies and Practice, Sheffield Hallam University, 2023
Other activities
If you want to see some of my research team work and data visualisations, you can go here: http://communicativespaces.org
Postgraduate supervision
I am happy to supervise PhDs in Cultural and Media Industries and governance, in Media Technologies, and in Datafication and Communication Theories.