Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology SAS
Topic
Social, religious, or cultural contexts of the spread of contemporary legends, rumours, and conspiracy theories
PhD. program
World Cultures and Religions, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University
Year of admission
2026
Name of the supervisor
Mgr. Zuzana Panczová, PhD.
Contact:
Receiving school
Filozofická fakulta UK
Annotation
Legends, rumours, and conspiracy theories have always been significant factors in public affairs. They are studied in the social sciences as expressions of social anxieties and desires, as instruments of political power that influence intergroup relations, and as means of group identification. They are also part of contemporary mass culture, which significantly impacts the repertoire and forms of these narratives. Research may focus on face-to-face or online communication, narrative structure, historical development, social impact, or argumentative strategies of these communication genres. Research methods are expected to draw primarily on folkloristic or ethnological approaches, though other interdisciplinary analyses are also relevant.