Researchers

Simona ŞTEFĂNESCU is Associate Professor (Reader) and Dean of the Faculty of Social Work, Theological Adventist Institute, Cernica, Ilfov and External Senior Researcher at the Laboratory ‘Sociology of Communication and Public Space’, Institute of Sociology of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest. In 2002 she got her Ph.D. from the University of Bucharest with a thesis on Political Crises and Media Communication. The Media Coverage of Interethnic Conflict in former Yugoslavia (1991-1995).

Her main research interests include: sociology of communication and of public sphere, media studies, popular culture, social problems, methods and techniques of sociological research. Her current courses are: Sociology of Communication; Diagnosis and Solutions of Social Problems; Theories and Methods in Social Work.

She is the author of the following books: Sociology of Communication (2009); Media and Conflicts (2004); Political Crises - A Sociological Approach (2004) and The Psychology of Educational Processes (2000). She is also co-author of the books: National and/or European? Social Representation of Identity in the Present Romanian Society (with Anca Velicu, 2006); The Media Coverage of Domestic Violence. A Guide of Good Practices for Journalists (with Valentina Marinescu, 2005), The Symbolic Construction of the Electoral Field (with I. Drăgan, C. Beciu, I. Dragomirescu, V. Marinescu, N. Perpelea and D. Rusu, 1998), and so on.

Her recent published studies include:

“Popular Culture in Romania during the Communist Period. An Analysis of the Western and Soviet Influences from the Perspective of Cultural Studies”, in Romanian Journal of Communication and Public Relations, Vol. 12, nr. 1 (18)/ 2010, pp.

95-114, http://www.revista.comunicare.ro/; “Folk Culture in Romania during the Communist Period. An Analysis from the Perspective of Cultural Studies”, in Romanian Journal of Sociology, New Series, Year XXI, nr. 3-4/2010, http://www.revistadesociologie.ro;

“Romanian teenagers and the Internet: the Internet in the life of Romanian adolescents”, in the journal Estudos em Comunicação [Communication Studies], Publicação Semestral do LABCOM – Online Communication Lab, ISSN 1646 4974, no. 5 - May 2009, pp. 173-192, http://www.labcom.ubi.pt/ec/05/; “National vs.

European Identity and Social Representations of ‘Europe’ in the Present Romanian Society”, in the volume Sociology in a Changing World: Challenges and Perspectives (edited by Gregory Katsas), ATINER Publications, Athens, 2009, pp. 153-164, http://www.atiner.gr/docs/BOOK_PUBLICATIONS.htm,  http://www.atiner.gr/docs/2009Katsas_CONT.htm;

“The Image of Women in Romanian Popular Culture. The Case of ‘Manele’ Music Videos”, in the volume Culture and Press in The European Space (edited by M. Cîrnu, C. Negoiţă), Ars Docendi Publishing House, Bucharest, 2009, pp. 262-276;

“Europe as Social Representations”, in the volume Europe as Viewed from the Margins. An East-Central European Perspective. From World War I to Present (edited by I. Stanciu, S. Miloiu, I. Oncescu), Valahia University Press, Târgovişte, 2008, pp. 35-44;

“The Internet in the Life of Bucharest’s Teenagers: Access, Patterns and Competences of Utilization”, in Romanian Journal of Journalism and Communication, New Series, Year III, nr. 3/ 2008, pp. 33-41; “The Future of National Identity in the Context of the Process of «Europeanization». The Romanian Case”, from August 2005 on “Kakanien revisited” (the Platform for interdisciplinary research in the field of Central and Southeast European studies - http://www.kakanien.ac.at, http://www.kakanien.ac.at/beitr/fallstudie/SStefanescu1.pdf.