Visiting faculty testimonial: Sanne Kruikemeier

Among others, I talked to Pablo Flores and Ingrid Bachmann about the use and value of eyetracking research. We have some overlapping interest in using eyetracking research for future and current projects, which was very interesting to discuss. 

Dr Sanne Kruikemeier, Assistant Professor Political Communication, Amsterdam School of Communication Research ASCoR

Last June, I visited the Faculty of Communication of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile for the Erasmus Mundus Journalism exchange program. It was an exciting, inspiring and informative three-week visit.

During my visit I met with different faculty members and students from the Faculty of Communication. During these interesting and inspiring meetings, we talked about common research interest and experiences with teaching. Among others, I talked to Pablo Flores and Ingrid Bachmann about the use and value of eyetracking research. We have some overlapping interest in using eyetracking research for future and current projects, which was very interesting to discuss. 

It was also great to discuss shared research interest with Sebastian Valenzuela, with whom I often discussed in which direction online political communication research should be heading. We worked on panel data together and discussed possibilities for research collaboration.

I also met with Julia Martinez, who introduced me to different students at the faculty and showed me the studios, editing rooms and radio station in which students develop, record and edit news programs. It was very exciting and impressive to see how students are making their own radio and television shows, which are also broadcasted; online and on screens throughout the university. 

I also had some interesting meetings with Eduardo Arriagada Cardini with whom I talked about the Mundus Journalism program, as he is also preparing an Erasmus Mundus scholar visit to Denmark.

It was also great to meet the PhD students and the Erasmus Mundus students. I gave a short talk about my own PhD research and I briefly talked about being a PhD student in the Netherlands. The students asked very relevant and though-provoking questions and we had some interesting discussion about the impact of online media on democracy.

During another presentation - about the use and impact of online sources in journalistic practice - I discussed my most recent work. The faculty staff provided some interesting and valuable input for current research projects and future studies.

In my last week, I also gave a workshop about the use of eye tracking methods in communication science research for the faculty members. During this workshop, in which I explained the challenges and opportunities of eye-tracking research, we engaged in an intriguing discussion about the value of eye-tracking research in communication science.

I want to thank the Faculty of Communication of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile for their very warm welcome and the inspiring visit. I am also very grateful to the Erasmus Mundus Journalism Program for giving me the opportunity to visit the Pontifical Catholic University.