Research projects
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Procedural rhetoric and gender norms in video games and their adaptations: a transmedia study of the Mario Bros universe (2025-2031)
Abstract
This thesis project lies at the intersection of game studies, gender studies, and media literacy. It focuses on the transmedia universe of Mario Bros (Nintendo) in order to examine how gendered representations manifest themselves in game mechanics, narrative structures, and their media adaptations. The research is developed along two complementary axes. The first consists of a content analysis of a corpus of video games and their film adaptations (notably the 2023 feature film). The study focuses on the action mechanics attributed to the main characters (Mario, Peach, Luigi, etc.), which are considered as forms of procedural rhetoric (Bogost, 2007) and analysed in terms of gender stereotypes (Kite, 2001). Particular attention is paid to internal variations within the universe: while several characters participate in the narrative, their abilities, degree of agency and functions are neither equivalent nor distributed in a gender-neutral manner. The second axis is based on a reception study that aims to explore how audiences perceive, interpret or criticise these gender dynamics, as well as the strategies of appropriation, distancing or negotiation that they implement (Hall, 1980). The overall objective of the thesis is to contribute to a better understanding of gender norms conveyed by popular media forms, by documenting their circulation between media and characters in a universe emblematic of contemporary video game culture.
Researcher(s): Marie Mac Donough
Promoter(s): Thibault Philippette
Co-promoter(s): Sarah Sepulchre
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
Funding: Basic institutional funding (research assistant contract)
Twitch Streams as a Tool for Raising Citizenship Awareness Among Young People (2025-2030)
Abstract
This thesis project explores how adolescents and young adults learn to live within a community, express opinions and engage in debate through Twitch’s participatory culture. We investigate how this learning process can be applied to the practice of citizenship in a digitally influenced society, with the goal of empowerment, autonomy, and emancipation. In the initial phase, we will focus on the Twitch platform, its mechanics and its user base. A field-based ethnographic study will be conducted to observe and analyze how audiences engage with streams, complemented by interviews with streamers and viewers involved in streams considered “political” (in terms of content and/or interaction dynamics). The final phase of the research project will involve designing a digital educational tool in the form of a gamified debate interface, similar to platforms such as Kialo or Débagora, but more closely aligned with Twitch’s interface and user practices. This tool will allow us to assess the relevance of the Twitch's features for the political expression of opinion. It will also enable us to identify support strategies likely to encourage discussion and increase young people's interest in exercising citizenship on political issues (taking a stand, open debate, listening, counter-argumentation, etc.). Ultimately, the project aims to deliver a tool (either newly developed or adapted from an existing platform) inspired by Twitch, that can be used in educational settings to cultivate civic awareness and participatory skills among young people.
Researcher(s): Elena Balseiro Sollano
Promoter(s): Thibault Philippette
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
Funding: Self-funded PhD
EPEAM - Assessing the Implementation of Media Education Policies in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation: Practices, Influencing Factors, and Needs of Field Professionals (2025-2027)
Abstract
In the context of a still-evolving institutionalization of media literacy education (MLE) in French-speaking Belgium, this research project aims to evaluate the implementation of key instruments of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation’s MLE policy. It focuses on professionals in both formal and non-formal education sectors to understand the motivational and contextual factors influencing their use—or non-use—of these instruments, to analyze the resulting educational practices, and to identify unmet needs. The study employs a mixed-methods approach in two phases: an exploratory qualitative phase (interviews and focus groups) to contextualize practices and perceptions, followed by a quantitative phase (online survey) to validate and generalize findings. Thematic analysis will generate typologies of influencing factors, practices, and needs, and help define user and non-user profiles. Findings will inform a comprehensive mapping of current and unmet MLE needs and lead to recommendations for improving existing instruments. The project also aims to develop a transferable methodological model for evaluating ME policy implementation in other geographical contexts, thereby contributing to international research on media education governance and practice.
Researcher(s): Elsa Sarlet, Louise-Amélie Cougnon, Jerry Jacques, Pierre Fastrez
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez, Jerry Jacques
Co-promoter(s): Louise-Amélie Cougnon
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: Higher Council for Media Education of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation
Funding: Wallonia-Brussels Federation
Dynamic Consent: Towards a Revision of Consent in XR (2024-2028)
Abstract
Extended Reality (XR) technologies, such as Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR), continuously collect personal data, sometimes highly sensitive, such as body movements, gaze, or heart rate. In this context, traditional consent models — such as checkboxes or paper forms — are no longer suitable. This thesis aims to design a new type of consent, referred to as "dynamic" consent: an evolving, contextual mechanism, retractable at any time, and seamlessly integrated into the immersive experience. This will allow users to maintain active control over their personal data without compromising the quality of their experience. The research follows an approach based on Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM), which combines design, prototyping, and experimentation. User tests will be conducted to compare this dynamic system with more traditional mechanisms, measuring criteria such as understanding, trust, sense of control, and user experience quality. By drawing from the fields of information and communication sciences, design, law, and digital technologies, this thesis proposes a new way of conceptualising consent in immersive technologies and contributes to a more responsible digital culture. This research is part of the Wal4XR project (reference 231044), funded by Service public de Wallonie (SPW).
Researcher(s): Michel Gildas Noutcha
Promoter(s): Suzanne Kieffer, Damien Renard (LASCO)
Research Axes: User experience (UX)
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
Partners: University/research partners: UMONS, UCLouvain, ULiège, UNamur, ULB, Sirris, Multitel Industrial partners: Deloitte Digital, Aisin Technical Center Europe SA, Ellion, Buildwise, IIS Contribute, Dumoulin Aero
Funding: Service public de Wallonie (SPW) - Win4Excellence
Defining and Measuring User Experience in Extended Reality (2024-2028)
Abstract
Extended reality (XR), encompassing augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR), redefines interaction through multisensory experiences. However, current user experience (UX) definition and evaluation methods—developed for traditional interfaces—struggle to account for the sensory, temporal, and contextual complexity of XR environments. This doctoral research investigates how UX attributes manifest in XR and how evaluation practices can be adapted accordingly. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods, it examines the strengths and limitations of existing approaches while addressing their embedded assumptions. Grounded in both UX research and communication sciences, this work also critically reflects on how evaluation protocols shape what is deemed meaningful or valuable in experience. Conducted across real-world use cases, the project contributes to more integrated, situated, and ethically aware UX design and evaluation practices, ultimately supporting a richer understanding of users as meaning-making agents in XR-mediated environments.
Researcher(s): Louis Amant
Promoter(s): Damien Renard (LASCO)
Co-promoter(s): Guillaume Gronier (LIST, Luxembourg)
Research Axes: User experience (UX)
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
Partners: University/research partners: UMONS, UCLouvain, ULiège, UNamur, ULB, Sirris, Multitel Industrial partners: Deloitte Digital, Aisin Technical Center Europe SA, Ellion, Buildwise, IIS Contribute, Dumoulin Aero
Funding: Service Public de Wallonie (SPW) - Win4Excellence
The Art of Manipulation: Decoding Cognitive Biases and the Role of Digital Literacy in Social Engineering (2024-2028)
Abstract
This doctoral project investigates how cybercriminals exploit cognitive biases through social engineering attacks such as phishing, deepfakes, and identity theft. Unlike technical attacks, these manipulations target individuals’ psychological vulnerabilities by triggering emotions like fear, trust, or urgency. They now represent one of the most pressing challenges in cybersecurity. To address this threat, the research examines how capable individuals are of detecting and understanding such manipulations and explores how to strengthen their ability to respond. It proposes to connect digital and media literacy, understood as a situated set of skills activated in various media-related contexts, with cognitive resilience, defined as the capacity to resist manipulation by maintaining a critical and informed mindset. Built on an interdisciplinary approach, this thesis draws on insights from information and communication sciences, cognitive psychology, and cybersecurity.
Researcher(s): Ling Leung
Promoter(s): Suzanne Kieffer
Co-promoter(s): Esma Aïmeur (U. Montréal)
Research Axes: User experience (UX), Media literacy and media education
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
Partners: ICTEAM, SGSI, IPSY
Funding: Service Public de Wallonie - CyberWal Strategic Innovation Initiative (IIS) - CyberExcellence project
Link: https://cyberexcellence.be/
TADAM (Tools & Awareness about Disinformation, Algorithms and Media) (2024-2026)
Abstract
The European project TADAM (Tools & Awareness about Disinformation, Algorithms and Media – Creative Europe) aims to strengthen media literacy in the face of the growing challenges posed by artificial intelligence and algorithms in the news media. UCLouvain plays a leading role in the consortium, having coordinated the European cross-perspective seminar (WP2) in Louvain-la-Neuve (June 2024), which identified priorities in AI literacy, ethics, inclusion and impact on journalism. UCLouvain also led the development of the strategic plan for the next phase of the project, ensuring methodological consistency with the regional workshops (WP3), which were gradually rolled out in several partner countries. As part of WP5 (May-June 2025), UCLouvain hosted an online seminar using speculative fiction and role-playing to explore the quality of information in the age of AI. This immersive experience allowed participants to embody various media actors, produce and evaluate AI-generated content, and develop critical skills in analysis, bias detection and information credibility assessment. UCLouvain is involved in the preparation of the transnational event Edukhaton (September 2025, Athens) and in the ongoing dissemination of results (WP6), contributing to the structuring of a European community of practice and the promotion of the consortium's scientific and educational outputs.
Researcher(s): Alessandro Cierro
Promoter(s): Thibault Philippette
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: Media Animation, IAME, Institute of Communication Studies (Macedonia, Skopje), Università Degli Studi Firenze, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Tampere University, IFJ, Karpos
Funding: European Union – Creative Europe Program
Link: https://tadam.education/
Artificial Intelligence in Literary Analysis and Media Education - Transatlantic Collaboration - AILAME-TC (2024-2026)
Abstract
The proposed cooperation between the projects "The Critic and the Machine: Tensions and Fissures in the Uses of Artificial Intelligence in the Literary Analysis of Lima Barreto" from the Federal Institute of Espírito Santo (Brazil) and "Towards Critical and Reflective Media Education of Conversational and Generative Artificial Intelligence Technologies" from the Université Catholique de Louvain aims to integrate AI research applied to literary analysis and critical AI education. Both projects share a common interest in the use of artificial intelligence technologies for educational and research purposes, proposing a collaboration that explores the intersections between automated literary analysis and critical media education. This partnership will enable the development of innovative methodologies that not only enhance literary interpretation through NLP models but also promote a critical understanding of AI technologies among students and researchers. Together, these initiatives aim to problematize pedagogical and investigative practices, valuing cultural heritage and improving media literacy in a globalized and technologically advanced context.
Researcher(s): Jerry Jacques, Laura Zander
Promoter(s): Jerry Jacques
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Collaboration
Partners: Federal Institute of Espírito Santo (Brazil)
Funding: Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI) and Conselho Nacional das Fundações Estaduais de Amparo à Pesquisa(CONFAP)
Towards a critical and reflexive media education about conversational technologies – Design and evaluation of the effets of an educative chatbot (2023-2029)
Abstract
The growing popularity and accessibility of artificial intelligence raises concerns and raises questions. The issue of human value in the face of machines demonstrating 'intelligence' prompts reflection on the opportunities offered by these technologies and how we can flourish in their use. Adopting a critical stance towards these technologies encourages us to reconsider our approach to them and how they are used, particularly in education. A central question emerges: how can we educate people to think critically about artificial intelligence? This leads us to reconsider the relevance of current media literacy reference frameworks, which consider the reception contexts of individuals with a high degree of agency towards a stable media object. However, conversational and generative artificial intelligence brings with it the possibility of variation in content itself, which is bound to change. This complicates not only the study of content reception, but also our understanding of the technology itself, which is associated with imaginary worlds and is influenced more than ever by emotions. The aim of this thesis is to put forward recommendations for critical and reflective media education using conversational and generative artificial intelligence, through a process ranging from understanding to developing and then evaluating an educational chatbot. The proposed method, based on design-based research, will enable us to observe the effects of an initiative that is more specific to media education and that involves the use of an artificial intelligence tool to educate about artificial intelligence.
Researcher(s): Laura Zander
Promoter(s): Jerry Jacques
Research Axes: Learning and education through media, Media literacy and media education
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
Funding: Basic institutional funding (research assistant contract)
Collecting transmedia franchises artifacts and merchandise. A narratalogical ethnography of fictional materiality (2023-2029)
Abstract
From books to TV series and video games, the fictional worlds created by franchises are based on transmedia logic that now includes more mundane objects and eclectic merchandise such as figurines and coffee mugs. However, the accumulation and omnipresence in our daily lives of these objects capable of immersing us in fiction invite us to question how we select, preserve, and organize certain elements from these franchises rather than others—in other words, how we collect such franchises. This thesis project aims to understand how collecting shapes our relationships with and understanding of the fictional worlds at the heart of transmedia franchises. Focusing on collections created by both the cultural industries and audiences, the project takes as its starting point the objects that constitute them and traces their biography. We choose a qualitative approach combining ethnography of the places where these objects circulate, interviews with collectors, guided tours of their collections, and a narratological analysis of both the collections and the merchandise has been developed. Visual sociology and narratology are used to analyze the data collected, with narrative and photography constituting the two common threads of the methodology.
Researcher(s): Marie Bastien
Promoter(s): Jerry Jacques
Co-promoter(s): Sébastien Fevry
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
Funding: Basic institutional funding (research assistant contract)
News Literacy: Effects of Four Types of Media Education (2022-2026)
Abstract
The subject of the thesis is news literacy, which is the ability of media users to critically evaluate the reliability of information. The project intends to evaluate the effects of different forms of media education on the development of young people's news literacy and on their information practices. The aim is to compare, based on the same evaluation instruments, the effects of media educations following different pedagogies and organized by the École Supérieure de Journalisme located in Lille, France (ESJ Lille). This comparison will allow us to question the relevance of the dominant media education model of news literacy, offering an introduction to the practice of journalism, and leading participants to produce media content. The evaluation will involve several measures of news literacy, including (1) the ability to deconstruct media information by mobilizing multiple reading keys, (2) the ability to make reliable judgments about it, and (3) participants' online information consumption and sharing practices. The research suggests a positive contribution of (1) to (2) (deconstruction as a basis for reliability judgment) and (2) to (3) (judgmental capacities transforming actual informational practices). The project consists of a quasi-experiment with non-equivalent groups. The samples will be composed of participants in the ESJ workshops (high school students). The quasi-experimental design includes four conditions and one control condition. A "Solomon Four-Group Design" will be implemented, with half of the participants (treatment and control conditions) being subjected to a pre-test and a post-test, and the other half to a post-test only.
Researcher(s): Laureline Marc
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
Partners: Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme de Lille
Funding: École Supérieure de Journalisme de Lille
Towards a critical education about social network interfaces: design and assessment of an educational activity for teenagers. (2022-2026)
Abstract
How to develop teenagers' critical skills regarding the interfaces of digital social networks (DSNs) and help them to regulate their use? To answer this question, this thesis aims at (1) documenting teenagers' representations of the influence of interfaces on their daily practices on DSNs and (2) identifying and studying pedagogical mechanisms for the development of these critical and regulatory skills. This project adopts a design-based research method that revolves around the creation and evaluation of a pedagogical activity that allows the participants to deconstruct the semiotics of the interfaces and then imagine alternative versions.
Researcher(s): Caroline Robbeets
Promoter(s): Thibault Philippette
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
CRS2 (Cyber Range Scenarios) (2022-2025)
Abstract
CRS2 (Cyber Range Scenarios) is a 36-month project in the field of cyber security in partnership with the company RHEA and financed by the Public Service of Wallonia. CRS2 aims to develop the most realistic and appropriate training scenarios for cyber training centers called "Cyber Ranges". A Cyber Range is a simulation platform of a real environment in which various systems can be reproduced in a virtual environment allowing security teams to experience simulated cyber attacks, to train (attack as well as defense) and to develop their expertise. UCLouvain is responsible for the user experience (UX) axis of the project and its mission is to take into account user needs for impactful applied research and more specifically, to conduct studies with users of the current system in order to identify their training and education needs.
Researcher(s): Justine Ramelot
Promoter(s): Suzanne Kieffer
Research Axes: User experience (UX)
Project type: Research program
The impact of the media on the representations and exercise of parenthood (2021-2023)
Abstract
This project responds to the ONE Academy's call for research on the impact of digital media on the representations and exercise of parenthood. Its purpose is to produce a cartography of digital media dealing with parenthood, to document the media practices and skills of parents relating to these media; and to describe the key issues and the view of childhood professionals on these media. This is why a qualitative method was chosen, set up in co-construction with ONE professionals. This revolves around three approaches that will feed into each other: (1) interviews with a sample of parents, (2) focus groups with a sample of childhood professionals, and (3) a content analysis of a set of digital media designated by the actors as representative of their practices and/or the situations in which they are mobilized in relation to parenthood. On the basis of this analysis, the objective is to understand the way in which these resources influence the exercise of parenthood and to produce recommendations addressed to childhood professionals aimed at enabling them to better understand these digital media with the parents.
Researcher(s): Marie Bastien, Baptiste Campion, Jerry Jacques, Caroline Robbeets
Co-promoter(s): Jerry Jacques
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: ONE Academy
Method of accompanying teachers in the use of immersive media (immersive realities and metavers) in a school context, a design research in education. (2021-)
Abstract
The fundamental desire of our research is to educate teachers to enable them to to acquire autonomy and a form of confidence as well as a certain propensity to test and insert new technologies in their teaching. Our project is built around three research hypotheses and attempts, through the methodology of design-based research in education, to understand the functioning of the appropriation of complex technologies by teachers in schools. Our exploratory approach is developed through the accompaniment of three secondary school teachers with varied teaching subjects (for example, a language teacher, a science or mathematics teacher, and a history teacher) in their discovery of immersive media and more precisely of metavers within the framework of a critical and enlightened appropriation for educational and applied purposes in their respective courses. By understanding what prevents high school teachers from appropriating immersive technologies in their teaching and how to foster the development of a literacy of these new devices, we will be able to document the levers of action offering a possible movement of thought.
Researcher(s): Alessandro Cierro
Promoter(s): Thibault Philippette
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
Funding: Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)
Towards a Neuromedia Literacy: Educating in Gamification and Applied Neuroscience Strategies in Contemporary Media (2021-)
Abstract
For many years now, popular application designers have been surfing on knowledge in psychology and neuroscience to propose application architectures that are questionable in terms of their economic and behavioral models. The object of this research is to propose on the one hand an educational component demystifying, like a magic trick, the strategies used by the latter to condition the users as well as the means of developing strategies of good hygiene cerebral in the head of the users. On the other hand, a qualitative and quantitative exploratory component to verify the usefulness of the literacy developed on the evolution of behaviors, attitudes and psycho-physiological variables of users will be developed. Our focus group concerns young people aged 16 to 20. (thesis in progress)
Researcher(s): Alexandre Brzozowski
Promoter(s): Thibault Philippette
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
UX artifacts as support for the communication between project stakeholders in an agile software development setting (2020-)
Abstract
Communication practices are a fundamental aspect of agile software development. Recent trends show that many organizations adopt UX practices to lead the software design and ensure competitive advantage by providing high value to users. However, little is known about what practices agile teams use to communicate UX findings amongst each other and what artifacts, methods, tools, and processes they use to facilitate the exchange of UX-related knowledge between project stakeholders. This research aims to identify and establish communication practices through an action research approach and describe the role of UX artifacts in agile communication practices. I am conducting the research directly with industry and my fieldwork consists of real software development projects. This research addresses the evolution of UX practices within an organization by focusing on the way stakeholders communicate UX findings, and how they document and communicate product and design-related concepts. To overcome some of the communication issues, I focus on the role of UX artifacts in communication practices. The research questions are: 1. What are the communication practices in agile UX software development projects? 2. How do members of different stakeholder groups understand (make sense of) UX artifacts when investigating them individually? 3. Which (UX) artifacts might act as boundary objects to cross the knowledge boundaries between stakeholder groups?
Researcher(s): Luka Rukonic
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez, Suzanne Kieffer
Research Axes: User experience (UX)
Project type: PhD thesis in progress
Partners: AISIN Europe
The media literacy of adolescents (13-15 years old): information search and multimedia creation (2018-2022)
Abstract
This project is the Belgian part of an international collaboration between the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Quebec, France and Switzerland, focusing on the study of media literacy, traditionally defined as the ability to access media, to understand and critically evaluate media contents, and to create media messages in a variety of contexts. Its goals are (1) to assess the media literacy levels of adolescents (13-15 years old) in the four participating countries in the specific areas of information search and content creation; (2) to develop and validate tools for the assessment of these levels; and (3) to study the relationship between the measured levels of media literacy, the self-reported levels of participants, their media practices, as well as several socio-demographic variables (gender, parental schooling and parental income). The project’s theoretical framework defines media literacy in terms of competence, involving the mobilization of original combinations of knowledge and skills in novel and complex problem-situations. The data analyzed in the research will be collected from 13-to-15-year-old students using three instruments developed for the occasion, in three successive phases: (1) a survey questionnaire on the media practices of students in information search and content creation, on their self-assessed competence levels, and on the above-mentioned socio-demographic variables; (2) a test to assess the students' media knowledge and skills based on simple tasks; and (3) a test to evaluate the students' media competence (mobilizing their knowledge and skills) on the basis of a complex task involving the authoring of a multimodal hypertext based on the results of a document search.
Researcher(s): Julia Bihl, Pierre Fastrez, Thibault Philippette, Alice T'Kint
Promoter(s): Pierre Fastrez
Co-promoter(s): Thibault Philippette
Research Axes: Media literacy and media education
Project type: Research program
Partners: Université du Québec à Montréal (Canada), Université de Rouen (France), Université de Genève (Suisse), Haute Ecole Pédagogique du Vaud (Suisse)
Funding: F.R.S.-FNRS (instrument: PDR)