The First Graduate of the English Master's Programme

On Monday, March 4, 2024, Ariane Vlahen successfully defended her thesis titled "Media Constructions of Travel-Related Emotions: The Cases of Flight Shame and Train Brag", becoming the first graduate of our English master's programme Tourism Destinations and Experiences.

In her master's research, under the mentorship of Assist. Prof. Dr. Andreja Trdina and Ma. Soc. Sc. Salla Jutila (University of Lapland), she conceptualized emotions as practice and analysed how travel-related emotions are staged on social media. She identified prevailing themes around emotions and dominant visual conventions used to depict them on Instagram, while reflecting on the implications of such representations for our travel habits.

She defended her work before a committee consisting of Assist. Prof. Dr. Barbara Pavlakovič Farrell and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jasna Potočnik Topler. We are immensely proud of Ariane, as we are of all our graduates, and we congratulate her on her achievement, wishing her all the best for the future!