Session 1 of the CEPEL Seminar on Current Research Trends for Young Researchers – September 11, 2023

As part of the “CEPEL Seminar on Current Trends in Social Science Research,” we are pleased to invite you to the first seminar of the 2023–2024 academic year:

On September 11, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Linz Room of Building 3 at the Faculty of Law and Political Science of the University of Montpellier, where we will welcome:

Liana Winett,Associate Professorat the School of Public Health, OHSU-PSU, Portland, Oregon, USA (https://ohsu-psu-sph.org) for a seminar titled:

The Importance of Words: Why Social and Political Scientists Should Make the Language That Surrounds Us Every Day a Focus of Critical Research

The session will be discussed byMarc Smyrl, Senior Lecturer (HDR), University of Montpellier, and is intended to be interactive.

Summary:

The way we talk about the problems facing societies—including the words and symbols we choose and how they circulate in everyday media—is extremely important for public policy. These representations of problems help determine whether and how the public considers the solutions presented to them. Cognitive and communication sciences show that the way we “frame” public issues shapes our understanding of these matters and the circumstances surrounding those most affected. It can also facilitate—or hinder—our ability to imagine what can be done to address them. This is why public policy specialists must be very mindful of how their issues are presented to capture public interest. They must also be aware of how they themselves frame these issues in their work. In this seminar, we will examine why and how studying the framing of public problems and policy solutions across various sources of public discourse can enrich research and practice portfolios, including the key questions researchers can ask, and we will draw on recent examples from my work on public health and social policy in the United States and the European Union.