Logo of Maastricht Summer School

Media Representations and Research Methods: Critical Discourse Analysis, Social Semiotics and News Framing

Maastricht Summer School
Netherlands, Maastricht
Maastricht Summer School Netherlands, Bonnefantenstraat 2, 6211 KL Maastricht, The Netherlands
Tuition fee €399 one-time
More information

maastrichtsummerschool.nl 

Overview

Please note that this course will take place online.

Course Description
The campaigns of both supporters and opponents of BREXIT, the many photos on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and the debate on whether media should speak of immigrants or refugees underline the importance of language and images in (social) media. This course teaches you the skills to study the possible meanings of media texts and, if applicable, the juxtaposed images. You learn how particular words, phrases and visual elements can be interpreted in terms of a broader debate in society. Other key elements of the course are the role of the national and ideological context in the production of a media text, and the underlying power relations in society. Further, you learn how to develop a coherent analytical framework and structure for your research paper or thesis. In a step by process, you will address these questions by applying a critical discourse analysis (CDA) method. You will write a paper in which you will use the method of Richardson (2007), or a method of your own choice, to analyse discourses in one or more news articles or social media posts. Interactive lectures and roundtable discussions help you prepare for the different steps in the writing process.

Goals
▪ Designing a framework to study discourses in (social) media, in line with your research objectives.
▪ Developing a qualitative method to conduct critical discourse analysis of media representations and select the relevant textual (and possibly visual) elements.
▪ Addressing the role of the national and ideological context in which media operate.
▪ Understanding the complexity of text-image relations and their role in meaning-making processes.
▪ Compiling a dataset for your dissertation or thesis that is manageable and relevant.

Recommended Literature
Below you find some general reading suggestions. It is not required to do some reading before the course. If you like to read something, select the sources that are closest to your research interests. Alternatively, please ask Leonhardt for personal reading advice or check his website: www.geomeans.com/category/media-representations/reading-lists-media-representations/
▪ Fowler, R. (1991) Language in the news. Discourse and ideology in the press.
▪ Jørgensen, M. and Phillips, L. (2002) Discourse analysis. As theory and method.
▪ Machin, D. (2007) Introduction to multimodal analysis.
▪ Machin, D. and Mayr, A. (2012) How to do critical discourse analysis.
▪ Reisigl, M. and Wodak, R. (2001) Discourse and discrimination. Rhetorics of racism and antisemitism.
▪ Richardson, J. (2007) Analysing newspapers. An approach from critical discourse analysis.
▪ Royce, T. D. (2006). Intersemiotic complementarity: A framework for multimodal discourse analysis. In T. D. Royce, & W. Bowcher (Eds.), New directions in the analysis of multimodal discourse (pp. 63-109).
▪ Van Efferink, L. (2018) Our Research Paper Template for Textual/Visual/Multimodal Media Analysis. www.geomeans.com/our-research-paper-template-for-textual-visual-multimodal-media-analysis/
▪ Van Leeuwen, T. (2008) Discourse and practice. New tools for critical discourse analysis.
▪ Wodak, R. and Meyer, M. (eds., 2016) Methods of critical discourse studies.

Teaching Methods
▪ Lectures ▪ Presentations

Assessment Methods
▪ Attendance ▪ Final Paper ▪ Participation ▪ Presentation

Course Coordinator
Dr L.A.S. van Efferink

Apply now! Maastricht Summer School 2023
Application deadline
21 Jul 2023, 23:59:59
Central European Time
Studies commence
21 Aug 2023
Apply now! Maastricht Summer School 2023
Application deadline
21 Jul 2023, 23:59:59
Central European Time
Studies commence
21 Aug 2023