The Sector Plan TaalX: Language in Context team
and DisCo (Discourse and Communication) research team present

TaalX2: Discourses of Discrimination

event series in the academic year 2024/25
at the University of Groningen

keynote event

[registRation NOW CLOSED]

REGISTRATION CLOSED

Four guest lectures throughout the academic year
concluded with a keynote-networking event

kindly sponsored by

INTRODUCING THE FIRST TAALX EVENT SERIES

TaalX2 (pronounced like 'talks talks') is an annual event series organized by the Sector Plan Theme TaalX: Language in Context at the University of Groningen.

About the 2024/25 Event Series

Our upcoming event series is grounded in Critical Discourse Studies (CDS), a key area within discourse studies dedicated to uncovering how language and communication can perpetuate social inequalities and intensify societal tensions. Over the past three decades, CDS has provided vital insights into how racist, xenophobic, sexist, and homophobic/transphobic ideologies are reinforced by the language and semiotic practices of influential social actors and institutions.

In this spirit, we invite ReMA and PhD students across the Netherlands to engage deeply with CDS as a scholarly approach in linguistics and discourse analysis. Our goal is to enhance the visibility of the UG Faculty of Arts and the new sector plan among stakeholders leading and supporting CDS research.

Monthly Guest Lectures

Starting in November 2024, we will host monthly guest lectures by experts in CDS at the UG. These sessions will address pressing societal issues such as hate speech, racism, sexism, and homophobia, and explore their intersections with linguistics and discourse analysis. These lectures offer ReMA students, PhD candidates, and the UG staff the opportunity to engage with innovative methodological insights that are essential for advancing critical discourse research in a polarized and conflict-ridden Europe.

Keynote & Networking Event

The series will culminate in a one-day keynote and networking event in May 2025. This event will feature keynote lectures by two leading experts in CDS and provide a platform for ReMA and PhD students to present their research in a poster session, receiving valuable feedback from peers and professionals.

Join Us

This initiative aligns closely with the objectives of the sector plan theme we participate in, and offers a unique opportunity to advance rigorous CDS research. We aim to attract and inspire ReMA and PhD students to contribute to this dynamic field, thereby enhancing the visibility of the UG and the Dutch linguistics community within the broader European context.

The Organizers

Dimitris Serafis & Joanna Chojnicka

The programme

(click on a title to see the abstract)

Talk #1: November 8th 2024, 15.00-17.00

Stavros Assimakopoulos (University of Malta)

"Varieties of online hate speech: Definitions, implications and data-driven investigation"

Harmony Building, 1313.0309

Talk #2: December 6th 2024, 15.00-17.00

Ksenija Bogetić Pejović (Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts)

"Metaphors of hate: The new figurative vocabularies of gender, sexuality and race in online misogynist communities"

Oude Boteringestraat 34.0002

Talk #3: January 31st 2025, 15.00-17.00

Samuel Bennett (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań)

"Myths and silences of empire in British immigration discourse"

Oude Boteringestraat 34.0002

Talk #4: April 23rd 2025, 15.00-17.00

Sofia Lampropoulou (University of Liverpool)

"Curated stories in NGO discourse: A critical storytelling approach to narratives about migration"

Harmony Building, 1312.0024

Keynote event: 16 May 2025, 10.00-12.00

Michał Krzyżanowski
(Uppsala University)

"Discursive shifts and the manufacturing of illiberal public imagination: Borderline discourses, proxies, and conceptual flipsides"

Broerstraat 9, A900

Keynote event: 16 May 2025, 14.00-16.00

Veronika Koller
(Lancaster University)

"Discrimination in absentia: Online mysogyny and the manosphere"

followed by panel discussion moderated by Erika Darics (University of Groningen)

Broerstraat 9, A900

information for participants

We welcome anyone with an interest in the topics discussed to participate.
PhD students and ReMA students from across the Netherlands and beyond are especially encouraged to join.

Participation is free and possible both in person and online.
Please register by clicking the button below. You can register for one event or all of them.
Talks will be followed by drinks.