The Institute of Behavioural Sciences and Communication Theory & the Institute of World Economy at Corvinus University of Budapest presents
Information about our confirmed plenary speakers, Dirk Geeraerts and Virpi Ylänne
Submit a paper by January 31, 2019. Learn more about the submission process
Learn more about the venue, Corvinus University of Budapest
Our communicational behaviours, language use and the media do not simply express, but also significantly influence our experiences and conceptualizations of the world, as well as our everyday activities and habits. These processes are heavily affected by ageing and how different generations perceive it. While the digital media culture is obsessed with maintaining eternal youth, ageing affects everybody. Yet research is still sparse on how older adults are represented in and addressed by the media, how these representations are reflected in language use, how various generations perceive and communicate with one another, and to what degree do generations conform to the expectations of the media and society.
These questions provoke novel and interdisciplinary approaches that dissect language and communication theory, sociology and economics. Thus, the aim of the conference is to find convergence among diverse research fields focused on ageing and communication and create a joint platform for determining the future opportunities of this paradigm shift in age research.
When: 09 May 2019
Where: Corvinus University of Budapest (Hungary)
Abstract submission deadline: 31 January 2019
Notification of acceptance: 20 February 2019
Registration Deadline: 31 March 2019.
NO REGISTRATION FEE
We invite a broad range of papers that address issues related to (but not limited to) any the following:
Professor of Linguistics at the University of Leuven, and founder and editor of the journal Cognitive Linguistics. His main research interests involve the overlapping fields of lexical semantics, lexicology, and lexicography, with a specific focus on social variation and diachronic change. Dr Geeraerts’ theoretical orientation is mainly that of cognitive linguistics, with a special emphasis on empirical methods for linguistic analysis.
Dirk Geeraerts: Corpus Methods for Age Categorization Research
Corpus Methods for Age Categorization Research
In the hypercommunicative present-day context, ageism (like sexism and racism) is perceived not just as an issue involving social behavior towards age groups, but also as an issue involving the categorization of those groups, either through explicit labeling or through implicit framing. To get a good grip on such categorization phenomena, a spectrum of different methods may be used, but specifically also (given the huge amount of digitally available texts that should be included in the description), we will need appropriate methods for corpus semantic research.
Against that background, this paper explores the usefulness of a distributional semantic approach (in the sense of Lenci 2018, ‘Distributional models of word meaning’, Annual Review of Linguistics 4:151-171) for the study of age categories in large corpora. Focusing on the Dutch terms ouderen and senioren ‘older people’, we will distributionally investigate whether the semantic relationship between these two near-synonyms changes over a timespan of 20 years, and, to the extent that there is a shift in usage, which underlying dimensions structure the relationship.
Professor of Linguistics and Communication at the University of Cardiff. Her research interests are discourse and lifespan identity and media representation of later life. She recently co-directed a three-year ESRC funded project on the representation of older people in UK print and television advertising. Dr Ylänne has published on these topics in journals such as Discourse and Communication, Ageing and Society, Journal of Aging Studies and International Journal of Ageing and Later Life.
Virpi Ylänne: Media portrayals of ageing and older people: ageing in an ageist world
Media portrayals of ageing and older people: ageing in an ageist world
Interest in the nature and the possible effects of media portrayals of older adults has grown in recent years across the globe in communication and media studies, as well as in cultural gerontology. The media help shape and sustain hegemonic conceptualisations and discourses about ageing in the modern world. Studying media positionings of older people and ageing gives access to current age stereotypes and is useful in understanding ageism in its many forms. Research has demonstrated older people’s under-representation in the media. Media and advertising depictions of ageing and older age have also found to be somewhat limited in scope. This presentation looks at recent representations of older adults in the media, in particular advertising, magazines and newspapers (in the UK are beyond). The findings are linked with current cultural gerontological debate surrounding models of successful ageing and ageism in the media.
Located in the heart of the city, Corvinus University of Budapest is one of the highest-ranked tertiary education institutions both within Hungary and Central and Eastern Europe. Distributed among its three faculties of Business, Economics and Social Sciences and International Relations, more than 11,000 students pursue their studies at the bachelor, master and doctoral levels of the university.
The Institute of Behavioural Sciences and Communication Theory
The Institute of Behavioural Sciences and Communication Theory is proud to contribute to the success of Corvinus as the top institute within its field (according to official rankings). Our BA and MA programmes provide students with an exceptionally colourful and interdisciplinary curriculum; students wishing to pursue their studies at a postgraduate level can do so at our Doctoral School of Social Communication. We have an exceptionally active and close-knit community of students and highly devoted and friendly staff, who all take an active part in organizing a wide range of academic and social events throughout the semester – thus contributing to the welcoming and cooperative atmosphere that is the hallmark of the Institute.
The Institute of World Economy
Our Institute is an active community of scholars, with a great experience in cross-disciplinary collaboration and teaching in many eras of studies, such as development economics, transnational corporations, regional integrations, international organizations and international finance. The Institute’s intellectual environment derives from its research collaborations across Europe, such as our Jean Monet and H2020 projects and from teaching excellence. Our lecturers have been engaged in research collaborations with EU institutions (European Commission), with the World Bank, with Australian and US universities.
We invite a broad range of papers that address issues related to (but not limited to) any the following:
Abstracts for 15-minute presentations or posters should be sent by 31 January 2019. Anonymized, maximum one-page abstracts (incl. references) should be submitted via EasyChair in a pdf format.
More information about EasyChair and the registration process can be found HERE