King's College London

In the wake of the logical revolution at the end of the 19th century, a number of philosophers well-versed in formal logic turned their attention to the project of understanding human languages, not just logical ones. Others argued for a different approach, claiming that the tools of logic are either insufficient or just the wrong sort of thing to help us understand the nuances of human language use. This course introduces students to these two broad strands of philosophical thinking about language. Students cover how each strand arose, developed, and eventually intertwined with the other. Then, drawing on the tools of both, students study a range of interesting linguistic phenomena—from foundational notions like meaning and communication to more complex and recalcitrant notions like slurring and silencing.

This course examines the distinctive character of innovation in the public services; the ways in which different sectors participate in public service innovation and facilitate social change; and the challenges and opportunities for organizations to enable and drive innovation and change to improve public outcomes. 

How we tell stories and what our stories reveal about us, our lives and our relations with others has attracted the attention of numerous strands of social scientific inquiry. It is notable that narrative research interviews constitute the main qualitative method for identity analysis. Discourse and sociolinguistic studies of storytelling have drawn on this diversity of social scientific work but they have also infused it with vital insights into how everyday life stories are told in interaction with other people and in specific contexts. The course familiarizes students with the main frameworks within discourse and sociolinguistic studies for the analysis of stories and identities. The presentation of concepts and analytical tools become tangible with close analysis of a wide range of stories from various everyday life contexts: cafés, classrooms, the workplace, social media platforms, etc.