Communication

This course is an introduction to the philosophy of language, including semantics and pragmatics. The course studies topics connected broadly to the systematic study of meaning, including theories of meaning and how these theories relate to language as a social practice. Students develop their understanding of the concepts involved through in-class discussion and doing short writing assignments throughout the semester. 

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.