Interdisciplinary research projects on Language & Culture

Radboud University recognises the fundamental role of interdisciplinary research in addressing the major challenges facing society today. To encourage top level academic collaboration, interfaculty research programmes have been established.

Below you can find more information about all current interdisciplinary research projects, focused on Language & Culture. Visit this page for all interdisciplinary research projects.

Projects
- Create Space: minor of Radboud University and ArtEZ University of the Arts
- Adaptive Language Initiative for Healthy Brain and Society
- WordWise: Rhetoric for all
- Science festival ‘Kletskoppen’
- Transatlantic Studies

Create Space: minor of Radboud University and ArtEZ University of the Arts

Create Space is a minor programme in which students from the Radboud University and Artez University of Arts explore the possibilities and challenges of working together. Create Space enables students to work on today’s societal challenges. It looks beyond the traditional disciplines and combines sciences and arts in understanding the world as a whole. The minor starts from the students' questions, and encourages them to invite 'leading learners' - lecturers and researchers from RU and ArtEZ for guidance and feedback.

More information: Dr. E. van Meerkerk / website
Faculties involved: Initiated by Faculty of Arts, but open to participants from all faculties. In collaboration with ArtEZ University of the Arts.
Project started in: 2018

Adaptive Language Initiative for Healthy Brain and Society

In this initiative, an interfaculty consortium will be formed with a translational goal: to use theoretical knowledge to help solve societally important problems in language and communication. Members of the consortium will work on “Adaptive Language”, that is, the ability to use language flexibly for communication. The main goals of this initiative are:

1. To obtain external grant funding that will be used to discover how to optimize communication with and by individuals with reduced language (e.g., individuals with brain injury or disease, Cochlear Implant users, immigrants with limited proficiency in the language of their new country).
2. Organize workshops to build networks with different stakeholders within and outside academia. With network members, we will apply for funding from national and/or international grant agencies.
3. Develop an elective Bachelor course on adaptive language to be taught in the participating faculties.

More information: Prof. dr. J. McQueen / website
Faculties involved: Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Medical Sciences.
Project started in: 2019

WordWise: Rhetoric for all

WordWise is a pathbreaking initiative offering rhetoric as a means to educate responsible and resilient citizens. Within Radboud University, WordWise aims to cooperate with, and serve, all faculties. The initiative will provide Radboud students with the critical and persuasive skills they require to flourish not only in academia, but also in society. Main activities include:

1. Create courses in rhetoric that are both grounded in general rhetorical theory and tailored to specific disciplines, so that a theologian can apply rhetorical analysis to a sermon, a biologist can outsmart a climate denier, and a physician doctor can broach knotty subjects in clear and cogent language.
2. WordWise will design a rhetoric-cum-citizenship module of variable complexity to be used at secondary schools of different levels. It will help the young to enter with confidence a society characterized by fake news, information overload, and influencers.

More information: Prof. dr. B. Breij
Faculties involved: Peitho: Radboud Centre for Rhetoric (Faculty of Arts) and Radboud University’s Department of Political Science (Nijmegen School of Management).
Project started in: 2019

Science festival ‘Kletskoppen’

Kletskoppen (“Chatterboxes”) is a science festival all about language and how we acquire the ability to talk. On this cheerful and informative family day, language scientists from Radboud University and the Max Planck Institute of Psycholinguistics come together to showcase their work for a wider audience. Visitors young and old take part in interactive demonstrations, attend short lectures and storytelling sessions in Dutch and many other languages, and much, much more.

Kletskoppen has been a great success from the offset, with the most recent edition (February 29th, 2020) attracting no fewer than 1200 visitors. The basic concept is solid, but further development is essential in order to anchor the festival and the associated research in the wider community.

Over the next two years, we will increase our reach, impact and visibility, working together across campus and together with societal partners to also organise roadshows and a series of pre-festival activities.

More information: Dr. S. Unsworth / website
Faculties involved: Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Social Sciences and Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.
Project started in: 2019

Transatlantic studies

More information about this project will be added later...