At the end of this course the student is able to:
1. explain the role of language and social interaction in relation to major societal issues, specifically the climate crisis
2. explain concepts relevant to the study of language and social interaction like (dis)affiliation, assessment and questions and recognize them in examples
3. record and transcribe social interaction about climate change and personal behavior in an ethical way
4. analyse real-life interactions on the basis of the conversation analytical approach
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Climate change affects us all. This course centers on the societal challenge of people's behavioral change in relation to the climate crisis. Behavioral change here is related to choices surrounding eating, clothing, housing, travel etc., hence living in a different way. Public campaigns seem insufficient to provoke substantial change and public discussion often results in (more) polarisation. It is claimed that in order to achieve behavioral change people need to talk to each other more about sustainability in their own lives. In this course we focus on this area of interpersonal communication. Talking about climate issues is challenging due to the dynamics of social interaction, including the relevance of social solidarity. In this course, student dive into the social interactional territory of the climate crisis by applying concepts from language and interaction studies including (dis)affiliation, assessment and epistemics to actual stretches of talk and by recording, transcribing and analysing their own conversations about this with family members, friends and acquaintances. The aim is to discover pitfalls and opportunities for talking about climate issues that may enhance behavioral change. While the course focuses specifically on climate change communication, its application is broader in terms of understanding how everyday talk impacts larger societal issues, not only with regard to behavior but also with regard to how these issues are talked into being.
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