It is time to thank every LanCris conference attendee and presenter. We had two days filled with vibrant discussion and relaxed atmosphere. Unfortunately, it seems that crises are not going to leave us alone. We'll keep studying the language that is used to discuss and construct them. 🧡 #lancris2026
We are sorry that you couldn't be there! It was a wonderful conference!
Arrived at #lancris2026 and looking forward to two interesting days.
Frédérique Sandretto on US presidents invoking the founding fathers in their speeches during crises. Specific founding fathers, such as George Washington, are only rarely mentioned, while "our fathers" is used more often. The histories of specific founding fathers may be problematic.
#lancris2026
Scientific historians influenced the public discourse and public understanding of the pandemic situation in 2020. They frequently appeared in media, offering context and historical analogies.
Plenary by Heini Hakosalo, who herself was one of those historians in 2020. #lancris2026
"Frequency over time" function of TRAC:COVID
The presentation by @rob-lawson.bsky.social et al. discussed perceptions of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic on UK Twitter using the TRAC:COVID interface. I like this function of plotting events on a frequency timeline (example word: nurses)
traccovid.com/traccovid/da...
#lancris2026
The second day of the LanCris Conference begins with Prof Merja Koskela's plenary on different theories on crisis communication from organizational perspective. Stora Enso's pearl mussle case is used as an example of how different rhetorical arenas open up when a crisis happens. #lancris2026
Beyond happy to be in Helsinki for the LanCrisis conference to share my reflections on the rethoric of crisis and polycrisis in Discourse over time.
Davide Marino on Apocalyptic rhetoric in papal discourse. In a sense, crisis is always ”apocalyptic”: either total destruction or survival. #lancris2026
Nevalainen and Nguyen on the Finnish Government’s ”racism crisis”. The National Coalition says racism is a problem in the Finnish society and should be solved. The Finns Party try to contest the definition of racism. Both agree that there is no racism in the government. #lancris2026
The LanCris conference has started! Our presentation tomorrow (with Terttu Nevalainen, Turo Vartiainen and Aatu Liimatta) deals with the acceleration of language change due to crises.
blogs.helsinki.fi/languaging-c...
Sun-kissed start at @languaging-crises.bsky.social
Prof. Hakosalo talks about the role of historians as crisis communicators.
And finally, Dr. Del Fante's plenary focuses on the role of language in understanding crises: is there a common underlying factor in the way language is used to make sense of, understand, and respond to a crisis?
Prof. McEnery (@tonymcenery.bsky.social) will discuss Brexit, taking a long-term view on British discourses about Europe.
Prof. Koskela discusses Rhetorical Arena Theory that provides a lens for analyzing how crisis situations are actively constructed through discourse.
It is the week of the LanCris Conference! We are very excited to hear about new research related to language and crises. #lancris2026
In addition to over 40 paper presentations, we will have four keynote speeches that look at languaging crises from four different perspectives:
We are very excited about our upcoming conference!
The programme has now published on our website. We will have a vast array of talks ranging from environmental crises to pandemics and from global pandemics to more personal crises – and the role of language in these. #lancris2026
Different groups have different needs, meaning that public messaging needs to be curated to address those differing needs.
How to do that efficiently when there is a global pandemic? Research is needed to understand better why different groups may view the same message differently.
New article just out in Discourse & Communication 👇
The LanCris conference is approaching! The abstracts of the plenaries can now be found on our website.
We look forward to seeing you in Helsinki in March!
Interested in studying parliamentary language?
Workshop at the Finnish Conference of Linguistics, University of Eastern Finland:
"Video recordings and transcribed records of parliamentary debates as research data for linguistics and discourse and rhetorical studies"
(Link in comments.) #ktp2026
Our short from video series begins!
The first iteration is about our data: what data can be used to compare three vastly different time periods?
See our blog or follow us on Instagram: (@languaging_crises)
I'm so excited about this conference! 🤩 We've already received many many interesting abstracts, examining language in various types of crises.
If you are interested in participating, you still have two days to submit your abstract!
You still have about two weeks to submit your abstract to our upcoming conference in Helsinki in March, 2026.
Deadline for abstract submission: 31st October, 2025.
A warm welcome to discuss crises and language with us!
So, a right-wing Finnish thinktank just published a populist pamphlet that criticises the funding choices of the Research Council of Finland when they concern humanities and social sciences research, and calls for "useful" research only to be published and for us to 'thin the herd' ourselves 🧵
Call for Papers: Languaging Crises conference in Helsinki in March 2026!
Organized by @languaging-crises.bsky.social
@minneva.bsky.social , @hannalimatius.bsky.social, @jenniraikkonen.fi
Call for Papers for the Languaging Crises conference (4–5 March, 2026) is published!
We warmly welcome you to Helsinki!
Proposal submission deadline: 31 October, 2026
blogs.helsinki.fi/languaging-c...
A lecture by our collaborator Merja Koskela, a professor of Communication Studies at @univaasa.bsky.social, introduces some of the basics of crisis communication. What is a crisis? What is crisis communication? What academic approaches exist for studying crisis communication?
firefighter battles a large blaze with a water hose Photo by Oskar Kadaksoo on Unsplash
We are planning a conference on crisis communication to be held at the University of Helsinki in March 2026.
Stay tuned if you are interested in attending!
@helsinki.fi #crisiscommunication
blogs.helsinki.fi/languaging-c...