Cycle: XXXVIII

PhD student: Laura Pinna

Role: R1 - First Stage Researcher

Supervisor: Prof.ssa Claudia Secci, Prof. Giovanni Bonaiuti

I am a PhD student in Philosophy of Language at the University of Cagliari, working on a thesis on inclusive verbal-visual language in institutional communication. My research examines how institutions address linguistic inclusivity in public discourse, analysing both theoretical foundations and practical applications of language policies. I adopt an interdisciplinary approach, integrating insights from linguistics, media studies, and visual communication.

My research investigates the role of inclusive language — both verbal and visual — in institutional communication, with a particular focus on its performative, reiterative, and reproducible dimensions. Through the integration of perspectives from philosophy of language, aesthetics, and visual studies, my research aims to build a critical framework for analysing how institutions construct meaning through both text and image, and outline strategies to develop more inclusive linguistic and visual practices capable of challenging entrenched discursive patterns and generating new modes of representation.

My study is grounded in Judith Butler’s theory of performativity and the theories of metaphorical language developed by George Lakoff, Mark Johnson (CMT), and Max Black, and it explores how linguistic and visual metaphors contribute to processes of self-identification and self-perception in the recipients of institutional discourse. Furthermore, my research draws on Marshall McLuhan’s insights into media as message, my research examines how digital media, as dominant contemporary communicative platforms, shape and disseminate inclusive or exclusionary discourses. The study pays particular attention to the representation of disability, gender, and minority groups, highlighting how communicative practices often originate from perspectives external to these communities. This raises concerns regarding stereotyping, the reproduction of biases, and the perpetuation of exclusionary narratives. Therefore, the thesis examines in particular how metaphors, both verbal and visual, are employed within institutional communication and public administration discourses, assessing their impact on audience reception and the co-construction of meaning. As contemporary media increasingly rely on multimodal strategies, my research also considers how digital platforms and new media environments influence the ways in which institutional messages are received, reinterpreted, and shared.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research interests lie in the intersection of visual culture, communication, and inclusivity, with a keen focus on how images shape understanding and perception. I examine visual metaphors and the role of colour in meaning-making, particularly in relation to gender and disability. My work is solidly rooted in theories of the image, and engages with film studies and expanded cinema, considering how moving images challenge conventional narratives and representations. Through the integration of these perspectives, I aim at contributing to a more inclusive approach to visual communication.

Title: 

From the educational governance of institutions to the context of the 0-6 integrated education system: the educational challenge comes from the little ones.

Keywords:

Education, Participation, Childhood, Politics, Space, Institutions.

Brief presentation of the research topic. The research project aims to investigate the educational governance[1] processes underlying the changes in educational services aimed at early and second childhood. The aim is to identify in the transformations taking place the elements that characterize the new and evolutionary perspective of investment in childhood. The interdisciplinary focus on the profitability of an investment in childhood, envisaged by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), requires the identification of research processes on the policies activated by governance in relation to the educational and heuristic potential of educational realities and not only in the direction of the cognitive stimulation of boys and girls and/or the training of their families

The research questions. Do the processes of educational governance - local- national and international - propose new and innovative cultural impulses in the design and care of educational spaces, in listening to children's ideas and their educational value?

Actions.

A. case study on the activation of participatory processes within institutions as educational and school communities: which and how many investments are implemented with respect to the processes of reception, understanding, negotiation and comparison, enhancement of childhood.

B. analysis of educational governance policies (both public and private) on their objectives of building the educating community.

C. experimentation of new and possible participation paths aimed at building a culture of childhood with and for children.

[1] Reference is made here to the concept of multi-level governance as understood in the White Paper of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union in 2009: coordinated action by the Union, the Member States and regional and local authorities based on partnership and aimed at defining and implementing EU policies. This mode of governance implies the shared responsibility of the different levels of power involved and is based on all sources of democratic legitimacy and the representativeness of the different actors involved, to multi-level governance understood as coordinated action by the Union, the Member States and regional and local authorities based on partnership and aimed at defining and implementing EU policies. This mode of governance implies the shared responsibility of the different levels of power involved and is based on all sources of democratic legitimacy and the representativeness of the different actors involved. https://webapi2016.cor.europa.eu .