Summary
We're delighted to welcome our newest member of the team, Chris Sanderson, who has started his PhD with us this month. In this introductory blog post, Chris discusses his previous research, PhD focus and more...
My name is Chris Sanderson and I’m thrilled to be joining the UKRI-funded Public Discourses of Dementia Project led by Dr Gavin Brookes.
I am a doctoral student here at Lancaster, looking at online representations of dementia and people with dementia. I am particularly interested in looking at how these representations spread on social media, as my key interests include disinformation, amongst others such as corpus research methods, health discourse, critical discourse analysis, argumentation and metaphor.
I have previously investigated some anti-vaccination discourse with the ‘Questioning Vaccination Discourse’ Project team, and seen the different techniques used when spreading this discourse – even surrounding the smallpox vaccine in the 1800s! In the 21st Century of course, there is perhaps a lesser use of leaflets and widely-circulated newsletters, and an increase in social media in engaging the public with this kind of discourse. It is important to highlight that these are not confined to the ‘online world’, but stigmatising online representations of dementia could impact how people are viewed and treated. With the amount of interaction we have with social media in the modern age, I think it will be incredibly interesting and important to see how these interactions can shape the way that key issues, here dementia, are perceived.
This links closely to my other research interests of metaphor and argumentation, as metaphors can impact the way we think about different things in life, and I’m excited to learn from Emma Putland’s insights into the everyday realities of dementia, and the metaphors used to describe both these realities, and misguided perceptions.
Outside of work, I like to get involved with theatre activities, and last year wrote and directed a chaotic play with Lancaster University Theatre Group, called Agent IDK, that involved a cult, chicken drumsticks and Zoom! I love a good walk through nature – but if we do go on a walk be aware that it is more likely to take 3 hours than 15 minutes – and that’s just for me to stop talking!
I am fortunate enough to have come straight from my Undergraduate degree, into a PhD. Whilst this is both daunting and exciting, overall I’m looking forward to these next 3 years with the project, with all of the learning experiences and cutting-edge insights I hope to gain.