Browsing by Author "Penedos-Santiago, Eliana"
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- Just between meme and you: online memes as health communication tools in design and media arts higher education curriculaPublication . Alvelos, Heitor; Barreto, Susana; Lima, Cláudia; Penedos-Santiago, Eliana; Pereira, Jorge; Veiga, Pedro AlvesThis study posits that current online trends of mistrust in health policies may be partly overcome through an exploratory employment of memes. It aims at filling a critical gap whereby unexpected communication channels might succeed in addressing subjective bias seemingly immune to fact-based cognitive persuasion channels. We propose that the classroom may be a particularly apt context for this exploration: as part of the core lexica of younger generations, memes may act as pathways to stimulating actual research. Furthermore, by hypothesising that scientific knowledge and policies may incorporate aesthetics and semantics of online media, we aim at unpacking an often polarised debate around health communication – as particularly evident during the recent pandemic. These premises inform a set of assignments under implementation in various higher education Design and Media Arts courses in Portugal; exercises cover a range of approaches to pandemic-related health communication, trust and behaviour, employing visual languages and semantics of memes as a primary mechanism; we aim to create an ambivalence that dilutes expectations of formality and univocal authority, thus facilitating engagement. Assignments include: translation of scientific jargon, unexpected perspectives, before/after dynamics, humour and non-threatening irony, personal testimonies, and random image-text coupling. Visual outcomes and relevant testimonies from participants are currently under validation and will be presented. We further envision a scalability and visibility beyond both the classroom environment and the disciplines in question. The study is developed under the framework of the project “An Infodemic of Disorientation: communication design as mediator between scientific knowledge and cognitive bias.”
- Sci-Bi: an infodemic of disorientationPublication . Alvelos, Heitor; Barreto, Susana; Lima, Cláudia; Penedos-Santiago, Eliana; São Simão, Fátima; Pereira, Jorge; Carneiro, José; Dolbeth, Júlio; Fernandes, Marta; Martins, Nuno; Veiga, Pedro Alves da; Santos, Rui; Vieira, Sónia; RuiRecent years have seen the emergence of two particular challenges to scientific knowledge and application. In both instances, communication design may be underperforming in its potential for contribution: 1. The exponential rise of social media has potentiated an equally exponential range of phenomena such as fake news, pseudo-science and superstition; as seductive, de-centralised, continuously reconfiguring webs, their longevity and adaptability far surpass that of rigorous knowledge. 2. The pandemic and corresponding public policies (confinement and vaccination in particular) seem to have further eroded the already precarious, aforementioned scenario. A range of misinformation channels and content have reached significant sectors of the population, just as media portrayal of the health crisis was largely reduced to statistical extrapolations, and a largely hermetic, prescriptive discourse often lacking in accessibility. Despite current decreases in pandemic levels, issues of mistrust remain and will likely retain an impact in future instances, health-related or otherwise. The above issues have been addressed both through increased technological sophistication of digital tools, and the adoption of logical discourse; however, both seem to have fallen short in tackling the scale and complexity of the phenomena of misinformation.
- Visualizing science: crafting memes in design pedagogyPublication . Barreto, Susana; Alvelos, Heitor; Lima, Cláudia; Carneiro, José; Veiga, Pedro Alves da; Penedos-Santiago, Eliana; Fernandes, Marta; Martins, Nuno; Dolbeth, JúlioThis paper details and analyses the methods and outcomes of nine pedagogical workshops in design courses at Portuguese universities, centered on the unlikely mix of online memes and scientific knowledge. The workshops took place between March and July 2023, were conducted within the exploratory project ‘Sci-Bi: An Infodemic of Disorientation: Communication Design as a Mediator Between Scientific Knowledge and Cognitive Bias.’ The project posits that communication design may play a role in translating and visualizing scientific information in clear, accessible, and engaging manners. An example of this is evident in the creative outputs produced by students, showcasing innovative ways to communicate scientific information. The output of these workshops consisted of infographics, reels, and memes, to be presented to the public for external validation in two forthcoming exhibitions in 2024.