BrainMap

Elena Negrea-Busuioc

- SCOALA NATIONALA DE STUDII POLITICE SI ADMINISTRATIVE

Researcher | Teaching staff | Scientific reviewer

Web of Science ResearcherID: not public

Expertise & keywords

Communicating science to young generations: Metaphors our children learn by Call name: P 1 - SP 1.1 - Proiecte de cercetare pentru stimularea tinerelor echipe independente
PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2019-1300 2020 - 2022

Role in this project: Project coordinator

Coordinating institution: SCOALA NATIONALA DE STUDII POLITICE SI ADMINISTRATIVE

Project partners: SCOALA NATIONALA DE STUDII POLITICE SI ADMINISTRATIVE (RO)

Affiliation: SCOALA NATIONALA DE STUDII POLITICE SI ADMINISTRATIVE (RO)

Project website: https://www.comunicare.ro/en/index.php?page=communicating-science

Abstract:

Metaphors and analogies are key components of human cognition. They occur in all areas of human experience and imply highly sophisticated cognitive processes in which two conceptual domains (a source and a target) are mapped together so that knowledge from the source domain is transferred to the target in a way that inferences can be drawn, and new knowledge arises. It is their capacity to generate new meanings, to evoke new (mental) images that allow us to 'see' things from a different perspective that makes the use of metaphors and analogies indispensable to education, especially to science teaching and learning. Metaphors are efficient and attractive ways to explain abstract ideas in familiar terms, and they provide the basis for understanding core concepts from physics (e.g. light in terms of 'waves'), chemistry (e.g. links between molecules as chemical 'bonding') and biology (e.g. synaptic receptor as 'key-lock mechanism'). This project aims to examine the metaphors and analogies used in Romanian science textbooks for lower secondary education (5th to 8th grade) to explain abstract scientific ideas and to communicate them to students. Furthermore, the project seeks to explore how science metaphors and analogies are understood and misunderstood by young learners and the implications that (mis-) understanding complex scientific ideas might have for students' preparedness to make sense of the world we live in and, ultimately, for their future engagement with and interest in science.

Metaphors of solidarity and diversity in Romanian social studies textbooks Call name:
PN-III-P1-1.1-MCT-2019-0048 2019 - 2019

Role in this project: Project coordinator

Coordinating institution: SCOALA NATIONALA DE STUDII POLITICE SI ADMINISTRATIVE

Project partners: SCOALA NATIONALA DE STUDII POLITICE SI ADMINISTRATIVE ()

Affiliation: SCOALA NATIONALA DE STUDII POLITICE SI ADMINISTRATIVE ()

Project website:

Abstract:

There is widespread recognition of the important role played by metaphors in education, especially in mediating the acquisition of new knowledge (e.g. Cameron 2003, Littlemore 2001, Littlemore & Low 2006). Metaphors provide the means to conceive and explain abstract, complex concepts and to convey these concepts linguistically, visually and in virtually any other mode in the educational process. As multimodal repositories of officially-sanctioned knowledge, school textbooks are at the same time ‘holders’ of abstract ideas that are made available to students through analogies with other (simpler, more concrete) concepts. This research project aims to analyze metaphors of solidarity and diversity in Romanian social studies textbooks for 11- and 12-years-olds. The importance of school textbooks in the construction and reproduction of social norms and values is widely acknowledged and researched (Fuchs & Bock 2018). Assuming that the way in which abstract concepts are represented in textbooks may influence how children understand the world they live in and how they act in this world, we focus on two values that are considered crucial to the European construction: solidarity and diversity. Drawing on qualitative methods of text and image analysis we ask: (1) how these abstractions are made tangible through metaphoric language and visuals in textbooks for children in formative years of their political socialization, and (2) what this may mean for their future as European citizens.

Populist Political Communication in Europe: Comprehending the Challenge of Mediated Political Populism for Democratic Politics Call name:
2014 - 2018

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: Norweigan University of Science and Technology

Project partners: Norweigan University of Science and Technology (RO)

Affiliation: Norweigan University of Science and Technology (RO)

Project website: https://www.ntnu.edu/populistcommunication/populist-political-communication-in-europe

Abstract:

Euroscepticism and populism in the 2014 EU Parliament elections Call name:
2014 - 2015

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: SCOALA NATIONALA DE STUDII POLITICE SI ADMINISTRATIVE

Project partners: SCOALA NATIONALA DE STUDII POLITICE SI ADMINISTRATIVE ()

Affiliation: SCOALA NATIONALA DE STUDII POLITICE SI ADMINISTRATIVE ()

Project website:

Abstract:

Metaphors the Crisis Lives By: An Inquiry Into Metaphorical Framing of the U.S. Financial Crisis (Fulbright Senior Award) Call name:
2013 - 2014

Role in this project: Project coordinator

Coordinating institution: SCOALA NATIONALA DE STUDII POLITICE SI ADMINISTRATIVE

Project partners: SCOALA NATIONALA DE STUDII POLITICE SI ADMINISTRATIVE ()

Affiliation: SCOALA NATIONALA DE STUDII POLITICE SI ADMINISTRATIVE ()

Project website:

Abstract:

Metaphors shape the reality in which we live today. They also facilitate our understanding of this reality by translating complex and abstract issues into simpler and more familiar terms. In light of the cognitive turn in metaphor theory, much scholarly work focuses on the analysis of metaphorical thinking underlying our understanding of politics and economy. Given my professional interests and background, the research I propose has a three-pronged goal: to identify metaphors used in newspapers to frame the U.S. financial crisis, to examine the functions that metaphors had in providing therein alternative framings of the financial crisis and to explore the factors that motivated the U.S. journalists’ choice of particular metaphors to communicate about the topic. I hope that the outcome of my research will impact on further work on metaphor use, discourse analysis and journalism.

FILE DESCRIPTION	DOCUMENT
List of research grants as project coordinator or partner team leader
Significant R&D projects for enterprises, as project manager
R&D activities in enterprises
Peer-review activity for international programs/projects