Schmidt Delivers European University Institute Keynote on Discourse Analysis
On April 11, 2022, Vivien Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration and Professor of International Relations and Political Science at the Pardee School, delivered a keynote lecture at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.
Schmidt’s presentation, which was the opening lecture for the two-day conference organized by PhD students at the EUI, focused on discourse analysis. In her keynote, Schmidt discussed the epistemological and ontological underpinnings of discourse analysis. She did so by elaborating on her analytic framework of “discursive institutionalism,’” which focuses on the substantive content of ideas and the interactive processes of discourse in an institutional context. Her lecture focused in particular on the historical and philosophical background, in interpretive approaches in political science as well as in the philosophy of science and social science.
Vivien Schmidt is a Professor of International Relations and Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and was the first Director of BU’s Center for the Study of Europe, housed at the Pardee School. Schmidt’s research focuses on European political economy, institutions, democracy, and political theory—in particular on the importance of ideas and discourse in political analysis. Read more about Professor Schmidt on her faculty profile.