Leading Researchers in Discourse, Semiotics, Education, and Social Theory
These individuals and their research collaborators are responsible for developments in discourse analysis, semiotics and multimedia analysis, applications of these areas to education, and general social theory, that I have found particularly valuable in my own research. At any time this list will be incomplete and new additions will be made when possible. The emphasis here is on currently active researchers, with the addition of a few germinal 20th-century theorists. I include myself in the list for completeness. Titles of some key works are listed in Readings, or see the Textual Politics Bibliography page.
Charles BAZERMAN; genre theory, discourse analysis, written scientific discourse; University of California at Santa Barbara, English.
Robert de BEAUGRANDE; discourse linguistics, critical theory; University of Vienna, English and American Linguistics.
Norman FAIRCLOUGH; critical discourse analysis; University of Lancaster (U.K.)
James GEE; applied functional linguistics, language and social issues; University of Wisconsin, Education.
Michael A.K. HALLIDAY; linguistic methods, functional and systemic grammar and semantics, register theory, stylistics, history of scientific language; University of Sydney (emeritus).
Ruqaiya HASAN; linguistic methods, cohesion theory, genre, semantic variation with social class; Macquarie University, Australia (emerita).
Gunther KRESS; language and ideology, social semiotics, media analysis; University of London, Institute of Education.
Theo van LEEUWEN; linguistic and semiotics methods, visual media analysis, multimedia analysis; London School of Printing.
Jay L. LEMKE; discourse semantics, evaluative language, multimedia semiotics, discourse and social dynamics, classroom communication of science; City University of New York, Brooklyn College School of Education.
James R. MARTIN; linguistic methods, genre teaching, discourse resources, attitudinal meaning; University of Sydney, Linguistics.
Elinor OCHS; functional linguistics, discourse analysis, spoken scientific discourse, narrative analysis, conversational analysis; University of California at Los Angeles, Bilingual Education.
Michael SILVERSTEIN; functional linguistics, metapragmatic theory, discourse semantics; University of Chicago, Linguistics.
Ruth WODAK; critical discourse analysis, language and racism, organizational discourse, political language; University of Vienna, Applied Linguistics.
David BLOOME; language at home and school, ethnic diversity and language, literacy education; Vanderbilt University, Education.
Courtney CAZDEN; language development, classroom discourse, literacy education, language and cultural diversity in education; Harvard University, Education (emerita).
Judith GREENE; classroom discourse, language and cultural diversity; University of California at Santa Barbara, Education.
Shirley Brice HEATH; language of school and community, educational ethnography, language and social policy, social history of education; Stanford University, English.
Gordon WELLS; classroom discourse, language and science learning; University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Wolf-Michael ROTH; language and semiotic media in science education; University of Victoria (Canada), Education.
Kay O'HALLORAN; mathematical discourse and symbol systems in education; National University of Singapore, English and Linguistics.
Glenn STILLAR; rhetoric and stylistics, communication linguistics, media analysis; Waterloo University (Canada), Communication.
Paul THIBAULT; systemic-functional linguistics, social semiotics, multimedia analysis; University of Venice, English Studies.
Stanton WORTHAM; functional linguistic methods, educational discourse analysis, discourse and identity; University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education.
Mikhail BAKHTIN; heteroglossia, dialogism, carnival, ventriloquation, literary discourse; literary theorist, worked in Russia 1920s-1950s. Closely related work by V. N. Voloshinov.
Gregory BATESON; meta-discourse, meta-redundancy, meta-learning, schizmogenesis, communication theory, double-bind theory; anthropologist, worked in U.S. and South Pacific in 1940s-70s.
Basil BERNSTEIN; sociology of education, language and social class; has worked in England since 1960s; University of London Institute of Education (emeritus).
Pierre BOURDIEU; habitus, symbolic power, political economy of language, sociology of education, general social theory; has worked in France since 1960s. Centre for Sociological Research, Paris.
Michel FOUCAULT; discursive formations, discourse and social history, discourse and power; worked in France in 1960s-80s.
Clifford GEERTZ; thick description, hermeneutic anthropology, social theory; has worked in U.S., Indonesia, Morocco since 1960s; Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.
Bruno LATOUR; sociology of science and technology, postmodern social theory; has worked in France and U.S. since 1970s; Ecole Normale Superieure de Mines, Paris.
Niklas LUHMANN; social dynamics, discourse and social systems; has worked in Germany since 1960s; University of Bielefeld (emeritus).
Ilya PRIGOGINE; statistical physics, non-linear dynamics, self-organization theory; has worked in Belgium since 1960s; Free University of Brussells.
Lev S. VYGOTSKY; language and intellectual development, social learning theory; worked in Russia in 1920s-30s. Closely related work by A.N. Leontiev, A.R. Luria.