Australian Systemic Functional Linguistics Association Incorporated
Semiotics of Peace, Compassion and Empathy SIG
The Special Interest Group is home to a diverse group of enthusiastic scholars, citizen linguists, teachers and students, working within the tradition of systemic functional semiotics. We collectively seek to understand, promote and raise awareness of the specific functions of language and other semiotic resources to express peace, compassion and empathy in everyday life and in other theatres of social engagement.
For media inquiries or those seeking professional and research-based insights from the Special Interest Group, please get in touch with the SIG Convenor, Adjunct Professor Dr Elizabeth Thomson, who can be reached via email at ethomson15@gmail.com. She is available to provide expert commentary, resources, and engage in discussions on topics related to peace, compassion and empathy, and the group’s current initiatives. If needed, Dr Thomson can also direct you to other experts within the SIG for further expertise.
Our next webinar is on Thursday 1 May 2025 (4 to 5 pm, Australian Eastern Standard Time) by Zoom
* UTC 6 am | Jakarta 1 pm | Hong Kong 2 pm | Auckland 6 pm
SPCE – James Martin – title to be advised
Speaker: Professor J R Martin, University of Sydney
Abstract: to come
(The PCE SIG wishes to acknowledge Professor Jim Martin and his foundational thinking on positive discourse analysis, first published in his 2004 article ‘Positive Discourse Analysis: Solidarity and change’, Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses, 49:179-200, that makes this work of the SIG possible.)
Professor Jim Martin
Biography: J R Martin is Professor of Linguistics (Personal Chair) at the University of Sydney. Professor Martin was elected a fellow the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1998, and awarded a Centenary Medal for his services to Linguistics and Philology in 2003.
Our next general SIG meeting will be held on Thursday 20 February 2025 at 4 pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time.
2025 SIG Committee
SIG Convenor: Dr Elizabeth Thomson, Adjunct Professor, University of Wollongong
Publications officer: Dr Ingrid Wijeyewardene, University of New England
Research Communication and Social Media officer, Dr Awni Etaywe, Charles Darwin University
Our work in progress
Special Issue: The Social Semiotics of Peace, Compassion and Empathy. The Editorial Committee of the SPCE-SIG is pleased to announce that a special issue on the social semiotics of peace, compassion and empathy has been published in the journal Language, Context and Text, special issue 6.1.
By adding to the interdisciplinary research into online and offline communication, the special issue aims to stimulate discussion on how the different areas of SFL theory and related disciplines have been applied, adapted, and/or extended to explore texts within this field of discourse.
ISFC49 Conference: Great to meet with so many old friends and new faces at the 49th International Systemic Functional Congress, which had the theme of Harmony, Compassion and Empowerment. SIG leaders A/Prof Elizabeth Thomson and Dr Awni Etaywe provided keynotes for the first two days of the Congress:
Empathic listening as a resource for enriching life: A systemic functional perspective (Thomson)
Navigating compassion development in digital activism through moral affiliation enactivism (Etaywe)
Members of the SIG presented as part of the colloquium organsied by A/Profs Daniel Fryer (SIG member) and Shoshana Dreyfus, ‘Linguistics as social action: SFL scholar-activism’ on day 3 (3 July 2024) of the International Systemic Functional Congress.
We heard papers on:
Letters to government that are successful in bringing about change (Dreyfus & Han);
Bearing witness: social semiotic perspectives on animal vigils outside slaughterhouses (Fryer); and
Perspectives on compassion in digital activism: Ideal victim orsystemic compassion (Etaywe & Wheeler).
SPCE Reading Group and Webinars
Do you have a topic you would like to present to our group? Proposals welcome any time for roughly quarterly webinar or reading group sessions during 2025.
Action and activism: disentangling and critiquing empathy and compassion (Gruen 2013; Curtin 2022)
6/10/2023
A/Prof Elizabeth Thomson
Empathic listening as a social semiotic practice in the tradition of Nonviolent Communication: An analysis of choices in thematic progression and information structure (Rosenberg 2015)
Webinars / reading groups conducted in 2022
Date
Hosted by
Topic
24/06/2022
Awni Etaywe
‘Compassion’ and the development of compassion (Bandura, 2016)
12/08/2022
Dr Elizabeth Thomson
Working towards a Systemic Functional description of the word ’empathy‘ (Pounds, 2010)
We are keen to connect with research that aims to use, critique and develop our understanding of the social semiotics of peace, compassion and empathy within the tradition of Systemic Functional Linguistics. Here are some recent events where SPCE topics were featured.
To empower and improve all lives, we examine and celebrate the semiotics of peace, compassion and empathy through collaboration and research, teaching and training.
Mission Statement
To realise our vision, we will:
Identify, analyse and instantiate genres of peace, compassion and empathy – by, for example, reading, discussing and creating texts in different professional, disciplinary and community contexts
Share our findings on the semiotics of peace, compassion and empathy – through research, conference sessions, special issues, community outreach and other means of dissemination
Apply our findings to inform the development of curricula, courses, and training resources oriented towards the language and other semiotic resources of peace, compassion and empathy and mentor junior researchers and teachers in the implementation of these resources.
Extend and help resource the work on meaning-making practices and the communication of peace, compassion and empathy – by, for example, mentoring junior colleagues, researchers, students, and communities in writing grant proposals; conducting linguistic/discourse/semiotic analyses; collaborating in research projects; hosting reading–writing groups
Connect and collaborate with other disciplines, groups, organisations, and communities of practice that practise, research and promote peace, compassion and empathy
Provide professional commentary on matters relevant to public discourses of peace and compassion.
Glossary
We are working towards a linguistic description and definition of each of these terms.
Statement: Towards sustainable development goals: The members of the SPCE SIG dedicate this work towards the achievement of the United Nations’ sustainable development goal number 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
