The Public Discourse project of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) at the University of Navarra organized, together with the international network DiscourseNet, the 17^th International DiscourseNet Conference. This year the conference focused on "Criticism and reflexivity in discourse".

The conference, held March 16-18, served as a meeting place for researchers interested in both the role of reflexivity and criticism in the study of discourse and the role both play in various social realities.

The conference aimed to discuss the different ways in which reflexivity and criticism can be used to significantly mold individuals themselves, discourse and societies. Discourse plays a powerful role in shaping who and what we are, influencing the individual's subjective experience vis-à-vis reality.

Invited speakers included Jan Blommaert, professor of language, culture and globalization and director of the Babylon Centre at the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands, Johannes Angermüller, professor of discourse at the Center for Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, Marianne Winther-Jørgensen, professor of culture, society and media production within the Department of Social Change and Culture Studies at Linköping University in Sweden, and Ramon Reichert, professor of new media studies and digital culture within the Theatre, Film and Media Studies Department at the University of Vienna.

DiscurseNet Spring School

From March 21-24, the Institute for Culture and Society also hosted the second edition of DiscourseNet Spring School, which this year addressed the critical use of qualitative, quantitative and mixed software for discourse studies.

The Spring School aimed to explore and experience the possibilities and limitations of using software in discourse-related research. It thus sought to promote understanding and critical awareness of the ways in which software may (or may not) be used in this interdisciplinary field of research.

The conference included researchers from fields related to linguistics, literature, ethnography, communication, anthropology, and political science interested in the critical perspectives of discourse, ethnology and discourse analysis.