Please join us for an invited talk by Dr. Christin Scholz, University of Amsterdam on ‘(Un)biased processing and handling of polarized information between the pressures of personal beliefs and social influence.’ Christin Scholz is an Assistant Professor at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) at the University of Amsterdam. She is interested in the social life of persuasive media messages and its effects on health and societally beneficial behaviors in individuals and large populations. To understand the complex interplay between social forces and message effects, she tailors multi-methodological approaches including neuroscientific methods like fMRI and social science techniques such as observational geolocation tracking, field experimentation, and survey methods to capture both detailed psychological mechanisms and real-world behavior. Dr. Scholz also collaborates on a Templeton World Charity Foundation project with Dr. Jocelyn Dautel, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology on Communicating ‘truth:’ Consumption and transmission of polarized information amongst young people in a divided society.

Following the talk, we will hold a roundtable discussion led by Mitchell Institute Fellow: Religion, Arts and Peacebuilding, Dr. Jocelyn Dautel, on avenues toward multidisciplinary, cross-institutional study of polarisation and its antidotes. We aim to network and foster collaborative grant applications amongst researchers working on the research priority area of Polarization across institutions. Also joining us is Professor Jessica Piotrowski, University of Amsterdam, who studies individual and socio-cultural differences influence children’s media selection, use, processing, and subsequent effects, with a particular focus on the contexts that support young people’s experiences with digital media. We welcome anyone interested in this research area to join and contribute.

Coffee/tea will be provided.