Candidacy statement for the position of Vice President for the Americas by GRACIELA PARDO ABRIL (second mandate as bureau member)

Doctor in Hispanic Linguistics, Master in Hispanic Linguistics and Master in Educational Administration and Supervision. She has worked for more than 40 years visiting different universities in Colombia, Latin America and Europe. She is Full Professor at the Department of Linguistics of the National University of Colombia and a researcher linked to the Institute of Communication and Culture Studies (IECO) of the same University. She is an Emeritus Researcher and coordinator of the Colombian Group for Media Discourse Analysis (category A Minciencias). She is also member of the Latin American Network of Multimodality Studies (REDLEM).

She has been country coordinator for international research projects such as Questioning Traumatic Heritage: Spaces of Memory in Europe, Argentina, Colombia (SPEME)-H2020- EU: 778044; The construction of the multimodal discourse of poverty in Colombian digital media: semiotics and cognition (National University of Colombia – University of Heidelberg

– Procol); Poverty, language and media: the cases of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico (POLAME) – Project RCN227187. She is the current Vice President for the Americas (2019-2024) of the IASS-AIS. She was president of the Latin American Federation of Semiotics (FELS 2012-2017) and currently holds the position of Scientific Director in the same organization. In addition, she is part of the Latin American Association of Discourse Studies (ALED).

Her research focuses on the fields of multimodal and multimedia critical discourse studies (MMCDS), and communication and culture. Her recent publications include:

Pardo Abril, N. G. (ed.) (2024). Procesos de memoria en América Latina y el Caribe.

Bogotá: Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

Loureda, Ó. and Pardo Abril, N. G. (eds.) (2024). Discurso, medios de comunicación y pobreza en clave latinoamericana. Sevilla: Universidad de Sevilla.

Zullo, J. and Pardo Abril, N. G. (2024). Discurso político de campaña en los mass media: aproximación multimodal y multimedial. In. L. Vásquez-Rocca, D. Manghi y C. Pérez Arredondo (eds.), Miradas latinoamericanas sobre multimodalidad. Trayectorias, análisis y metodologías, 337-378. RiL Editores.

Pardo Abril, N. G. (2023). Paolo Fabbri in America Latina. Strategie nel linguaggio. E| C, (39), 304-319.

Pardo Abril, N. G. (2023). A semiotic-discursive insight into short videos on memory and peace: A case on social media. Chinese Semiotic Studies, 19(1), 137-159.

Pardo Abril, N. G. (2022). Narrativas visuales en el paisaje semiótico urbano para construir memoria colectiva. Ágora Filosófica, 22 (1), 19-45.

Pardo Abril, N. G. (2021). Production sémiotico-discursive de la peur: les récits sur la pauvreté et le développement dans la presse colombienne. In: Donot, M., Samouth, E., Serrano, Y. (eds). Les médias en Amérique latine: dire et construire l’actualité latino-américaine. París: L’Harmattan.

Pardo Abril, N. G. (2021). El hablar como práctica social. In Loureda, O.; Schrott, A. (eds.), Manual de lingüística del hablar, 28, 95. De Gruyter.

The work proposal for the following years includes the following lines of action:

1. Promotion and dissemination of Latin American scientific production in disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary fields, involving the development of Semiotics and its applications.
2. Creation and reinforcement of national Semiotics associations in the Americas, encouraging the most vulnerable countries in the region to participate.
3. Support for the organization of national congresses in the countries of the Americas, with the aim of fostering intra-regional dialogue and exchange and promoting Semiotics as a field of study at a regional level.
4. Encouragement of the participation in the IASS of national associations and researchers from all the countries of the continent.
5. Communication of the decisions and proposals of the IASS Board of Directors relevant to researchers in the Americas.
6. Contribution to the academic cooperation links that guarantee the formation of North- South and South-South networks, in order to promote the production of scientific knowledge and the positioning of Semiotics in those regions or countries where it has low impact.
7. Visibilization through the IASS website and other available media resources of the activities (publications, congresses, postgraduate courses, seminars, etc.) carried out for the Americas.
8. Advocacy for the participation of young researchers and postgraduate students in IASS activities and promotion of dialogue and intergenerational knowledge transfer.
9. Cooperation between the IASS and Semiotics organizations and associations operating in the continent, in order to spur the construction of academic ties.