The Power, Language, and Leadership (PL2) Lab is a research lab devoted to understanding the interplay between politics and language. Faculty and students explore how leaders use language, how language shapes identities, and how linguistic choices affect political outcomes. 

Projects

The European Commission:Under the Microscope project analyzes the activities of politicians and officials at the top of the European Union's (EU's) most powerful executive institution. The Commission is notoriously opaque, and this project works to make its processes more visible to the public. PL2 researchers spotlight the language commissioners use, the ways that commissioners carry out their duties, and the tools that commissioners use to navigate the EU's complex, multilevel, and multillingual decision-making environment. 

The EU Values: Under the Microscope  project spotlights and promotes the values that all EU countries (and many EU allies) share. By ratifying the Treaty on European Union, EU member-states commit to respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. Member-states also charge EU institutions with protecting and promoting these same values. PL2 researchers assess the extent to which EU institutions live up to that charge. They also conduct an annual EU values information campaign designed to increase public knowledge of and reflection on EU values. 

The Public Sphere at JMU project examines the ways that campus communities deliberate, debate, direct attention, and form collective identities. PL2 researchers analyze public texts such as the student newspaper, yearbook, and campus-related social media feeds. They identify patterns of continuity and change in the topics discussed, the sentiments expressed, and the identities and dispositions of JMU students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

The Virginia City Street Names project studies the relationships between street names, public memory, and identity. PL2 researchers analyze the street-naming practices of Virginia's 38 independent cities, aiming for breadth, depth, and public resonance. To achieve breadth, they compare how naming practices vary across cities. To achieve depth, they investigate why communities honor some subjects with street names while leaving others unrecognized. And to promote public engagement, they share their findings with local audiences and encourage public relection on the practice and significance of street naming.