[Air-L] Online Seminar Series of the Data Methods Initiative

[Marcel Garz]

The Data Methods Initiative (https://datamethodsinitiative.org/) is a collaborative academic group committed to promoting the use of computational methods (e.g., deep learning, natural language processing, computer vision) in political science, communications, internet research, and other disciplines.
Next talk: "Hierarchies of Meaning: Mapping the Semantic Architecture of Corporate Biodiversity Discourse" by Fredrik Svahn (University of Gothenburg) on December 3, 1:15 - 2:45 pm CET, on Zoom: https://ju-se.zoom.us/j/67448948642
This introduces a methodological framework for constructing hierarchies of meaning within corporate biodiversity discourse. In this session, Fredrik examines how small semantic units can be grouped into coherent clusters, how those clusters form higher-level themes, and how these layers together reveal the architecture of firms' biodiversity talk across industries and time. The seminar discusses the value of multi-level semantic modeling for identifying underlying logics, such as the emphasis on metrics over governance, and for comparing emergent discourse patterns with the expectations set by frameworks like the TNFD. The focus is on what these computational steps make analytically visible and how they support research on sustainability communication, institutional dynamics, and digital trace data.