→ rdfs:label → "WSI New Directions Research Talk | Disaster of Division"^^xsd:string
→ dcterms:description → "<p>Web Science Institute New Directions Research Talk ("WSI Salon")<br />Tuesday, 22 April 2025, 14:00 – 15:00<br /><a href="https://campusmaps.soton.ac.uk/?zlevel=2&center=-1.394800%2C50.934767&zoom=21&campusid=677&sharepoitype=poi&sharepoi=1000642529">28/2049</a> and on Teams<br />Host: Prof Thomas Irvine, Deputy Director, Web Science Insitute</p><p>Disaster of Division</p><p>In the run-up to the 2024 U.S. elections, disinformation narratives emerged in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which wreaked havoc on communities in the mountains of North Carolina. A false claim that federal authorities planned to bulldoze storm-affected communities and seize land gained traction through a confluence of social media influencers (including Elon Musk) and disinformation networks based outside the United States. This case offers insight into the evolving role of climate-related conspiracy theories, including geoengineering fears, as potent vectors of social and political polarization. It underscores the increasing sophistication of disinformation campaigns and their ability to manipulate crisis events to shape public sentiment and policy debates.</p><p>The presentation will conclude with a discussion of emerging research on the visualization of climate information and its role in countering disinformation. It considers how data-driven narratives can help rebuild trust in evidence-based climate discourse in an era of contested facts, as well as new directions for addressing an eternal problem. </p><p><i>Biography</i></p><p>Bryan Giemza is Professor of Humanities and Literature in the Honors College at Texas Tech University and current US Fulbright Scholar. He teaches courses on publicly engaged scholarship, AI, and divisive communications, and has been researching climate and informational citizenship in a global north/south context as part of the <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://infocitizen.eu/%23/home&data=05%7C02%7CC.L.Wilkins%40soton.ac.uk%7Ce2dd885e19514e73378608dd7c1f0b14%7C4a5378f929f44d3ebe89669d03ada9d8%7C0%7C0%7C638803194942689817%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=9/mu05a0CtQi4hFHyK119MyDFRMy2sF4AqcJuOAc43c%3D&reserved=0">InfoCitizen</a> team at the University of Antwerp’s Institute of Development Policy. </p><p>This talk, by a Humanities scholar who works across disciplinary boundaries on socio-technical aspects of climate disinformation, is a hybrid event. Come in person to <a href="https://campusmaps.soton.ac.uk/?zlevel=2&center=-1.394800%2C50.934767&zoom=21&campusid=677&sharepoitype=poi&sharepoi=1000642529">28/2049</a> (Music annex behind the Hartley Library) or join us on Teams at <a href="https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19:meeting_MjQzNzBiOTUtNzU0Yy00YjI5LTgzMGMtMjJkNTJiZGNkMDk2%40thread.v2/0?context=%7B%22Tid%22:%224a5378f9-29f4-4d3e-be89-669d03ada9d8%22%2C%22Oid%22:%220eca4789-56bd-4466-b37b-d8d1cc0b661e%22%7D">this link</a> from 14:00. All are welcome!</p>"^^http://purl.org/xtypes/Fragment-XHTML