Institute Fellow: Religion, Arts and Peacebuilding, Dr Jocelyn Dautel featured in a recent Stories of Impact Podcast where she discussed her research collaboration into how Northern Ireland’s past continues to impact the way young people consume and share “truths” about their nation’s history.  Researchers are hopeful that if Northern Ireland can evolve beyond sectarian division, the country — and its youth — could serve as a global model of peace and reconciliation.

 

 

In the programme of research on ‘Communicating ‘Truth:’ Consumption and transmission of polarized information amongst young people in a divided society’ researchers integrate paradigms from cultural evolution and social learning to investigate how young people evaluate the credibility of information in divided societies, including how they seek and share information. They use mixed-methods to investigate dynamic influences within broader socio-ecological systems, exploring interpersonal, structural and cultural influences on information transmission and belief revision amongst young people in Northern Ireland. In the recent Stories of Impact Podcast, they discuss how Northern Ireland’s past continues to impact the way young people consume and share “truths” about their nation’s history. Researchers are hopeful that if Northern Ireland can to evolve beyond sectarian division, the country — and its youth — could serve as a global model of peace and reconciliation.

This programme of research is funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation and is conducted by an international and multidisciplinary team of researchers including Mariah Kornbluh (University of Oregon), Jing Xu (University of Seattle Washington), Bethany Corbett (Ulster University), Eva Grew (Queen’s University Belfast), Lara Wood (Abertay University), Christin Schulz (University of Amsterdam), Jennifer Watling Neal (Michigan State University), Kathleen Corriveau (Boston University) and Emma Flynn (Warwick University).