Conferences

This page includes conferences I have presented at and attended.
For each conference, you can read more about my experience and in most cases view the abstract.

Conference Presentations

  • Ford, S. & Guan, Y. (2022). Making cross-cultural meaning in educational smartphone app icons with metonymies and metaphors. Researching and Applying Metaphor (Virtual RaAM), University of Bialystok, Poland, September 2022.
  • Ford, S. (2022). Taking responsibility: The power of figurative communication in sports advertising and its role in tackling social issues of equality and mental health. M4C Research Festival. University of Nottingham, UK, June 2022.
  • Ford, S. (2022). A whistle-stop tour of my PhD thesis on multimodal figurative communication, creativity, and collaboration. Language and Cognitive at the University of Birmingham (LACAB), June 2022.
  • Ford, S. (2022). Taking responsibility: The power of figurative communication in sports advertising and its role in tackling social issues of equality and mental health. Forum for Global Challenges, University of Birmingham, UK, 3rd-5th May 2022. 
  • Turner, S., Littlemore, J., & Ford, S. (2021) Talking Taboos Dialogue Day: Symposium on language-based research on sensitive topics, University of Birmingham, UK, September 2021.
  • Ford, S. (2021). Exploring the use and evolution of figurative creativity in health and fitness brands’ advertising prior to and during the COVID-crisis. Researching and Applying Metaphor (Virtual RaAM), Vilnius University, Lithuania, June 2021. Awarded: Best PhD Presentation Prize, sponsored by John Benjamin’s Publishing.
  • Ford, S. (2020). Exploring the use and evolution of figurative tropes in health and fitness brands’ advertising prior to and during the COVID-19 crisis. 14th International (Virtual) Conference on Researching and Applying Metaphor (VirtualRaAM14), Vilnius University, Lithuania, 23rd-26th 2021.​​
  • Ford, S., Littlemore, J., & Pérez-Sobrino, P. (2020). Applying metaphor theory to social advertising: a real world case study. 5th International Virtual Conference on Figurative Thought and Language (Virtual FTL5), Sofia University, Bulgaria, 29th-31st October 2020. ​
  • Pérez-Sobrino, P. & Fords, S. (2020). What makes a multimodal metaphor? Rethinking an identification protocol of multimodal metaphor and metonymy in advertising. 5th International Virtual Conference on Figurative Thought and Language (Virtual FTL5), Sofia University, Bulgaria, 29th-31st October 2020. 
  • Ford, S., Littlemore, J., & Houghton, D. (2020). Applying metaphor theory to social advertising: The impact of metaphor in a sexual health campaign. M4C Digital Festival. University of Nottingham, UK, 13th -14th July 2020. 
  • Ford, S., Littlemore, J., Houghton, D., & Pérez-Sobrino, P. (2020). Applying metaphor theory to social advertising: A real world case study. UK Cognitive Linguistics Conference Virtual (Virtual UKCLC). University of Birmingham, UK, 25th-29th July 2020.
  • ​​​Littlemore, J., Ford, S., & Pérez-Sobrino, P. (2020). Exploring multimodal metaphor and metonymy in advertising: Reflections on a collaboration between academics and creative practitioners. Virtual Researching and Applying Metaphor (Virtual RaAM), INN’s Faculty of Education, Hamar, Norway, 18th -21st June 2020.
  • Pérez-Sobrino, P. & Ford, S. (2020). What counts as a multimodal metaphor (and metonymy)? Evolution of inter-rater reliability and agreement within and across seven rounds of adverts annotation. Virtual Researching and Applying Metaphor (Virtual RaAM), INN’s Faculty of Education, Hamar, Norway, 18th -21st June 2020.​
  • Ford, S., Winter, B., & Littlemore, J. (2019). The figurative visual language of virtual product design: The semiotics of colour and shape in smartphone app icons. Metaphor Festival, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 27th-30th June 2018.
  • Ford, S. (2019). The visual language of virtual product design: The semiotics of colour and shape in smartphone app icons. Birmingham English Language Postgraduate Conference (BELP), University of Birmingham, UK, 6th April 2019.
  • Ford, S., Pérez-Sobrino, P., & Winter, B. (2018). “Surf on 4-inch stilettos”: Multimodal Metaphor and Metonymy in Mobile Phone Advertising. Researching and Applying Metaphor (RaAM), Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, 27th-30th June 2018. 
  • ​​​Ford, S. (2018). How companies communicate to consumers using the visual language of smartphone app design. Postgraduate Research Poster Conference, University of Birmingham, UK, 13th June 2018. Poster presentation.
  • Ford, S., Pérez-Sobrino, P., & Winter, B. (2018). “Surf on 4-inch stilettos”: Multimodal Metaphor and Metonymy in Mobile Phone Advertising. Birmingham English Language Postgraduate Conference (BELP), University of Birmingham, UK, 6th April 2018.
  • ​Ford, S. (2017). How do likes and reactions as interactional features posted on Facebook status updates posted in 2016 extend narrative evaluation? Undergraduate Linguistics Association of Britain (ULAB). Cambridge University, UK, 7th-9th April 2017.​

Invited talks:

  • Ford, S. & Woodin, G. (2020). Metaphor in language and thought. English Language Conference for A Level English Language students, Worcester Racecourse, UK, 9th March 2020.
  • Ford, S. (2019). Visual language in advertising: An academic and practitioner perspective. Birmingham Business School, Marketing BA lecture, University of Birmingham, UK, 30th October 2019.
  • Ford, S. (2017). How do likes and reactions operate as interpersonal politeness strategies when evaluating Facebook status updates posted in 2016? 10th International Symposium of Politeness (SymPol10), York St. John University, York, UK, 12th-14th July 2017.

Attended

  • Birmingham English Language Postgraduate Conference, 29th April 2022
  • ​King’s College Open Science Research Conference, 11th June 2020
  • ReproducibiliTEA Virtual Meeting: How can ECRs influence research culture and integrity? University of Surrey, 29th May 2020
  • ​Statistics for Linguists Summer School, University of Birmingham, 17th-21st June 2019; Attended as Events Ambassador and delegate
  • Creative Power of Metaphor, University of Oxford, UK, 29th-30th March 2019
  • Statistics for Linguists Summer School, University of Birmingham, 4th-8th June 2018; Attended as Events Ambassador and delegate, learning about statistical analysis using R software and coding
  • Colour and Form in the Disordered Mind, University of Birmingham, UK, 3rd-4th May 2018
  • Public Engagement Day, 17th April 2018, University of Birmingham, UK
  • Cognitive Approaches to Language in Education, University of Glasgow, UK, 18th-19th January 2018; Contributed to Maths, Music, and Metaphor presentation by Professor Jeannette Littlemore through UGRS (Undergraduate Research Scholarship)
  • ​Corpus Linguistics Summer School, University of Birmingham, UK, 17th-21st July 2017; Attended as Events Ambassador and delegate, working with corpus software including 'R', CPQ, WordSmith, and Notepad++ to create macro commands