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79369-01 - Research seminar: Branding of Care: Health Insurance Campaigns (4 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Miriam Locher (miriam.locher@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | In this course we will explore the linguistic strategies employed by health insurance companies to create a trustworthy image that evokes expertise and care, which, ultimately, should lead to customer loyalty. We will discuss key insights from the literature on health communication, branding and persuasion and apply these to data of our own. Students will work on health insurance campaigns in social media, Internet websites and billboards and present small research projects on linguistic and multimodal branding strategies in class. |
| Learning objectives | At the end of this course, students should (1) know and can apply the introduced key terminology of the field of linguistic health communication to data, (2) have acquired knowledge about the affordances of different media outlets that affect health communication, (3) have read the assigned texts critically, and judged the introduced studies with respect to the methods employed. |
| Bibliography | Texts from linguistics and the branding literature will be made available in the ADAM course folder. |
| Weblink | ADAM |
| Admission requirements | Students in the MA English and MA Language and Communication. |
| Course application | Please register for this course in ADAM: https://adam.unibas.ch/goto_adam_crs_1623802.html. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Monday | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 14.09.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Monday 21.09.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Monday 28.09.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Monday 05.10.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Monday 12.10.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Monday 19.10.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Monday 26.10.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Monday 02.11.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Monday 09.11.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Monday 16.11.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Monday 23.11.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Monday 30.11.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Monday 07.12.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Monday 14.12.2026 | 12.15-14.00 | Nadelberg 6, Raum 11 |
| Modules |
Modul: English Linguistics (Master's degree subject: English) Modul: Research in English Linguistics (Master's degree subject: English) Module: Language as Process (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) Module: Research and Extension (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Englische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft |