Mapping Material Zones: A Multimodal Exploration of Medical Emergencies

Presenter

Dr. Polina Mesinioti (University of York).

Bio

Dr Polina Mesinioti is a sociolinguist employing discourse analysis, ethnography, and multimodal approaches to examine how language and interaction shape healthcare experiences and patient safety outcomes. She is a Lead Researcher on the Response Study at the University of York, a large-scale evaluation of the national patient safety policy. Her research and teaching span medical sociology, sociolinguistics, qualitative methods, and healthcare policy, reflecting a multidisciplinary approach. She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Warwick.

About

Multimodal approaches are gaining traction in health communication research. However, discourse studies have largely prioritised verbal cues, gaze, and gesture, while the role of materiality remains underexplored (De Fina & Georgakopoulou, 2020). Examining the material ecology of healthcare settings through a multimodal lens can offer valuable insights into clinical performance and patient safety.

In this talk, I will present my completed PhD research on the discursive construction of leadership in medical emergencies. By introducing the concept of ‘material zones’, I will show how I analysed healthcare professionals’ engagement with material space and its impact on clinical performance. Additionally, drawing on my recent review (Mesinioti, 2025), I will reflect on the methodological challenges and theoretical implications of applying multimodal discourse approaches in health communication research.

References

De Fina, A., & Georgakopoulou, A. (Eds.). (2020). Discourse Materialities and Embodiment: Introduction. In The Cambridge Handbook of Discourse Studies (pp. 255–370). Cambridge University Press.

Mesinioti, P. (2025). Multimodal discourse analysis in health communication: sketching out the field. Qualitative Health Communication, 4(1), 2–16. https://doi.org/10.7146/qhc.148808