CRRES Director Dr. Dina Okamoto is one of two IU recipients funded by the Russell Sage Foundation (RSF). Dr. Okamoto's project looks at political speeches captured in the U.S. Congressional Record from 1930 to 2020 and analyzes the language politicians use to "other" immigrant populations. Along with collaborators Tamara van der Does (former IU graduate student) and Mirta Galesic at the Santa Fe Institute, Dr. Okamoto will conduct a study on boundary rhetoric, the language used to create distinctions between groups.
In an interview, Dr. Okamoto discussed the importance of understanding how language creates (or reinforces) boundaries. "The language we use matters in how individuals and groups are understood...
In the U.S., public debate is fraught with discussions about ‘us’ versus ‘them’, where ‘us’ is often defined as white Americans. The language used to separate ‘us’ and ‘them’ is what we call boundary rhetoric, and it is not without consequences.”