My main research interests are professional and medical communication. I am particularly interested in leadership, and the crucial role that communication plays in leadership performance. I have researched and published widely on various aspects of leadership discourse, gender, the multiple functions and strategic uses of humour, politeness and impoliteness, identity construction, the role of culture, decision making and advice giving, and other aspects of workplace discourse in a range of professional and medical contexts.
I welcome applications for PhD research in any of these areas.
I am currently involved in several research projects. Together with colleagues from the Department of Politics and International Studies and Malcolm MacDonald from CAL, I am working on a project on 'Crisis Leadership in Global Governance.
Together with Olga Zayts from the University of Hong Kong, I am engaged in research on 'Exploring the role of culture in Leadership Discourse' and on 'Telegentic Counselling in Hong Kong'.
I am a member of the convening group of the GRP Global Governance and an ordinary member of the GRP International Development. I also participate in the PAD and WACC research groups at CAL.
I am originally from Germany but have lived and worked in different countries for more than 10 years. Before joining CAL in 2009 I lived in Hong Kong for three years where I worked at The University of Hong Kong. I got my PhD from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Schroeder, Andreas. A critical reflection of current trends in discourse analytical research on leadership across disciplines. A call for a more engaging dialogue. Leadership
- Schnurr, Stephanie, File, Kieran A., Clayton, Daniel, Stavridou, Anastasia, Wolfers, Solvejg, 2021. Exploring the processes of emergent leadership in a netball team. Providing empirical evidence through discourse analysis. Discourse and Communication, 15 (1)
- Weetman, Katharine, Dale, Jeremy, Spencer, Rachel, Scott, Emma, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2020. GP perspectives on hospital discharge letters: an interview and focus group study. BJGP Open
- Weetman, Katherine, Wong, Geoffrey, Scott, Emma, MacKenzie, Eilidh, Schnurr, Stephanie, Dale, Jeremy, 2019. Improving best practice for patients receiving hospital discharge letters : a realist review. BMJ Open, 9 (6)
- Weetman, Katharine, Dale, Jeremy, Scott, Emma, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2019. The discharge communication study : research protocol for a mixed methods study to investigate and triangulate discharge communication experiences of patients, GPs, and hospital professionals, alongside a corresponding discharge letter sample. BMC Health Services Research, 19 (1)
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Zayts, Olga, Schroeder, Andreas, Le Hoyte-Hopkins, Catherine, 2019. ?It's not acceptable for the husband to stay at home?. Taking a discourse analytical approach to capture the gendering of work. Gender, Work and Organization
- File, Kieran A., Schnurr, Stephanie, 2018. That match was ?a bit like losing your virginity?. Failed humour, face and identity construction in TV interviews with professional athletes and coaches. Journal of Pragmatics
- File, Kieran A., Schnurr, Stephanie, 2018. That match was ?a bit like losing your virginity?. Failed humour, face and identity construction in TV interviews with professional athletes and coaches. Journal of Pragmatics
- Van De Mieroop, Dorien, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2018. Candidates' humour and the construction of co-membership in job interviews. Language & Communication: an interdisciplinary journal
- Weetman, Katherine, Wong, Geoffrey, Scott, Emma, Schnurr, Stephanie, Dale, Jeremy, 2017. Improving best practice for patients receiving hospital discharge letters : a realist review protocol. BMJ Open, 7, pp. 1-7
- Wolfers, Solvejg, File, Kieran A., Schnurr, Stephanie, 2017. Just because he's black? : identity construction and racial humour in a German U-19 football team. Journal of Pragmatics, 112, pp. 83-96
- Weetman, Katharine, Wong, Geoffrey, Scott, Emma, Schnurr, Stephanie, Dale, Jeremy, 2017. Improving best practice for patients receiving hospital discharge letters: a realist review protocol. BMJ Open, 7 (11)
- Chimbwete-Phiri, Rachel, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2017. Negotiating knowledge and creating solidarity : humour in antenatal counselling sessions at a rural hospital in Malawi. Lingua
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Zayts, Olga, Hopkins, Catherine, 2016. Challenging hegemonic femininities? The discourse of trailing spouses in Hong Kong. Language in Society, 45 (4), pp. 533-555
- Choi, Seongsook, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2016. Enacting and negotiating power relations through teasing in distributed leadership constellations. Pragmatics & Society, 7 (3), pp. 482-502
- Zayts, Olga, Sarangi, Srikant, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2016. The management of diagnostic uncertainty and decision-making in genetics case conferences. Communication & Medicine, 13 (1), pp. 37-50
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Wharton, Sue, Alansari, Suha, Angouri, Jo, Chimbwete Phiri, Rachel, Chiriatti, Teresa, Debray, Carolin, Efthymiadou, Christina, Hah, Sixian, Harrison, Tilly, Kedve?, Ana, Khamkhien, Attapol, Kim, Kyoung-mi, Mohd Omar, Nor Azikin, Nguyen, Thi Hong Nhung, Reissner-Roubicek, Sophie, 2016. Not so ?innocent' after all? : exploring corporate identity construction online. Discourse and Communication, 10 (3), pp. 291-313
- MacDonald, Malcolm, Homolar, Alexandra, Rethel, Lena, Schnurr, Stephanie, Vessey, Rachelle, 2015. Manufacturing dissent : the discursive formation of nuclear proliferation (2006-2012). Discourse and Communication, 9 (2), pp. 173-197
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Homolar, Alexandra, MacDonald, Malcolm, Rethel, Lena, 2015. Legitimizing claims for 'crisis' leadership in global governance. Critical Discourse Studies, 12 (2), pp. 187-205
- Choi, Seongsook, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2014. Exploring distributed leadership : solving disagreements and negotiating consensus in a 'leaderless' team. Discourse Studies, 16 (1), pp. 3-24
- Zayts, Olga, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2014. More than ?information provider' and ?counselor? : constructing and negotiating roles and identities of nurses in genetic counseling sessions. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 18 (3), pp. 345-369
- van de Mieroop, Dorien, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2014. Negotiating meaning and constructing institutionalisable answers : leadership through gate-keeping in performance appraisal interviews. Journal of Pragmatics, 67, pp. 1-16
- Schnurr, Stephanie, van de Mieroop, Dorien, Zayts, Olga, 2014. Positioning oneself in relation to larger collectivities in expatriates' workplace narratives. Narrative Inquiry, 24 (2), pp. 386-407
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Zayts, Olga, 2013. ?I can't remember them ever not doing what I tell them!? : Negotiating face and power relations in ?upward' refusals in multicultural workplaces in Hong Kong. Intercultural Pragmatics, 10 (4), pp. 593-616
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Zayts, Olga, 2013. ?[She] said : ?take the test' and I took the test?. Relational work as a framework to approach directiveness in prenatal screening of Chinese clients in Hong Kong. Journal of Politeness Research. Language, Behaviour, Culture, 9 (Issue 2), pp. 187-210
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Zayts, Olga, 2012. 'You have to be adaptable, obviously' : constructing professional identities in multicultural workplaces in Hong Kong. Pragmatics, Vol.22 (No.2), pp. 279-299
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Chan, Angela, 2011. Exploring another side of co-leadership : negotiating professional identities through face-work in disagreements. Language in Society, Vol.40 (No.2), pp. 187-209
- Zayts, Olga, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2011. Laughter as medical providers' resource : negotiating informed choice in prenatal genetic counseling. Research on Language and Social Interaction, Vol.44 (No.1), pp. 1-20
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Mak, Bernie, 2011. Leadership in Hong Kong: is gender really not an issue?. Gender and Language, Vol.5 (No.2), pp. 337-364
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Chan, Angela, 2011. When laughter is not enough: responding to teasing and self-denigrating humour at work. Journal of Pragmatics, Vol.43 (No.1 Sp. Iss. SI), pp. 20-35
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Chan, Angela, 2010. Politeness and leadership discourse in New Zealand and Hong Kong: a cross-cultural case study of workplace talk. Journal of Politeness Research. Language, Behaviour, Culture, Vol.5 (No.2), pp. 131-157
- Schnurr, Stephanie, 2009. Constructing leader identities through teasing at work. Journal of Pragmatics, Vol.41 (No.6), pp. 1125-1138
- Holmes, J., Marra, Meredith, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2008. Impoliteness and ethnicity : Maori and Pakeha discourse in New Zealand workplaces. Journal of Politeness Research. Language, Behaviour, Culture, Vol.4 (No.2), pp. 193-219
- Schnurr, Stephanie, 2008. Surviving in a man's world with a sense of humour: an analysis of women leaders' use of humour at work. Leadership, Vol.4 (No.3), pp. 299-319
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Marra, Meredith, Holmes, Janet, 2007. Being (im)polite in New Zealand workplaces : Maori and Pakeha leaders. Journal of Pragmatics, 39 (4), pp. 712-729
- Holmes, J., Schnurr, Stephanie, Marra, M., 2007. Leadership and communication : discursive evidence of a workplace culture change. Discourse & Communication, 1 (4), pp. 433-451
- Holmes, Janet, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2006. 'Doing femininity' at work : more than just relational practice. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 10 (1), pp. 31-51
- Holmes, Janet, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2005. Politeness, humor and gender in the workplace : negotiating norms and identifying contestation. Journal of Politeness Research. Language, Behaviour, Culture, 1 (1), pp. 121-149
- Holmes, Janet, Schnurr, Stephanie, Chan, Angela, Chiles, Tina, 2003. The discourse of leadership. Te Reo, 46, pp. 31-46
- Chimbwete-Phiri, Rachel, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2020. Improving HIV/AIDS consultations in Malawi : how interactional sociolinguistics can contribute. In Demjén, Zsófia (ed.), Applying Linguistics in Illness and Healthcare Contexts, Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 131-158
- File, Kieran A., Schnurr, Stephanie, 2020. Towards an understanding of linguistic consultancy : how do linguists approach the task of evaluating sociolinguistic practice in consultancy sessions?. Mullany, Louise (ed.), Professional Communication : Consultancy, Advocacy, Activism, Cham, Springer International Publishing AG ; Macmillan
- Clifton, Jonathan, Schnurr, Stephanie, Van De Mieroop, Dorien, 2019. The language of leadership narratives. A social practice perspective. New York, Routledge
- Schnurr, Stephanie, 2018. Leadership. In The Routledge Handbook of Language in the Workplace, Routledge, pp. 323-334
- Van De Mieroop, Dorien, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2017. Epilogue : Identity struggles as a reflection of knowledge, competing norms, and attempts for social change. In Van De Mieroop, Dorien; Schnurr, Stephanie (eds.), Identity Struggles : Evidence from workplaces around the world, Amsterdam, John Benjamins Pub Co, pp. 451-461
- Zayts, Olga, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2017. Epistemic 'struggles' : when nurses' expert identity is challenged by 'knowledgeable' clients. In Van De Mieroop, Dorien; Schnurr, Stephanie (eds.), Identity Struggles : Evidence from workplaces around the world, Amsterdam, John Benjamins Pub Co, pp. 79-94
- Holmes, Janet, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2017. (Im)politeness in the workplace. Culpeper, Jonathan; Haugh, Michael; Kadar, Daniel (eds.), Handbook of Linguistic (Im)politeness, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan UK
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Van De Mieroop, Dorien, 2017. Introduction : a caleidoscopic view of identity struggles at work. In Van De Mieroop, Dorien; Schnurr, Stephanie (eds.), Identity Struggles : Evidence from workplaces around the world, Amsterdam, John Benjamins Pub Co, pp. 1-18
- Schnurr, Stephanie, 2017. Leadership. In Vine, Bernadette (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Language in the Workplace, New York, NY, Routledge, pp. 323-334
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Chan, Angela, Loew, Joelle, Zayts, Olga, 2017. Leadership and culture : when stereotypes meet actual workplace practice. Ilie, Cornelia; Schnurr, Stephanie (eds.), Challenging Leadership Stereotypes through Discourse : Power, Management and Gender, Springer Singapore
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Chan, Angela, 2017. Leadership and self-denigrating humour. An oxymoron?. In Marra, Meredith; Warren, Paul (eds.), Linguist at Work: Festschrift for Janet Holmes, Wellington, Victoria University Press, pp. 234-254
- Van de Mieroop, Dorien, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2017. 'Mind your explanatory role in this'. Exploring the interplay between face-work and identity construction in negative assessments in performance appraisal interviews. In Angouri, Jo; Marra, Meredith; Holmes, Janet (eds.), Negotiating Boundaries at Work, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 87-108
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Zayts, Olga, 2017. Language and culture at work. Abingdon, Oxon, Routledge
- Locher, Miriam, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2017. (Im)politeness in health settings. In Culpeper, Jonathan; Haugh, Michael; Kadar, Daniel (eds.), Handbook of Linguistic (Im)politeness, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 689-711
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Plester, Barbara, 2016. Functionalist discourse analysis of humor. Attardo, Salvatore (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of the Linguistics of Humor, Routledge
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Maheshwari, Disha, Mohd Omar, Nor Azikin, Nguyen, Nhung Hong Thi, 2016. Subversive humour in educational contexts in India, Malaysia and Vietnam. Cadei, Livia (ed.), Humour in azione : argomenti educativi nei contesti culturali, Milan, Mimesis
- Zayts, Olga, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2016. Laughter as a 'serious business' : clients' laughter in prenatal screening for Down?s syndrome. In Bell, Nancy (ed.), Multiple Perspectives on Language Play, Berlin, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 119-142
- Zayts, Olga, Schnurr, Stephanie, 2012. ?You may know better than I do': negotiating advice-giving in Down Syndrome screening in a Hong Kong prenatal hospital. In Limberg, Holger; Locher, Miriam A. (eds.), Advice in Discourse, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 195-212
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Zayts, Olga, 2011. Be(Com)Ing a leader: a case study of co-constructing professional identities at work. In Angouri, Jo; Marra, Merideth (eds.), Constructing Identities at Work, Basingstoke, U.K., Palgrave Macmillan Ltd, pp. 40-60
- Schnurr, Stephanie, 2010. ''Decision made - let's move on": negotiating gender and professional identity in Hong Kong workplaces. In Bieswanger, Markus; Motschenbacher, Heiko; Mühleisen, Susanne (eds.), Language in its Socio-Cultural Context: New Explorations in Gendered, Global and Media Uses, Berlin, Germany, Peter Lang AG, pp. 111-136
- Kang, M. A., Schnurr, Stephanie, 2010. From high society to workplace reality: an analysis of gendered discourses in media and workplaces in Hong Kong. In Holmes, J.; Marra, M. (eds.), Femininity, Feminism and Gendered Discourse: A Selected and Edited Collection of Papers from the Fifth International Language and Gender Association Conference (IGALA5), Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 171-190
- Schnurr, Stephanie, 2010. Humour. In Locher, Miriam A.; Graham, Sage L. (eds.), Interpersonal Pragmatics, Berlin, Germany / New York, NY, U.S.A., De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 307-326
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Mak, Bernie, 2009. Humour as an indicator of workplace socialisation. In Bhatia, Vijay K.; Cheng, Winnie; Du-Babcock, Bertha; Lung, Jane (eds.), Language for Professional Communication: Research, Practice and Training, Hong Kong, China, City University of Hong Kong; Asia-Pacific LSP and Professional Communication Association, and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, pp. 131-145
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Holmes, J., 2009. Using humor to do masculinity at work. In Norrick, Neal R.; Chiaro, Delia (eds.), Humor in Interaction, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 101-124
- Schnurr, Stephanie, Marra, Meredith, Holmes, J., 2008. Impoliteness as a means of contesting power relations in the workplace. In Bousfield, Derek; Locher, Miriam A. (eds.), Impoliteness in Language: Studies on its Interplay with Power in Theory and Practice, Berlin, Germany, De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 211-230
- Schnurr, Stephanie, 2008. Leadership discourse at work: interactions of humour, gender and workplace culture. Basingstoke, U.K, Palgrave Macmillan Ltd
- Marra, Meredith, Schnurr, Stephanie, Holmes, Janet, 2006. Effective leadership in New Zealand workplaces : balancing gender and role. In Baxter, Judith (ed.), Speaking out : the female voice in public contexts, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, U.K. ; New York, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 240-260