Forging Linguistic Identities Conference

Forging Linguistic Identities. Language in the nation, the region and the world. An international conference.

The Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures at Towson University announces the 8th edition of 鈥淔orging Linguistic Identities" and invites proposals for papers and panels.

The conference will take place April 2-4, 2025.

Conference Topics

The conference seeks to examine language as socially embedded within historical and geo-political contexts. Possible topics might include, but are not limited to:

  • national reception of dialect/minority-language literature and verbal culture
  • dialects/diglossia and their role in group identity formation
  • the standardization of national and/or majority language(s) and its impact on national or regional politics
  • multilingualism and its negotiation and practice by the communities of use
  • use(s) of indigenous languages under transnational states
  • migration
  • translation studies
  • raciolinguistics
  • language policy and planning
  • language and healthcare
  • translanguage

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Christine Mallinson, Professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture, Director of the Center for Social Science Scholarship, and Affiliate Professor of Gender and Women's Studies at the Universityof Maryland, Baltimore County.  

Dr. Rachel Showstack, Associate Professor of Spanish and Linguistics at Wichita State University.

Proposals

The scope of the conference is not limited by region, language or time period. Proposals involving languages taught by the Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures (ASL, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Ancient Greek, Biblical and Modern Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish) are especially encouraged. Proposals are welcomed across disciplines, including languages and literatures, education, geography, history, psychology, anthropology and sociology.

Please send an abstract of 250 words, excluding references, by email to: Prof. Francisco Mart铆nez Ibarra (). Please include your name, institution affiliation, day telephone and email address. Please note that conference papers must be in English or ASL and limited to 20 minutes.

Proposals for panels with multiple speakers are also welcome provided they fit within the 90-minute time frame of each session. Panel proposals should be submitted as a single file containing all three abstracts, each limited to 250 words, along with a list of participants, including their affiliations and email addresses.

Faculty of all ranks, as well as graduate students, are encouraged to participate. We will offer discounted hotel rooms near campus.

Registration fees:

Regular:  $100 by 3/3 and then $125 after that

Graduate: $40 by 3/3 and then $60 after that

Deadline for submissions is December 1, 2024