Duration
22 Jun 2026 - 26 Jun 2026
The Language in Society course investigates language in its social setting. The idea behind the course is to devote special sessions every year to focused topics in sociolinguistics and related fields that are capturing scholars’ attention at the current moment.
The topic for our fourth seminar this coming up in June 22 to June 26, 2026 is:
Language at Work: Distinction, Discrimination and Diversity
The topic of the seminar is the language of work, languages in the workplace, and language professions. The language of work concerns technical language and linguistic registers tied to specific professions and trades. The workplace suggests “brick and mortar” workplaces that demand physical co-presence and remain a dominant sphere of life and labor for millions yet we also recognize that the workspace has expanded to include online collaborations, communications on Slack, and other modes of computer-mediated communication.
Participants will present and discuss research on the enregisterment of the language of specific professions (e.g., law, medicine, business) and disciplines (e.g., philosophy, economics, psychology) and address diverse questions about language at work including, but not limited to, the following: When and how do expectations of linguistic competence enter into professional trajectories? How is competence in professional registers achieved in formal and informal contexts? When is gatekeeping justified and when is it unjust or unnecessary? What impact do changes in the labor force have on linguistic demands of professionalization? How does the labor market impact the dynamics of language shift and maintenance among Indigenous and minoritized language speakers? How do professional registers emerge? Where have professional registers exceeded the confines of the domains to which they are presumed to belong?
Below is the information on the themes and publications based on our previous seminars:
In 2019, the theme of the course was Language Activism and the Role of Scholars. https://iuc.hr/programme/1058. Papers from this meeting were published in the edited volume, Language Activism: The Role of Scholars in Linguistic Reform and Social Change.
In 2022, the theme of the course was Multilingual, multilectal, and multiscriptal writing. https://iuc.hr/programme/1368. Papers from this meeting were published in the Special Issue of Sociolinguistica 39:2.
In 2024, the theme was Minoritized Language and Artistic Materiality: The Role of Creative Expression in Valorizing and Legitimizing Marginalized Varieties. https://iuc.hr/programme/1856. Papers from this meeting will be published in the edited volume, Minoritized Language and Artistic Materiality: Perspectives from Europe, the Americas, and Beyond, to come out at Bloomsbury.
Course lecturers in 2026:
Hilario Chi Canul, University of Chetumal, México
Cecelia Cutler, City University of New York, Graduate Center (CUNY), United States
Uranela Demaj, AAB College, Kosovo
Aurora Donzelli, University of Bologna, Italy
Branka Drljača Margić, University of Rijeka, Croatia
Kellie Gonçalves, University of Bern, Switzerland
Kathryn E. Graber, Indiana University, USA
Luz Jimenez Quispe, University of San Simon, Bolivia
Dorte Lønsmann, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Xochitl Marsilli-Vargas, Emory University, USA
Salikoko S. Mufwene, University of Chicago, USA
Toril Opsahl, University of Oslo, Norway
Verónica Pájaro, University of Agder, Norway
Bjorn Torgrim Ramberg , University of Oslo, Norway
Bjørn Ramberg, University of Oslo, Norway
Unn Røyneland , University of Oslo, Norway
Karl Swinehart , University of Louisville, United States
Cécile B. Vigouroux, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Zvjezdana Vrzić , New York University, United States
