Events

Visiting fellow Brigitta Busch: seminar and master class on the lived experience of multilingualism, 4-5 November 2015

In early November, we were pleased to welcome Professor Brigitta Busch to the University of Sheffield, where she gave an engaging and insightful talk on ‘Linguistic repertoire and the lived experience of language’ at the Humanities Research Institute. Professor Busch followed this up on the next day with a memorable masterclass which encouraged much active participation. The title of the masterclass was ‘Multimodal biographical approaches to research in multilingual settings: exploring linguistic repertoires’. Brigitta Busch holds the post of Professor for Applied Linguistics at the University of Vienna and has a wide range of research interests, including linguistic rights, multilingualism, interethnic relations and the relationship between language, space and the media.

WUN Workshop: Multilingualism and Mobilities. Understanding Globalization. Two projects – one workshop

On Thursday 15 and Friday 16 October 2015 there was a workshop in Cape Town involving two Worldwide Universities Network projects: Multilingualism and Mobility in the Northern & Southern Hemispheres and Understanding Globalisation – Margins and Peripheries. The full programme is here.

Worldwide Universities Network Workshop: Multilingualism and Mobility

Internationalising the Research Agenda

As part of the WUN-funded network project on Multilingualism and Mobility in the Northern & Southern Hemispheres, an international workshop was organised at the University of Sheffield on 29-30 June 2015. This network brings together academics who explore the ways that language shapes and is shaped by diverse forms of population movement, social mobility and intercultural encounters. More broadly, we explore the ways that linguistic and cultural diversity presents opportunities as well as challenges, with the goal of productively shaping public education and migration policies.

The programme for this network workshop consisted of four main thematic sessions: Language and Cultural Heritage, Language and Social Networks, Language and Education and Language Policy and Migration. Over 40 participants from five continents travelled to Sheffield to take part in the event, including delegates from Alberta, Auckland, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Madison and others.

Future Events and Network Expansion

Following the four thematic sessions, Dr Horner led a strategic meeting to discuss plans for outputs, future projects and expansion of the network. In addition, Dr Bellamy led a qualitative methods workshop for postgraduate students and early career researchers. Following these sessions, a group of participants headed for historic Kelham Island to explore the industrial heritage of Sheffield.

A follow-up workshopwill take place in Cape Town in autumn, in partnership with the parallel WUN-funded network on Understanding Globalisation: Margins and Peripheries. In addition, Sheffield will host Prof Brigitta Busch (Vienna) aspart of the HRI Visiting European Fellow scheme. Prof Busch will give a lecture on the topic of Multilingualism and Emotion in the HRI on Wednesday, 4 November 2015 at 5pm.

The workshop was organised by Dr Kristine Horner (SLC) and Dr John Bellamy (SLC), with input from Su Shen Phan (Erasmus) and Emily Hopper (SLC) who were awarded undergraduate student internships linked to the WUN project. Click here for the report by Su Shen Phan and here for the slideshow with photos by Emily Hopper.