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Multilingualism and Diversity (MultiDiv) 2019

Sprinter School in Multilingualism and Diversity

MultiDiv seeks to become a unique and sustainable rotating biennial Sprinter School which will be hosted alternately by the Universities of Warwick and Monash. It will bring together senior academics, undergraduates and postgraduates for an intensive five-day school which will involve writing workshops, data training and sessions on interpreting research for wider audiences, in particular policy makers and the media.

MultiDiv stems from the work of The Migration, Identity, and Translation Network (MITN), co-directed by Professor Jo Angouri (Warwick) and Professor Rita Wilson (Monash). MITN is a multi-disciplinary network supported by the Monash Warwick Alliance which brings together researchers from a range of faculties from Monash University and the University of Warwick. It explores issues relating to migration, identity and translation from a variety of literary, cultural, linguistic, sociological and historical perspectives and seeks to bring that expertise into developing world-leading research and teaching and learning projects.

MultiDiv 2019

26th June-1st July 2019, University of Warwick

Coventry as a Multilingual City

MultiDiv provides a framework for participation in a shared Monash-Warwick linguistic landscaping project in the cities in which Warwick and Monash are based, Coventry and Melbourne. MultiDiv 2019 involved students in a group project on multilingualism in the city of Coventry, including a field trip to a number of Coventry institutions with the purpose of understanding more about the diverse linguistic landscape of this city and engaging with multilingualism.

Aims

The linguistically diverse nature of contemporary societies is related to a range of complex phenomena in the areas of:

  • language policy and practice
  • language contact and change
  • translation, interpreting and heritage learning
  • public sector translation/interpretation
  • translation and human rights

These constitute areas in which Monash and Warwick have an unbroken history of world-leading research. MultiDiv builds on this expertise and aims to push further current knowledge in the field.

MultiDiv and MITN share a commitment to supporting student research and the development of early career researchers. MultiDiv will include all students, undergraduate and postgraduate, as equal participants and is keen to encourage and embed further undergraduate research in the curricula of the two institutions. It aims to become a global hub of excellence for the study of multilingualism and diversity.

Organisers

MultiDiv is led by the following academics as part of the Monash Warwick Alliance:

What our participants said...

'Presenters were magnificent, both face to face and online, certainly the highlight of the sprinter school.'

'It was a good experience to do fieldwork, as I hadn't done something like linguistic landscaping before. It got me out of my comfort zone and encouraged me to think about things that I may never have had the opportunity to explore from an academic perspective before, which was great.'

'Working on self development and access to publication was particularly interesting and applicable.'

A group photo of convenors, organisers and learners at MultiDiv 2019.

'I enjoyed the diversity of the topics covered as we approached our common interests from a range of personal and academic perspectives. [...] I think that the group size was just right for balancing the need for each student to have the opportunity to interact individually with the convenors with the benefit of having diverse perspectives emerge in the group tasks and discussions.'

Photo: convenors, organisers and participants at MultiDiv 2019.

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