Faculty of Social Sciences News

Congratulations to all winners of this year's Research Celebration event, including Prof Ravi Thiara (Sociology), Prof Vanessa Munro (School of Law), Prof Olympia Palikara (Education Studies, SELCS) and Prof Steve Mann (Applied Linguistics, SELCS).

Meet the winners: Warwick Research Celebration 2025 Winners

The Warwick International Higher Education Academy’s annual call for Fellowship nominations is now open until 5pm on Monday 16^th June.

Fellowships at Warwick offer staff (3 years) and students (1 year) the chance to make a meaningful contribution to learning and teaching across the University. Fellows lead or support projects, policy development, and learning communities, while also participating in governance and sharing best practice across departments. The role offers opportunities to develop expertise, influence institutional change, and shape the student experience. Learn more by going to WIHEA Fellows Selection Process

You can also get involved by becoming a WIHEA Member—a flexible way to stay connected and contribute.

Strategies to strengthen European linguistic capital in a globalised world (MultiLX)

2025 will see the launch of a new Horizon Europe research project which examines language policy and practice in digital, multilingual Europe. The project brings together scholars in nine universities, across eight countries, to ask how inclusive policy can be developed and implemented to support all the languages of Europe.

Increased mobility of people across territories has altered the linguistic make-up of Europe, while rapid developments in AI and other digital technology have revolutionised the way people communicate. There is an urgent need for language policy to keep pace with these changes. A key challenge in an increasingly diverse, digital and multilingual Europe is to put in place language policy to shape a future for young people which is inclusive, democratic and equitable. The new research project, which runs for three years from January 2025, will address this challenge by providing policy makers with comprehensive evidence of the communicative practices and language ideologies of young people in Europe.

In this multi-site, team ethnographic project research teams will observe the communicative practices of young people in contexts where speakers are concerned with language endangerment (Norway, Switzerland), where people are investing in revitalisation of languages (Spain: Galicia, Catalunya), and where the prevalence of migrant languages renders multilingualism the norm (Germany, Italy). By conducting ethnographic observation in Barcelona, Berlin, Lucerne, Oslo, Santiago de Compostela, and Turin academics will gain a comprehensive knowledge of the everyday languaging practices of young people. With this evidence they will make recommendations for equitable language policy in Europe which reflects young people’s semiotic repertoires.

The research project will be supported by an Advisory Board of 17 experts from sectors including language policy, politics, academia, arts and media. Collaboration with the Advisory Board will ensure that research outcomes are scaled up to European decision-makers, and will provide a sustainable legacy of the project.

MultiLX is led by Professor Angela Creese at University of Warwick, and is a collaboration between nine universities in eight countries: University of Warwick (Adrian Blackledge and Angela Creese); Universitetet i Oslo (Pia Lane); Fundació per a la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Maite Puigdevall Serralvo and Joan Pujolar Cos); Albert-Ludwigs-Universitaet Freiburg (Katharina Brizic); Università degli Studi di Torino (Gerardo Mazzaferro); University of Glasgow (Bernadette O'Rourke); Jyväskylän yliopisto (Sari Pietikäinen); University of Limerick (Helen Kelly-Holmes); Pädagogische Hochschule Luzern (Edina Krompák).

For further information please contact Professor Angela Creese: angela.creese@warwick.ac.uk