Language revitalization in a Russian and European context: Exploring solutions for minority language maintenance

Conference to be held on December 16–18 2013 at the University of Helsinki, Finland

The organizers of the conference encourage an interdisciplinary approach to minority language maintenance, bringing together researchers from different fields of minority language studies, including contact linguistics, sociolinguistics, language planning, anthropology and language legislation. In addition to representatives of linguistic science, social scientists, jurists and activists are invited to take part. We especially welcome papers related to the status and development of understudied minority languages and communities of Russia.

Possible topics for talks include (but are not restricted to) the following:

• The development of the current situations of particular minority languages (e.g. language attrition and revitalization)
• Comparison of Russia and the EU as multilingual cultural areas
• Comparative analysis of the reasons behind the fate of different language communities
• Theory and methodology of language revitalization; prerequisites for and obstacles to language revitalization
• Modernization and urbanization and their effects on minority linguistic identities and communities
• Minority activists vs. minority communities; the emergence of language ideologies of language activists and the effects of their work
• Minorities within a minority and the emergence of new minority languages vis-à-vis multiple minority identities

Abstracts should be no more than 500 words, excluding data and references, and they must be anonymous and submissions are limited to 2 per author, at least one of which is co-authored. Abstracts should be sent to the organizing committee by May 31 2013. Notifications of acceptance will be announced by June 30, 2013. Selected talks will be 30 minutes long: 20 min for presentation and 10 min for discussion. In addition, there will be a poster section.

The main language of the conference if English, but there will also be a session in Russian. Abstracts both in English and Russian are most welcome.

Abstract Submission has been closed. Review Abstract (reviewer login) EasyAbs.

Important dates:

Extended submission deadline:  May 31, 2013
Notification of acceptance: June 30, 2013
Registration deadline:  September 30, 2013
Conference: December 16-18, 2013 (main conference December 16-17, workshop on on citizen science and language revitalization December 18)