[Ads-l] MetroLex (NYC lexicography meetup), Feb. 3

[Ben Zimmer]

Those of you in the NYC area may be interested in attending the next
MetroLex event on Feb. 3 at Columbia. Details below -- you can use the
Eventbrite link to reserve a seat.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/metrolex-politics-and-ideology-in-the-history-of-dictionary-making-tickets-31281445646

MetroLex: Politics and Ideology in the History of Dictionary Making

Fri, February 3, 2017, 4:00 PM – 6:30 PM EST

The Dictionary Society of North America has partnered with local
organizations in the New York City area to establish a series of
meetups called MetroLex. MetroLex meetups bring together
lexicographers, linguists, technologists, educators, and other
language professionals to share research and projects relating to
dictionary technology, dictionary use, language documentation,
semantic ontologies, and lexicography.

After two successful meetups last year hosted by Oxford University
Press, the first MetroLex of 2017 will be held at Columbia University,
hosted by associate professor of English and comparative literature
John H. McWhorter. The theme of this session will be "Politics and
Ideology in the History of Dictionary Making." Three speakers will be
making brief presentations about research projects.

* Jack Lynch, professor of English at Rutgers University–Newark,
author of You Could Look It Up: The Reference Shelf From Ancient
Babylon to Wikipedia (2016) and The Lexicographer’s Dilemma (2009).
Noah Webster is famous for fighting the nineteenth century's
"dictionary wars" with Joseph Worcester. But before the first shot was
fired in that war, Webster was engaged in hostilities with his most
important predecessor, Samuel Johnson. Webster had a complicated
relationship with Johnson, eagerly disavowing him and his politics
while quietly cribbing much of his work. This talk will focus on how
Webster squeezed the word "American" into Johnson's title.

* Rebecca Shapiro, assistant professor of English at CUNY–New York
City College of Technology, author of Fixing Babel: An Historical
Anthology of Applied English Lexicography (2016).
We like to think of dictionaries as neutrally explaining what words
mean or how they're used in sentences. They can be general—for
students—or specific—for language learners or a profession. But we
don't think of dictionaries as being thinly-veiled conduct books
telling us how low our necklines should be, how to make our own
cosmetics, how to talk pleasingly to a man, or even what not to read.
The Ladies Dictionary (1694) was just that sort of thing: its aim
wasn't to make women smarter, but to make women prettier.

* Donna Farina, professor of multicultural education at New Jersey
City University.
The focus of this talk will be on usages in the Russian language that
arose during the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, such as krymnash
'the Crimea belongs to us.' We will discuss the lexicographic
strengths and weaknesses of some contexts with the new usages. Our
goal is to gain insight into connotation, the Ugly Stepsister of the
Dictionary. In a world where online presentation of lexicographic
material provides possibilities not available previously in print
dictionaries, how exactly should connotation, given its propensity to
change so quickly, be treated in lexicographic definition and in
illustrative examples?

The presentations will be followed by discussion and light
refreshments provided by Cambridge University Press.

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