Conference

[Andre Cramblit]

Dear Colleagues,

Please disseminate this CFP to linguists and linguistic  
anthropologists you know working in Northern regions. thanks, alex


I am organizing a panel on language shift and revival/maintenance in
the North for the conference titled:

“Human Dimensions in the Circumpolar Arctic” 8-10 October 2008.

Session Title: Arctic Languages, Shift &Revival: the cultural and  
political dimensions of speaking a language



Abstract: This panel addresses the twin topics of language shift and  
endangerment on the one hand, and language revival and maintenance on  
the other. The extinction of languages spoken around the world is  
proceeding at an alarming pace, and the North is no different in this  
regard. Northern linguistic ecology has the familiar pattern of a  
handful of political dominant, national languages (e.g., English,  
Russian, Swedish, etc.) are expanding at the expense of languages  
spoken by small groups, which are typically classed as indigenous  
peoples. The specific mechanisms of language shift, whereby people  
stop speaking their heritage language and take up (and their children  
grow up speaking) a politically dominant language instead are complex  
and worthy of further investigation. Equally complex are the problems  
facing communities that are interested in maintaining or reviving  
their heritage language. Papers in this panel confront questions on  
these two topics, highlighting the interconnection of political,  
social, economic and cultural forces causing and caused by the  
language choices of individuals and communities.

Please email me (Alex King <a.king at abdn.ac.uk>) with a preliminary  
abstract by May 1. I will, of course, consider late submissions,  
given the tardiness of this call, but we cannot wait too long.

Details of the conference:

The conference will be held at Umeå University, Umeå, located in the  
north
of Sweden, about 700 km north of Stockholm. It will pay particular
attention to human life and conditions in the circumpolar Arctic in the
past, present and future. Questions that will be addressed are how the
situation in the North has been depicted in science, art and literature
and how the possibilities for various kinds of social and economical
developments have been understood at various times. Other questions are
how climate, ecology and different types of resource use have influenced
conditions for life in the North and the role of national and
international politics for northern developments and conditions. Policy
questions concerning the Arctic region will also be discussed during the
conference.

Further information on the conference may be had on the Conference  
website:
http://www.umea-congress.se/polar2008.html

At the conference the second issue of Journal of Northern Studies will
also be available. Information on this journal may be had at
http://www.jns.org.umu.se

Alex King
Aberdeen University
Scotland
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