[Linganth] LSJ general meeting follow up and updates

[Toledo Bustamante, Nadxieli]

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you to everyone who attended the last general meeting of the Language and Social Justice Committee (LSJ) on October 10! We are so appreciative of all the enthusiasm and commitment to the work expressed by new and returning members.

In this email, you will find information about 1) ongoing search for new members for the Steering Committee and other volunteer positions, 2) LSJ initiatives/working groups, 3) future LSJ general meetings, and 4) a general call for action and participation from established scholars, including past Steering/Core Committee members.


  1.  Ongoing search for new members for the LSJ Steering Committee and general call for action: The Language and Social Justice (LSJ) Committee is seeking two to three new members to join the Steering Committee for a three-year term starting January 2026 and ending December 2029 (more information will come out soon in a separate email). In addition to these positions, we are looking for volunteers to be a point-person for a few of our current initiatives. The point-person for an initiative will collaborate with the Steering Committee in communicating with other members interested in/working on the same initiative and keeping track of the work of that initiative.


  1.  LSJ Initiatives/Working groups: We spent the bulk of our time in the meeting engaged in very generative discussions about the role and capacity of the LSJ in responding to the challenges brought by the current socio-political climate and, therefore, decided to postpone the working groups until the next general meeting. However, we have heard from many of you (at the meeting and via email), and we know that there is strong interest in continuing the work of many of the previously discussed initiatives. Below, I am listing the initiatives and temporary point-person you can contact (if available) to express interest in joining the work around that particular initiative. You can also reach out to me if you would like to be considered for any of these initiatives. Remember that we are also looking for volunteers to collaborate with the Steering Committee as a point person for any of these or other initiatives.



     *   Mother languages, heritage languages, and Indigenous languages (e.g., International Mother Language Day). To join this initiative, you can contact Yliana Rodríguez<mailto:ylianarodriguez at gmail.com> (Steering Committee member)
     *   Language and gender/LGBTQ+ issues. To join this initiative, you can contact Ernesto Cuba<mailto:ernestocuba1986 at gmail.com> (Steering Committee member)
     *   English-only legislation, discourses, etc. To join this initiative, you can contact Jonathan Rosa<mailto:jdrosa at stanford.edu> (temporary volunteer, point-person needed)
     *   Language destandardization, raciolinguistics, and academic language. To join this initiative, you can contact KD Thompson<mailto:kd.thompson at wisc.edu> (Steering Committee member)
     *   Surveillance and freedom of speech (point-person needed), you can contact Mariel Acosta<mailto:mariel.acosta86 at gmail.com> (Steering Committee member)
     *   Accessibility (beyond disability, including economic, epistemic, and other barriers) (point-person needed).

One goal that we have across all the initiatives is to crowdsource scholarly and general-interest resources for teaching and public outreach. In the coming days, you will receive an email with a survey put together by the International Mother Language Day (IMLD) working group. Please be on the lookout for that.


  1.  Future LSJ General Meetings: Moving forward, our General Meetings will continue to serve as a space to discuss initiatives, share ongoing work and events, and crowdsource resources related to Language and Social Justice. Ideally, people working on the different initiatives will find a way to continue the work between meetings (we are aiming for 1-2 general meetings each semester).

  2.  General call for action and participation from established scholars: The LSJ and the Steering Committee need you!!! The current socio-political situation has made the work particularly challenging for junior scholars and other scholars in vulnerable positions (it has limited our ability to access funding, travel, attend AAA/SLA meetings, participate publicly in certain conversations, etc.). Please reach out if you can support our work in any capacity (as a member of the Steering Committee, point-person volunteer, advisor, etc.)

Thank you for reading. We look forward to your participation and input!

Warm wishes,

Nadxieli (on behalf of the Language and Social Justice Steering Committee)

--
Nadxieli Toledo Bustamante, Ph.D. (she/her/ella)
Assistant Professor, Child and Adolescent Development
College of Education
California State University, Sacramento
6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA, 95819
Email: toledobustamante at csus.edu<mailto:toledobustamante at csus.edu>

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