Linguistics in the Pub Tuesday 12th September

[Ruth Singer]

Announcement

Linguistics in the Pub (LIP) October 2010
Organised by RNLD http://www.rnld.org

Topic:  Discussion on Informed Consent
Led by Yvonne Treis (RCLT, La Trobe University) and Katharine Parton
(University of Melbourne)

Date:      Tuesday 12th October
Time:      7:00 pm
Venue:    Upstairs room, Prince Alfred Hotel,
191 Grattan St, Carlton
(corner of Bouverie St)
ph ‪(03) 9347-3033‬‎

Food and drinks available at the venue.

Motivated by a recent publication by Robinson (2010), the October
LiP-meeting will compare the problems of obtaining informed consent
from people in non-literate communities (without access to modern
media and internet) with the problems of obtaining informed consent
from people in highly computer/internet-savvy communities.

Some of the issues we will discuss are:

a) What and how much information do participants need at what stage of
the project in order to give informed consent?

b) How do we explain practically and adequately to non-literate
communities what the goals of our project are and what will ultimately
happen to records, transcripts and videos so that the participants in
our projects are able to give informed consent?

c) How do we deal with mis-information, which can arise from having
either/both under- and over-informed participants?

We are looking forward to a lively discussion of the practical issues
of obtaining informed consent for linguistic projects in communities
with different cultural, social, and technological backgrounds.

Some relevant readings:
Robinson, Laura C. 2010. Informed consent among analog people in a
digital world. Language & Communication 30: 186-191.

Rice, Keren 2006. Ethical issues in linguistic fieldwork: An overview.
Journal of Academic Ethics 4: 123-155.

Austin, Peter K. 2010. Communities, ethics and rights in language
documentation. In: Austin, Peter K. (ed.). Language Documentation and
Description, vol. 7. London: The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages
Project. Pp. 34-54.

(Copies of the readings will be posted on the events page of the RNLD
website shortly http://www.rnld.org)

Contact  Ruth Singer if you have any questions rsinger at unimelb.edu.au

LIP is an occasional gathering of language activists and linguists in
Melbourne. All are welcome. Those in other parts of Australia and the
world who can't make it to the Melbourne LIPs are encouraged to
organise a local gathering to discuss this topic and support language
activities in your area.