Sheffield Literacies and Language Conference: Towards (extra)ordinary literacies and linguistic futures
Following on from last year’s ‘hopeful literacies’ conference, we are pleased to announce that we will continue the tradition of hosting an international literacies and language conference in Sheffield.
Friday June 14th - Saturday June 15th, 2024
This event is co-organised by the Literacies and Language Research Cluster, School of Education at the University of Sheffield with the Sheffield Institute of Education at Sheffield Hallam University. Both universities have a strong track record of diverse approaches to research and scholarship in literacies and language, including digital literacies and post-digital research, multilingualism, multimodality, applied and socio-linguistics and arts-based research.
About the Conference
Call for Papers
This year we invite you to explore possible futures, and the role of language, and of course literacies, in imagining new realities, beyond ‘standard’ language/s and deficit understandings of language/s. Our conference theme of futures builds on the developing body of research and scholarship in language-focused fields - including, but not limited to intercultural communication, literacies, applied linguistics and sociolinguistics - which calls on scholars to not take language for granted. This includes research which engages with post-human and new materialist philosophies, embracing the embodied nature of language and working to ‘decentre’ (MacLure, 2013) or ‘provincialise’ language (Thurlow, 2016; Harvey et al., 2021).
Our questions for the conference therefore include how, as languages and literacies scholars, we might critically question the centrality of language in ‘communicating, knowing and being’ (Harvey et al., 2022: 103). How do we approach our work, with, but also beyond, language at a precarious and uncertain time? How might we imagine new linguistic realities through our work, collectively and collaboratively? How do we challenge the ‘deficit view’ of language which dominates policy?
Keynote presentations include Dr Julia Snell and Dr Ian Cushing on intersections of race, class and language in formal education, Dr Navan Govender, whose work explores relationships of power in and through language, and Professor Kris Gutiérrez who will respond to the theme to reimagine literacies and language research through a syncretic literacies and connected futures lens.
We therefore invite researchers to submit a 250-word abstract for a paper, colloquium or poster for the conference. Please see details below for how to submit your abstract.
We look forward to welcoming you to Sheffield in the summer of 2024.
Call for Papers deadline April 1, 2024.
Please submit your abstract using this google formAbstract submission
Towards (extra)ordinary literacies and linguistic futures Programme and keynote information
Conference fees
£150 (Academic); £125 (Postgraduate Student); £75 (The University of Sheffield/Hallam University Staff)
To register for the conference, please visit:
You do not have to present, you can come and take part in presentations, interactive workshops, research creation events, and conversations with friend and colleagues.
Doctoral students, please follow this link for information about the Sheffield Literacies and Language Student Research Prize.
This year we are also awarding a Sheffield Literacies and Language Innovative Teacher Prize.
In alphabetical order
Keynote speakers
Dr Ian Cushing, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Dr Navan Govender, University of Strathclyde, UK
Professor Kris Gutierrez, University of California-Berkeley, USA
Professor Julia Snell, University of Leeds, UK
Conference organising committee
University of Sheffield
Dr Aneesh Barai
Oliver Barker
Kathryn Bennett
Dr Jessica Bradley
Dr Ryan Bramley
Dr Abigail Parrish
Professor Jennifer Rowsell
Dr Fiona Scott
Sheffield Hallam University
Dr Chris Bailey
Dr Karen Daniels
Dr Hugh Escott
Professor Abi Hackett
References
Harvey, L., Cooke, P. and The Bishop Simeon Trust (2021). Reimagining voice for transrational peace education through participatory arts with South African youth. Journal of Peace Education, 18(1), pp.1–26. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/17400201.2020.1819217.
Harvey, L., Tordzro, G. and Bradley, J. (2022). Beyond and besides language: intercultural communication and creative practice. Language and Intercultural Communication, 22(2), pp.103–110. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2022.2049114.
MacLure, M. (2013). Researching without representation? Language and materiality in post-qualitative methodology. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 26(6), pp.658–667. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2013.788755.
Thurlow, C. (2016). Queering critical discourse studies or/and Performing ‘post-class’ ideologies. Critical Discourse Studies, 13(5), pp.485–514. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2015.1122646.