The 2023 Conference on Scholarly Teaching and SoTL in Linguistics
We invite linguists to contribute to the collective understanding of the status of scholarly teaching and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in linguistics, and to share in the strategic planning for teaching in our field. This conference will be the first of its kind in linguistics and supports the vision of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA) to make intentional connections across their events and publications.
This NSF-supported conference will take place on July 8-9, 2023 at the LSA’s Summer Institute at UMass Amherst, and will have an option for virtual participation. Up to 40 conference presenters will receive a $350 stipend to support their participation. Selection of participant stipends will be determined after the abstract review process.
Three overarching questions will guide the conference:
- What strategies can we follow as a discipline to elevate the use of evidence-based teaching approaches and the status of SoTL work as scholarly work?
- How can teachers of linguistics advance justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in their classrooms and in the discipline?
- How can linguistic theory and the teaching of linguistics inform the teaching practices of other sciences?
The conference will include multiple opportunities for engagement by attendees. In addition to the more traditional presentations and plenary sessions, all in attendance will have opportunities to engage in dialogue and critical reflection. This format will allow attendees to reflect on the values they hold as teachers, reflect on their own teaching and learning experiences, share and acquire practical pedagogical tools, and set personal and professional goals for improving teaching in linguistics and across STEM more broadly.
Invited presenters
- Dr. April Baker-Bell is a transdisciplinary teacher-researcher-activist and Associate Professor of Language, Literacy, and English Education in the Department of English and Department of African American and African Studies at Michigan State University.
- Dr. Raj Chaudury is Associate Professor of Physics and Executive Director of the Innovation in Learning Center at the University of South Alabama. He also currently serves as the President of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL).
To co-create community, we will adopt a conference philosophy rooted in practices of justice and inclusion: transparency of expectations, creation of community agreements, structured and scaffolded activities, and the honoring of diverse experiences. We welcome and encourage submissions from linguists teaching in a broad range of departments and institutions, especially two-year colleges, Tribal Colleges or Universities, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and K-12 institutions.
Call for proposals
Scholars and teachers of linguistics at any level are invited to submit proposals. Presentations may be in the form of a 15-minute synchronous presentation or a poster.
The focus may include empirical research on teaching and learning, or highlight problems or innovations in linguistics teaching. Presentations addressing issues of linguistic justice and justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in the linguistics classroom are particularly encouraged. We encourage presenters to consider creative modes of presentation suitable for their content, such as including interaction akin to a demonstration.
We are especially interested in presentations that are framed around a clearly defined student learning goal and that engage with the teaching of a concept in a new or innovative way, apply existing pedagogies in a novel way to linguistics content, and/or promote justice through teaching.
Presentations may be delivered in English or American Sign Language.
Written abstracts may be up to 300 words in length (excluding references). Video abstract submissions must be captioned and may be up to 3.5 minutes in length. For video abstracts, please submit a link to your captioned video recording and provide your references in written format below (the timestamp on linked videos must be prior to the submission deadline). Please note: All abstract selection will be done through single blind review.
Abstracts should be submitted by 11:59PM local time on February 28, 2023 through Oxford Abstracts at the following link: https://tinyurl.com/CoSTaSiL23abstracts. Notification of acceptance will be sent by March 30, 2023.
This project is supported by the National Science Foundation Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program Grant no. 2228242, awarded to the Linguistic Society of America. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed on this page are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. For more information see: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2228242.
Scholarly Teaching in Linguistics 