4/30: William Labov

Dr. William Labov, widely regarded as the founder of the discipline of variationist sociolinguistics, is coming to speak this Friday, April 30th! He has been described as “an enormously original and influential figure who has created much of the methodology” of sociolinguistics. “Formation of Consensus in the Speech Community” William Labov, PhD Professor of Linguistics, [...]

Overview

Dear linguists, Here’s wishing you a delightful spring break, wherever you’re going (or staying)! For your reading pleasure, here’s an overview of upcoming events: March 26-27: The Trace Foundation: “Minority Languages in Today’s Global Society: Perspectives on Language Standardization.” The lecture will focus on Tibetan, Kurdish, and Hungarian. March 26: Professor Julia Hirschberg, Computer Science [...]

3/31: Ann Senghas on Nicaraguan Sign Language

Co-organizers Harrison White and Corinne Kirchner are pleased to announce the latest Workshop on Meaning: Language and Socio-cultural Processes. Ann Senghas, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology, Barnard College, New York: “Social Scaffolding for Language Genesis: Why Nicaraguan Sign Language Emerged When, Where and How it Did” *** Nicaraguan sign language was spontaneously developed by deaf children [...]

11/19: Paul Kockelman

PLEASE NOTE: THIS LECTURE HAS BEEN MOVED. It will now take place in room 702 Hamilton Hall, at the same time (6pm on Thursday, 11/19). Harrison White and Corinne Kirchner, co-organizers of the “Workshop on Meaning: Language and Socio-cultural Processes” are pleased to announce: PAUL KOCKELMAN, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Anthropology Barnard College, New York [...]

4/27: John Mohr – Formal Methods, Structural Models & the Sociology of Culture

Harrison White and Corinne Kirchner, co-organizers of the – Workshop on Meaning: Language and Socio-cultural Processes – are pleased to announce: John Mohr, PhD Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara Formal Methods, Structural Models & the Sociology of Culture The new formalism in the sociology of culture builds on structural linguistics and semiotic theory; it [...]

TODAY: Sally McConnell-Ginet – Wars or Words and Wills

Sally McConnell-Ginet, Ph.D. Professor Emerita and Past Chair, Linguistics, Cornell University WARS OR WORDS AND WILLS This talk develops further views on the interplay of word meaning and sociopolitical conflict that have dominated much of my recent work in semantics and pragmatics. I consider why and how defining can be a locus for social struggle [...]