EXPLORING LANGUAGE AND ADVOCATING FOR LINGUISTIC JUSTICE

In academic settings, languages and language varieties are not created equal. A strict hierarchy places a particular variety of English, the “Standard,” at the top, with other forms of language often labeled as inappropriate or incorrect. This hierarchy can devalue and silence minoritized speakers, limiting the perspectives and knowledge available for investigation and cutting off powerful approaches to research and learning. In summer of 2020, an interdisciplinary group of faculty at Stony Brook University began meeting online to discuss topics related to language and social justice, and to consider how those topics manifested themselves in their teaching and research and how a more equitable university environment could be created. These discussions, which continue, have led to several concrete results so far: a workshop series offered to the university and university-connected educational communities; a grant to purchase texts for discussion and to invite speakers; the development of a resource page for faculty; changed language on the university website, and the start of several long-term projects, a language survey, and videotaped interviews that will showcase the linguistic diversity on campus.