Announcement & Call for Participation: 1st Kansai Sociolinguistics Colloquium for Young Researchers @ Doshisha University, Institute for the Liberal Arts

The Doshisha University Institute for the Liberal Arts in cooperation with the University of Bremen (Germany) is initiating the first colloquium for young researchers in the field of sociolinguistics. We invite graduate students, postdoctoral, and early-career researchers to participate in our colloquium and present their current work. The aim of the colloquium is to connect young scholars in the field of sociolinguistics (broadly imagined) and provide a supportive space to discuss their ongoing research. Our focus is to provide a forum for feedback for emerging academics and their unfinished research projects. The conference will be an in-person-only event, and the conference presentation language will be English (with support for Japanese, German, and Spanish during the Q&A and informal spaces). The colloquium will be held at Doshisha University (Imadegawa), on 12 July 2025. Depending on the interest of participants, we plan on several thematic sessions to group scholars of similar sub-fields together, to create an ideal working environment. Each participant will have 10 minutes to present, preparing the audience and the mentors for a 20-minute discussion guided by the presenter. This should leave ample room for feedback and productive criticism. As we are focusing on young researchers, we will refrain from charging a participation fee. We will reserve space for lunch at a local, reasonably-priced restaurant. We also plan to invite all participants for informal drinks in Kyoto after the Colloquium.

The guiding topic of the Colloquium is “Critical Sociolinguistics in a Modern World”, focusing on Japan, Japanese, or any other context worldwide. The invitation is open to any approach within sociolinguistics as well as researchers outside of linguistics interested in language. We welcome submissions from all areas of sociolinguistics, including but not limited to:

● Language and Power
● Language Ideologies
● Multilingualism and Linguistic Inequality
● Race, Ethnicity, and Linguistic Discrimination
● Gender, Sexuality, and Language
● Migration, Mobility, and Language
● Digital Communication
● Ethnography of Communication
● Pragmatics
● Postcolonial Language Studies, Indigenous Language Studies, and Decolonial Linguistics

Abstracts are to be submitted here, containing no more than 300 words, an area of study, and institutional affiliation, by 6 June 2025 (11 a.m. JST).

Timeline:

● Call for papers ends: 6 June 2025, 11 a.m. (JST)
● Notification of results: 13 June 2025
● Registration opens: 13 June 2025
● Registration closes: 4 July 2025, 11 a.m. (JST)

Questions and concerns can be addressed via email to lgrausam@uni-bremen.de Organizing committee:
● Greg Poole – Doshisha University, Institute for the Liberal Arts
● Leon Grausam – University of Bremen, Faculty for Linguistics and Literary Studies

For more information: https://sites.google.com/view/kansaisoclincolloc/home