This event has already taken place.
Join us in the Howard Thurman Center on Wednesday, November 13th! BU Today describes the Celebration of Multilingual Writing as “a chance to showcase the rich diversity of languages and cultures that make up BU.[…]The event will feature poster presentations, digital work, an open-mic corner, games, and an arts area. And with the impressive diversity of languages represented—Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Hungarian, and Ukrainian, to name a few—it’s a chance to take a trip around the world without leaving campus. The celebration is also intended to draw attention to the concept of linguistic justice. ‘When we think of linguistic justice, it’s about access to language, expression, and knowledge production,’ [event coordinator Abir] Ward says. ‘So we’re constantly working on raising awareness about the importance of allowing people the freedom to express themselves in their own language and to celebrate this linguistic background.’”
Call for Participation
We invite faculty, staff, students, and the entire Boston University community to participate in the inaugural 2024 Celebration of Multilingual Writing, taking place on Wednesday, November 13, from 10:00-4:00 at the Howard Thurman Center. This event aims to showcase the rich diversity of languages, cultures, and forms of expression present within our community. We hope to increase appreciation for our multilingual and multicultural community, for linguistic diversity, and for the many forms of expression that coexist within our university. Together, we can create a space where all voices are heard, valued, and celebrated.
Dr. Abir Ward, Lecturer in the Writing Program and coordinator of the Celebration, stresses the impact this event will have for the multilingual communities on campus: “This celebration is a way to ensure linguistic justice and also to decentralize English as an academic language,” says Dr. Ward. We hope that the event provides a dynamic platform for students, faculty, and staff to express themselves in various formats. Throughout the event, music from around the world will be played, creating an atmosphere that celebrates global cultures and enhances the overall experience.
The Celebration falls within the 13th annual International Education Week (November 11-15), sponsored by Global Programs at BU.
Details for faculty and for students interested in participating in the event are below. If you are interested in displaying work, please email writing@bu.edu at this point. All are welcome to drop by the Howard Thurman Center on the day of the event.
Sponsored by CAS Writing Program, CAS World Languages & Literatures, CAS Romance Studies, Global Programs, and the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground.
Faculty
Student work will be primarily displayed on double-sided, self-standing poster boards that can be arranged horizontally or vertically, depending on the nature of the projects. Each poster board will provide ample space for students to present their multimodal writing projects, with pin board dimensions of 45” x 91” and pushpins provided for attaching papers.
These boards will serve as the centerpiece of the celebration, providing a visually engaging way for students to share their work with the broader university community. Each faculty member would be allocated a single side of a double-sided board for each section presenting.
We invite you to design assignments that allow your entire class to participate in this celebration. Engage your students in creative works, oral histories, journalism or personal essays, research-based or analytical writing, and more–anything that reflects their linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This is an opportunity to embrace and celebrate the multilingual voices in your classrooms and to question the dominance of English and standard English ideologies. You are encouraged to plan to bring your entire class or just the works of a few students. All are also welcome to drop by the celebration to take in the rich array of writing, stories, and music that others are sharing, even if none of your students is participating. We encourage faculty to promote participation in this celebration, as it provides a unique opportunity for students to present their work in a public setting, gain recognition for their efforts, and engage with their peers in a meaningful way.
Wondering how you can design assignments to encourage multilingual student participation, or why this celebration matters?
- Allow students to submit work in their native languages or in any combination of linguistic varieties.
- Acknowledge that the dominance of English in academia has marginalized other languages, contributing to linguicism or linguistic injustice.
- Incorporate oral histories and non-textual sources as legitimate knowledge.
- Embrace oral histories, storytelling, or other non-written forms of knowledge as a tool of for multilingual students.
- Help decolonize language by challenging the dominance of Western, text-based epistemologies.
- Recognize and validate alternative modes of knowledge transmission and expression to disrupt the linguistic hierarchies that have historically marginalized non-Western ways of knowing.
- Support BU’s efforts to foster a more inclusive and equitable academic environment.
- Analyze language’s role in knowledge production and marginalization.students to critically examine how certain languages become privileged while others are devalued in academic spheres.
In particular, Writing Program faculty may want to use one of a particular set of prompts and/or encourage student participation by awarding an extra labor unit (if using contract grading). More information and suggested writing activities are available here.
Students and Staff
Whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student, a staff member, or a member of the larger BU community, we invite you to showcase your work and your voice at this event. Creative writers, journalists, researchers, musicians, and academics are all welcome to share their pieces in various languages and dialects, including but not limited to sign languages, Chinglish, Hinglish, Spanglish, and African American English. You are welcome to speak or read, or allow your writing to speak for you. If you conduct research into translingualism, bilingualism, or second language acquisition, we would also love for you to share insights from your work.
Wondering how to participate?
- Sign up to join our storytelling corner, performing spoken word poetry or prose
- Volunteer to participate in live musical performances and/or dance
- Share your work and interests on poster boards or digital posters as a solo writer/researcher or as part of a group
- Drop by anytime during the day of November 13th just to observe the event, listen to performances, and interact with other presenters
We will be offering 10-15 minute presentation slots on the hour every hour from 10:00-3:00; students, faculty, or staff can sign up to deliver poetry readings, perform other spoken word pieces, or even showcase their musical talents.
