language and social justice – Center for Intercultural Dialogue

Manchester Metropolitan U: Language & Social Justice Fellowship (UK)

Research Fellow in Language and Social Justice, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK. Deadline: 29 May 2024.

The Department of Languages, Information and Communication comprises Languages, Linguistics and TESOL in addition to Journalism and Information Communication. The linguistic research academics work closely with colleagues in Sociology, Criminology, Education, and Health and many researchers contribute to advancing knowledge in language and social justice in innovative, impactful and expansive ways. This research explores how different models of social justice intersect with the various imaginings and functions of language within our various societies, examining its role in the creation and maintenance of societal inequality. Working with a range of national and international partners and stakeholders in education, charitable organisations, government, and media, the work seeks to challenge reductionist models of social justice as well as the hierarchy of voice that centres white, middle-class, monolingual and mono-dialectal norms. It explores social justice in a range of domains and in relation to various pressing issues such as racism, climate change, media bias, structural inequalities.

You will be an ambitious academic working in this area and has the beginnings of a track record in an area of Language and Social Justice. This might be an area in which we already work, or a new area which complements and expands on what we do. You will have a clear sense of how your work and the work of others challenges societal inequality. Requirements include doctoral level qualification in a related research area.

UC San Diego: Language & Social Justice (USA)

Assistant Professor of Communication in Language and Social Justice, University of California San Diego, CA Deadline: 14 October 2022; if not filled, applications accepted until 31 December 2022.

The ideal candidate will have an active and creative research and teaching program that focuses on the relationship between language and struggles for social justice particularly as they occur around race, indigeneity, gender, disability, class and nationality. Also of interest in how language becomes an instrument for perpetuating systems of exclusion and inequality, and at the same time a vehicle for framing alternative visions that challenge such systems. Areas of specialization may include: language and globalization, including bilingualism and multilingualism; language and decolonization; language and migration; language and learning systems; language and media culture; multimodality; political, moral, and legal discourses related to language; and ecolinguistics (the relation between language and the environment). They are open to candidates trained in communication, relevant areas of linguistics (such as sociolinguistics) or other relevant fields.

Successful candidates will have strong methodological skills that augment the department’s interdisciplinary program and strengths in cultural and historical analysis, institutional analysis (including political economy), comparative analysis, ethnography and textual and discourse analysis, and community based participatory research. Candidates from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds and/or with a research focus on LatinX or other underrepresented language communities are encouraged to apply.