UNH International Seminar Breaks Language Barriers

First Speaker is Sept. 22

By Tracy Manforte
UNH News Bureau

September 7, 2000

DURHAM, N.H. -- The New Hampshire International Seminar Series at the University of New Hampshire this year will explore language from a variety of angles, political to cultural. "Crossing Boundaries: Bilingualism, Culture and Education in the New Millennium" begins Friday, Sept. 22, with a guest lecture by Professor Monica Heller, of the University of Toronto.

Her talk, "Heated Language in a Cold Climate," begins at 4 p.m. in the Memorial Union Building (MUB) room 330. The lecture is free and open to the public and includes refreshments at 3:30 p.m.

Heller specializes in the political economy of language and identity, ideologies and practices of French and English in Canada. Her recent publications include "Linguistic Minorities and Modernity: A Sociolinguistic Ethnography"(1999) and "Voices of Authority: Education and Linguistic Differences," due out in December.

The International Seminar continues on Friday, Oct. 6, with Heinrich Wirth, director of Teacher's College of the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland.

Wirth, professor of educational psychology, will present "Languages and Language Education in a Multicultural and Multilingual Society: Switzerland and the Challenge of Globalization." His talk begins at 4 p.m. in the MUB room 330, preceded by refreshments at 3:30 p.m.

The following seminars also begin at 4 p.m. in the MUB, with refreshments at 3:30 p.m.:

  • Nov. 3: "The New Multilingualism of the Former Yugoslavia: Implications for Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro," with Professor Robert Greenberg, University of North Carolina.

  • Dec. 1: "English or Englishes? The Politics of Language and the Language of Politics in Nigeria," with Professor Toyin Falola, University of Texas.

  • Feb. 9: "Blurred Boundaries: New Media and the Public Sphere in Muslim-majority Societies," with Professor Dale Eickelman, Dartmouth College.

  • April 6: "Second Language Learning and Teaching in the United States: Retrospect and Prospect," with Professor Aleidine Moeller, University of Nebraska.

    • The New Hampshire International Seminar Series is sponsored by the UNH Center for International Education and the UNH Center for the Humanities Saul O Sidore Lecture Series, "Education for the New Millennium," with support from the Alumni Enrichment Fund. For more information, call 603-862-2398.

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