Thanks to the 120 persons who recently participated in Rights, Rules and Rhetoric: Exploring Language for and about Migrants in Australia, Europe and North America. This was the first public program sponsored by Brandeis University’s Language, Culture and Justice Hub, with conveners hailing from the three continents. Participants logged on from 19 countries across the globe, including several in Africa and Latin America. We appreciated the open and thoughtful discourse that occurred during the 48-hour event and over multiple thematic discussion boards. The lively back-and-forth brought forward numerous thought-provoking ideas about communicative rights and language access, and it suggested new ways to emphasize, problematize, decolonize, and prioritize the ways in which migrants and migration are (mis)(re)presented via language.
We thank our partner institutions and facilitators for their important contributions to the event, and the Rice Family Foundation for its financial support. Summaries and next steps from the exchange will be available in the near future. In the meantime, please visit the Hub’s newly updated migration theme page for a wealth of resources relevant to language, culture and migration. Suggestions for additions to this theme page may be sent to [email protected].