Thursday 28 November 2024
Seminar convenors: Massimiliano Demata (University of Turin) and Kim Grego (University of Milan)
Room 3D233, Department of Cultures, Politics and Society
University of Turin, Lungo Dora Siena 100, Turin 10153
English language, translation and linguistics (Angl01/C, formerly L-Lin/12) is a required course in almost all undergraduate and graduate programmes of Political and Social Sciences Faculties throughout Italy. As a consequence, a significant number of researchers and professors over the years have been employed or have joined Departments within such Faculties, initially or partly for didactic purposes, but later or even immediately developing an interest in researching English in the fields of Political and Social Sciences.
Like in classic language and literature university programmes, scholars of English are fully involved in the academic life of their Departments; unlike in language-specific programmes, though, linguists teach in a challenging and diverse environment, which encompasses several other disciplines and is strictly connected to the global world we live in. This has often led to the development of interdisciplinary methodologies and flexible as well as heterodox approaches to teaching English, often in constant dialogue with the major non-linguistic disciplines constituting the core of the students’ syllabi in these departments, such as Sociology, International relations, Politics, etc.
This initiative intends to explore precisely this singular aspect of our work, at both the didactic and the research level. What good practices are there to share among language practitioners of English in departments of Politics and Social Sciences? What are the educational challenges we face? How does the environment we work in shape and direct our research? What are the latest trends in our field(s), and can we ourselves be trend-setters in the English taught at Political and Social Sciences? To these exploratory questions, many others may certainly be added. In addition, our work at the forefront of faculties and programmes deeply immersed in current affairs and political and social matters provides endless opportunities to promote public engagement (terza missione) initiatives.
This one-day meeting is being proposed as an opportunity for all those involved and/or interested in this environment to meet and exchange information, practices, ideas, thoughts – a (possibly ongoing) lab to monitor and promote our work and, why not, showcase it to colleagues, students, institutions and the public for what it is: a distinctive specialised field with enormous educational and social relevance. A collective, round-table-style discussion involving all participants will be followed by four sessions with short papers (10-15 minutes each) addressing some aspect of the scholar’s research which is directly connected to the activities offered in their course of study (UG and/or PG).
