Multiculturalism and Language Contact conference to be held in Macedonia

CALL FOR PAPERS

MULTICULTURALISM AND LANGUAGE CONTACT

An International Scholarly Conference organized by the Max van der Stoel Institute at South East European University and the Research Center for Areal Linguistics at the Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences Balkan peoples in the course of centuries of living in a multicultural and multilingual environment have attempted to interpret the world around them in a common fashion while at the same time preserving a variety of distinctive features, such as language and dialect. Significant cultural interactions, especially during the attested period of the Balkan Linguistic League, have brought about the convergence of inherited linguistic structures in the respective Balkan languages combined with varieties of common lexical elements, all conducive to more effective communication among the peoples involved.

At a time when some political actors are seeking to convince various publics that "they have nothing a common" (a phrase deployed stridently during the Yugoslav Wars of Succession), this conference seeks to bring new perspectives to the roles of multiculturalism and language contact as vital factors in mutual understanding and a shared worldview, a topic that is both timely and in need of deeper scholarly engagement. Papers dealing with the peoples and languages of the Balkans (as well as Balkan peoples and languages living beyond the Balkans) are especially welcome, but any paper relevant to the main themes of the conference is eligible to be submitted for consideration (see below).

The conference will be held 31 August - 1 September 2017 at the Campus of Southeast European University in Tetovo.

Registration: 50 euros (includes conference dinner and an excursion on 2 September)

The organizers will provide accommodation for participants from abroad.

Abstracts should contain the title, the author's name and affiliation, and a brief description of not more than 500 words (excluding references). The file should be saved as doc, docx, or pdf and the name should be LAST-NAME_TITLE-KEYWORD. Abstracts should be sent as an attachment to mvdsi@seeu.edu.mk no later than 15 May 2017. Potential participants will be informed of their acceptance by 30 May 2017.

For the Organizers

Prof. Victor A. Friedman (University of Chicago and La Trobe University)
Prof. Marjan Markovikj (Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences and U. of Skopje)
Prof. Veton Latifi (South East European University)