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Event

Homecoming: Linguistic Diversity and Inclusion in the Digital Age

Friday, October 25, 2024 10:00
Room 1041, 10th floor
680 Sherbrooke St. West
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 2M7 CANADA
Price: 
Free

In a multicultural and multilingual country such as Canada, language issues and language politics are omnipresent. And yet, linguistic diversity is all too often a missing category of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives and strategic plans. What exactly is linguistic diversity, and how can it be measured? What is the role of multilingualism and linguistic diversity in EDI? And, perhaps most importantly, why should linguistic diversity matter to us at all?

In this panel discussion, we will consider linguistic diversity as an intrinsically EDI concern. We'll delve into the correlation between linguistic diversity and creativity and innovation as drivers of equitable and inclusive societal growth; the connection between linguistic diversity and diverse knowledge building in academia and beyond; and how linguistic diversity and cognitive health correlate. We'll also consider how these often neglected benefits of linguistic diversity contribute to the development of more inclusive and socially-sustainable communities.
 
Linguistic diversity is also a concern that has particular relevance to the digital space. In today's increasingly digitalized world, a language that does not have a digital voice, is a language that does not exist. How can linguistic diversity be preserved in the digital age? Are digital technologies, including AI, contributing positively to preserving and promoting linguistic and cultural diversity, especially in the case of digitally-disadvantaged languages, such us Indigenous languages? What barriers to inclusion are faced by minority languages in the digital space, and how might digital technologies be designed so as to promote linguistic diversity?
 
Join our interdisciplinary panel of experts in their exploration of these and many other critical questions, and learn how language, EDI concerns, and technology intersect in ways you may not have considered before.
 

Moderator:

Carola Weil, Dean of Continuing Studies
 

Panelists:

María Sierra Córdoba Serrano, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director, M.Sc.(A) in Multilingual Digital Communication, McGill School of Continuing Studies 
 
Michael David Miller, Associate Librarian, McGill University Libraries

Cecily Raynor, Associate Professor of Digital Humanities, Undergraduate Program Director (LLC) & Director of Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACS), McGill University
 
Siva Reddy, Assistant Professor, School of Computer Science and Department of Linguistics, McGill University, Canada CIFAR AI Chair
 
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