Building and supporting a strong research agenda on language and social justice are at the heart of the initiative and its goals. To do so, the LEP is hiring a post-doctoral fellow at the associate level with expertise in one or more of the following areas (which are not represented in core TT faculty positions in stakeholder departments participating in the Language Engagement Project): Sociolinguistics (focus on race and/or gender), Forensic Linguistics (focus on linguistic discrimination and/or profiling), Applied Linguistics (focus on linguistic diversity and/or race in education and policy), and/or Linguistic Anthropology (focus on indigenous peoples and languages as they relate to linguistic diversity, race, and social justice).

This Colloquium Series will feature prominent scholars in Sociolinguistics, linguistic and cultural diversity and related fields who will present their scholarly work and guide our conversation about the danger of linguistic and cultural biases. These talks will be open to members of the university and the surrounding community and will provide opportunities for further dialogue and programming among faculty and students at Rutgers and community members. As a key part of this colloquium series, undergraduates will have the opportunity to meet separately with and read further information about the guest speakers. This exchange will be a crucial component leading up to and following up on the talks themselves.

With funding from the SAS and the Language Center, we are creating a public website that will be an interactive, multimedia display of linguistic and cultural diversity at Rutgers University and the surrounding community, which will also serve as a database for research. The site will incorporate data visualization and search components that will benefit students, researchers, and policy makers by informing them about our ethnic, racial, and linguistic composition. Through accompanying coursework, Aresty research assistantships, and independent studies, undergraduates will contribute to the site’s development, alongside the Postdoctoral Fellow.