Language∙n∙Justice Aine M.

In this Language•n•Justice conversation, I chat with Symone Varnado, founder and CEO of Merp, a cannabis company with a social justice mission. We talk about the framing of cannabis over its history in the U.S., the significant and lasting effects of the War on Drugs, and how negative associations carry over from marginalized groups to the things they are associated with—like dialects, and also like cannabis. Learn more at merp.page and stay tuned for their official launch on 4/20!REFER...

In this episode, we talk about Indigenous languages, language endangerment and extinction, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has made a precarious situation even worse.REFERENCESArchambault, J. (2021, Jan. 24). How Covid-19 threatens native languages. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/24/opinion/covid-lakota-language.htmlArrazola, J., et al. (2020). COVID-19 mortality among American Indian and Alaska Native persons—14 states, January—June 2020. U.S. Department of Health and Huma...

This is an episode about the education system, and the many linguistic injustices that exist within it. We talk about how students are often at a disadvantage if they don't come into the classroom with a pre-existing fluency in the dominant language, and also how educators can face discrimination based on their accents, before diving into specific examples of times the school system has made an effort to create a better learning environment for students in multicultural contexts.REFERENCES AP...

This is an episode about linguistic injustice in the healthcare industry. We talk about how hard it can be for people to listen when they don't understand and how this can create urgent oversights, and we list some (disturbing) cases of intercultural communication in the medical setting that have led to devastating losses.REFERENCES Boochani, B. (2016, December 29). Faysal Ishak Ahmed’s life was full of pain. Australia had a duty to protect him. The Guardian. www.theguardian.com/commentisfree...

This is an episode about linguistic injustice in the legal system. We talk about the many ways that language intersects with the law, cases where linguists have helped justice be served, and cases where the lack of linguistic intervention caused major problems.REFERENCES CBS News. (2013, July 30). Protesters across U.S. turn out in support of Trayvon Martin [Video]. Youtube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7D6HuQIIkM Davies, D. (2017, August 22). FBI profiler says linguistic work was pivotal i...

This is an episode about language and the judgments about it we all make. We talk about fundamental concepts in sociolinguistics and intercultural communication, and ask how on earth people get through an interaction without misunderstanding one another.REFERENCESBaugh, J. (2003). Linguistic profiling. In S. Makoni, G. SMitherman, A.F. Ball, & A. K. Spears (Eds.), Black linguistics: Language, society, and politics in Africa and the Americas (pp. 155–163). Routledge.Foley, W. (1997). Anthr...