Past events from 2023-2024

Students and faculty are invited to attend a series of events throughout the fall and winter sessions at UTM addressing topics on multilingualism that range from the effect of multilingualism on literary texts and one’s sociocultural identity to the issue of language teaching and learning, to language acquisition and language change.

Detailed information about the events can be found on the multilingualism website. 

This series of events is funded by the Jackman Humanities Institute Annual Seminar grant.

Please note that the talk originally scheduled for February 14 has been rescheduled for March 6.

The 2023-24 UTM/JHI Annual Seminar on Multilingualism invites faculty, students, and community members at large to attend our end-of-term distinguished lectures given by Professor Alex Mullen (University of Nottingham) and Dr. Franck Cinato (CNRS, Paris). Both lectures will introduce new evidence and interpretations of the complex multilingual societies of Roman Gaul and the Carolingian Renaissance.

Where: MN 3230 (CDRS), UTM campus

When: Friday, April 5th, 11:00 am to 2:00 pm

A catered lunch will be served from 12:00-1:00. All attendees are welcome.

This is a hybrid event. If you plan to attend via Zoom, please register here.

Last-minute attendees are always welcome, but if you know in advance that you will attend, please register here.

Le séminaire annuel 2023-24 UTM/JHI sur le multilinguisme a le plaisir de vous inviter à nos conférences de fin de semestre données par le professeur Alex Mullen (Université de Nottingham) et le Dr. Franck Cinato (CNRS, Paris). Ces deux conférences présenteront de nouvelles preuves et interprétations des sociétés multilingues complexes de la Gaule romaine et de la Renaissance carolingienne.

Date : Vendredi 5 avril, de 11h00 à 14h00

Lieu : MN 3230 (CDRS), campus de l'UTM

Un déjeuner sera servi de 12h00 à 13h00. Toutes et tous les participant.e.s sont les bienvenu.e.s.

La conférence se tiendra en mode hybride via Zoom et en personne. Si vous prévoyez de participer via Zoom, veuillez vous inscrire ici.

Les participant.e.s de dernière minute sont toujours les bienvenu.e.s, mais si vous savez à l'avance que vous serez présent.e, veuillez vous inscrire ici.

Applications for the 2nd cohort of the Minor in Global Leadership opened on March 1, 2024. To find out what the program offers, join us via Zoom on April 4 from 3 to 4pm.

Register for this event.

For more details, refer to this document:

LAST CALL: Avez-vous un talent que vous aimeriez partager?

We are still accepting acts for our French talent show!

Please contact Sima Farsandaj (sima.farsandaj@utoronto.ca) if interested in participating.

Our Soirée des Talents (French Talent Show) takes place this Wednesday, March 27!

Join us in the MiST theatre (CCT), 5pm-7pm.

Everyone is welcome to attend!

Language policies target language behaviour, sometimes with the aim of revitalising languages which might be in danger because of assimilatory policies in the past. However, it is notoriously difficult to assess their effects. This talk discusses language use and competence in the Indigenous Sámi populations of Norway and Sweden, comparing educational, linguistic, and budgetary policies in each country. Sámi language use and proficiency are somewhat higher in Norway, which seems to reflect the more favourable policies adopted there.

Tanja Kupisch is Professor of Linguistics and Member of the Excellence Cluster "The Politics of Inequality” at the University of Konstanz. Her research is concerned with bilingualism from different perspectives, including child language acquisition, adult heritage speakers, trilingualism and bilectalism, focussing on syntax and phonology. Another research focus is the link between language vitality and language policy in multilingual minorities. She is co-editor of the journal Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism.   

Applications for the 2nd cohort of the Minor in Global Leadership opened on March 1, 2024. To find out what the program offers, join us in person from 11am to 12pm.

Register for this event by March 13, 2024, 12am.

For more details, refer to this document:

Faculty, students, and any other community members are invited to participate in a workshop on plurilingual education in the Canadian context. March 7 from 5pm to 7pm at UTM: MN 3230 (CDRS). Invited scholar: Prof. Gail Prasad (York University); Supported by the Jackman Humanities Institute.

Les professeurs, les étudiants et les membres de la communauté intéressés par les dernières recherches sur l'évaluation des différences individuelles dans l'acquisition d'une langue seconde sont chaleureusement invité.e.s à se joindre à la professeure Daphnée Simard (UQAM) pour un atelier pratique dans le cadre du sixième événement du Séminaire annuel du JHI sur le Multilinguisme : Réflexion sur une réalité globale à travers le temps, l'espace, l'esprit et le texte. La professeure Simard familiarisera les participants avec la notion de variables individuelles, en particulier les variables cognitives telles que l'attention, la mémoire et l'aptitude linguistique, et donnera un aperçu des différents tests permettant de mesurer ces variables. Les participants seront invitées à essayer certains des tests présentés. 

Veuillez trouver l'affiche ci-jointe et la diffuser largement.  

Il s'agit d'un événement uniquement en présentiel. Un repas léger sera servi.

Les participants de dernière minute sont toujours les bienvenus, mais si vous savez à l'avance que vous serez présent.e, nous vous prions d'envoyer un courriel aux organisateurs afin qu'ils aient une idée approximative du nombre de participants: michelle.troberg@utoronto.ca. 

Date et heure : mercredi 6 mars 2024, 11h00-13h00 

Lieu: MN 6128

You are invited to attend a special interview and presentation by Gay Italian Nonna (Digital Creator).

Monica — aka Gay Italian Nonna — is a vibrant content creator and storyteller dedicated to amplifying LGBTQ+ voices and fostering inclusivity. As a neurodivergent individual, she brings a unique perspective that speaks to the experiences and needs of others like her. 'Nonna', meaning grandmother in Italian, embodies the spirit of love, self-acceptance, and lifting others — a true reflection of her Italian heritage and first-generation Canadian identity.

The event will take place on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 at 10AM in IB 377.

Any questions can be directed to Dr. Tatiana Selepiuc (tatiana.selepiuc@utoronto.ca).

Join us for a celebration of the Lantern Festival!

This event will take place in MN 5128 on Wednesday, February 28, from 5:30pm until 7pm.

All are welcome!

IMACC is hosting a Virtual Games Night, scheduled for Friday, February 16, 2024, from 6:30-8:30 PM on Zoom. It's going to be an evening filled with fun, laughter, and friendly competition, and we'd love for you to join us!

You are invited to attend a special talk by Dr. Paolo Frascà (Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Italian Studies, UofT) on "Queer Identities in Italy and in the Diaspora."

The talk will take place on Wednesday, February 14, 2024 at 9:10AM in IB 377.

Please see attached announcement for details.

Any questions can be directed to Dr. Tatiana Selepiuc (tatiana.selepiuc@utoronto.ca)

Students are invited to celebrate the Lunar New Year of the Dragon in this festive event on Wednesday, February 7, from 5:30 pm to 7 pm in room MN5128.

Faculty, students, and any other community members interested in reflecting on employability both as an auditory and racialized construct: please join Dr. Vijay Ramjattan (OISE/UofT) for the fifth event of the JHI Annual Seminar on Multilingualism: Reflecting on a Global Reality through Time, Space, Mind and Text. Dr. Ramjattan will draw on a study of how international students make sense of sounding employable for the Canadian labour market, which specifically details the ideological role of vocal accent in determining the racialized sound of employability. After presenting various examples from the study, the presentation will conclude with a call for public pedagogies that challenge individual and institutional listening practices in the context of the workplace.

This is a hybrid event: everyone is welcome! Light refreshments will be served for in-person attendees.

Thursday, January 25, 2024 @ 3:00-4:30pm
MN 5128
Please register if joining online: https://uoft.me/ramjattan 

What are you doing on Friday, December 8^th? Are you interested in multilingualism? Drop by and join our student community for in-person talks, lightening talks, and posters on topics related to multilingualism including multilingual/bilingual/second language use and acquisition, education, cultural objects including literary texts, and identities. Check out the program here:

Everyone is welcome and admission is free.

     Where: MN3230 (CDRS)

     When: 9:00am-5:00pm

     This is a hybrid event, so you may also drop in! 

     Register here for the Zoom link: https://uoft.me/studentsymposium

This is the fourth event in the JHI Seminar Series Multilingualism: Reflecting on a Global Reality through Time, Space, Mind and Text. We are grateful for the support of the Centre for Educational Research on Languages and Literacies (CERLL), OISE; the Department of Language Studies, UTM; the Jackman Humanities Institute; and the SSHRC Grant, “Heritage Language Acquisition and Maintenance in a Trilingual context” (2017-2024).

Stay tuned for more in 2024!

Join us for game night on November 29, 2023 in MN 2190 from 6pm to 8pm.

You're in for an evening packed with games, trivia, prizes, and unforgettable memories!

RSVP via this form.

@utm_imacc

We're excited to announce that Professor Ai Taniguchi will be giving a talk on embracing linguistic diversity as part of International Education Week. 

Come find out how various languages work from a scientific perspective and experience how complex, dynamic, and intriguing the linguistic expression of self can be! 

This talk takes place on November 16, 2023 in KN 130 from 1-2pm.

Register at uoft.me/utm-iew

As you approach the end of your first semester, Pathways to Programs (P2P) will allow you to prepare for applying for your program of study (POSt) in March. 

Join this event hosted by the Office of the Registrar, Career Centre, and the Centre for Student Engagement to explore program options, understand the POSt system, and align your academic path with future career prospects.

Drop by the Kaneff Rotunda anytime between 10am and 3pm on November 15. Express program selection workshops will be taking place at 10pm and 2pm in KN 108. Learn more at uoft.me/P2P.

The comics from the L'IMAGE Project (created by Professor Ai Taniguchi) will be on display in the CCT Atrium, from 11am until 1pm on November 14, 2023 as part of International Education Week!

Come learn about some of the languages, experiences, and stories of our multilingual students.

Learn more about International Education Week events at uoft.me/utm-iew.

We're excited to welcome Dr. John Ippolito (Faculty of Education, York University) to give a talk for the 3rd event in our Jackman Humanities Institute (JHI) Seminar Series on Multilingualism!

The event will take place in MN 3230 (CDRS), and you can also join via Zoom.

Abstract

This presentation reports on an international comparative research project examining the (in)formal language learning and social integration experiences of adult migrants.

It is set within a contemporary global migration context where language barriers can prevent full participation in host societies (Burns & Roberts, 2010). Conceptually, the project links transnationalism (Glick Schiller, Basch, & Szanton Blanc, 1995) to translanguaging (Lewis et al., 2012a, 2012b), thereby linking movement across migratory spaces to movement across communicative resources. 

Methodologically, the project draws on surveys of adult language learners (n=76); follow-up interviews with six migrants in each of three research sites (n=18); and surveys with adult education providers (n=11). The data were collected in 2021 from three transit or destination settings for newcomers: the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada; Erie County in Pennsylvania in the United States; and the province of Agrigento in Sicily, Italy.

In taking a “migrant-centric” (McAuliffe, Kitimbo, Goossens, & Ullah, 2017, p. 175) perspective, this presentation explores three core findings: firstly, the vast majority of migrants report acting agentively in their language choices for reasons including social integration; secondly, migrants prioritize speaking and listening skills in formal and informal learning contexts; thirdly, translanguaging among participants is not a uniform tendency.

Prof. Liz Coulson will be giving a talk as part of the Lecture Me! series on Nov. 7 at 7pm!

In this talk, you will have the opportunity to imagine a futuristic classroom, while reflecting on the warnings and cautions from the founders of the technologies themselves. Learn about current research on assessing immersive technologies as they are used to support vulnerable learners and the promise of AI and VR environments as a safe training space for future teachers.

Register at uoft.me/lectureme

You are invited to attend a talk by Dr. Ryan Calabretta-Sajder (University of Arkanas) on “Moda all’italiana/Fashion, Italian Style: Made in Italy. Branding. Sustainability.”

The talk takes place on Tuesday, November 7 (3:10pm-5pm).

Please email our colleague, Dr. Adriana Grimaldi (adriana.grimaldi@utoronto.ca), for the Zoom registration details.

Interested in attending UTM? Please come meet us at the Arts Programs Fair in the Maanjiwe nendamowninan building!

More information can be found on the Fall Campus Day website.

Remember to register!

As part of the 2023-24 Jackman Humanities Seminar, “Multilingualism: Reflecting on a Global Reality through Time, Space, Mind and Text”, the Department of Language Studies, University of Toronto Mississauga, will host a Student Research Symposium on Friday, December 8.

Abstracts (maximum 300 words) from UofT undergraduate and graduate students are invited for in-person talks (20 minutes each), lightning talks (5 minutes each) or posters on all topics related to multilingualism including but not limited to multilingual/bilingual/second language use & acquisition, education, cultural objects including literary texts, and identities.

Prizes will be awarded for the best talks/posters (1^st: $300, 2^nd: $200, 3^rd: $100).

Abstracts should be sent to the symposium’s organizers, Profs. Mihaela Pirvulescu (ma.pirvulescu@utoronto.ca) and Jeffrey Steele (jeffrey.steele@utoronto.ca), by 11:59pm EST on Friday, November 10.

Professor Teresa Lobalsamo will be delivering a series of talks ("A Mouthwatering History of Italian Food") at the Ted Rogers Hot Docs Cinema, beginning Friday, October 27 (10am-12pm).

Registration is required.

Learn more and register at the Hot Docs website.

TESA will be hosting another Information Session for students interested in pursuing teacher education.

This session will take place via Zoom, from 12:30pm until 1:30pm.

Registration is required.

Are you interested in a career in teaching?

Are you applying to OISE and don't know where to begin?

Meet up with TESA, UTM professors, and graduate students to learn more about pathways in education.

Come to ask questions about application processes, EDS, and more!

The event is open to all DLS students in any year. 

The location will be in person and virtual this Friday, October 20th from 12:30 - 1:30 pm in the presentation room of the Student Centre. 

Here is the Zoom registration link for those joining virtually: https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sd-igqzspGd1ciC3q_jn_8FieBfAizyX6

Come learn about the early history and development of the traditional Chinese musical instrument Guqin, as well as “The Ancient Tea Horse Road" on Thursday, October 5. 

Guqin master Diana Tang will perform the pieces “Drunken Joy” and “Three Stanzas on Plum Blossoms”, and tea sommelier Meng Xi will share incense and tea in a tea ceremony.

Join us in MN5128 at 5:30 p.m.. 

We’re excited to welcome Raymond and Françoise Mougeon from Glendon College, York University, who will be giving a talk on the acquisition of verbal inflection by French-English bilinguals as the second event in our seminar series on "Multilingualism: Reflecting on a Global Reality through Time, Space, Mind, and Text". 

The talk takes place on Thursday, October 5, 2023; 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.

Join us in person (MN3230 (CDRS)) or via Zoom (https://uoft.me/bilingual-register).

Abstract: This study examines the acquisition of the use of 3pl. markings of French verbs by speakers along an enhanced French L1 – L2 speaker continuum, namely i) bilingual (French/English) students attending French-medium high schools in the Francophone communities of Hawkesbury, Cornwall, North Bay and Pembroke, Ontario, ii) FSL high school students enrolled in an immersion program in Toronto and iii) FSL students attending a bilingual university college, also in Toronto. It documents the impact of the following factors: i) the discursive frequency of the verbs; ii) the proportion of Francophones in the students’ communities of residence; iii) the students’ individual frequency of extra-curricular use of French; (iv) use of the 3pl. verb markings by teachers in French-medium schools and French Immersion programs and v) use of the 3pl. verb markings in the varieties of French spoken in the four Franco-Ontarian communities. Our study examines the role of these factors in the intergroup hierarchies in rates of acquisition of the 3pl. verb markings along the enhanced speaker continuum. 

This event is sponsored by the Jackman Humanities Institute. 

Join us on Thursday, September 28 to discover the traditions of the Mid-Autumn Festival!

Learn about the cultural significance of the festival while enjoying delicious mooncakes. You'll also have the opportunity to create your own lantern and participate in other fun activities and games.

Refreshments and snacks will be provided.

All are welcome to join the celebration!

Taiwanese author Kevin Chen began his artistic career as a cinema actor, starring in the Taiwanese and German films Ghosted, Kung Bao Huhn, and Global Player. Now a writer based in Berlin, Germany, he has published several novels, essays and short story collections, including Attitude, Flower from Fingernail, Ghosts by Torchlight, Rebellious Berlin, and Three Ways to Get Rid of Allergies. Ghost Town, created in 2019, is a New York Times most anticipated book of fall 2022 from the best-selling author and winner of the Taiwan Literature Award in 2020.

During the author's talk, Kevin Chen will introduce his acclaimed novel, Ghost Town, by exploring the definitions of "Ghost" and "Ghost Town" and their significance in diverse cultural settings with the audience. Additionally, he will lead us understand the connection between one's hometown and foreign lands, unveiling distinctive insights when contemplating our roots from a distance. Furthermore, an interactive discussion with Mr. Chen will provide a platform to address various intriguing aspects of the novel.

The talk will be conducted in Chinese.

Special thanks to the Taipei Cultural Center of TECO in New York

Date: Tuesday September 26, 2023
Time: 5:00PM-6:30PM
Location: MN5128 (Academic Building-Maanjiwe nendamowinan)

We're excited to present the first event in our Jackman Humanities Institute seminar series!

Please join us this Wednesday and view the stories of some of our multilingual speakers at UTM, depicted in comic strip form by Linguistics professor, Prof. Ai Taniguchi! These comic strips are part of the L'IMAGE research project.

The comic strips will be on display in the Grand Hall of the Maanjiwe nendamowinan building from noon until 5pm on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.

This event is sponsored by the Jackman Humanities Institute.

Students! You are invited to program information sessions and a departmental meet & greet, all happening on Friday, September 15!  

Information sessions will be held 10:30am to 11:00am at the following locations: 

• French: MN 5128 
• Linguistics: MN 6128 
• Languages: MN 4th-floor patio 
• Italian: MN 5th-floor south patio 
• Language Teaching & Learning: MN 5th-floor north patio 

Learn more about our courses, potential careers, and clubs, and feel free to ask any questions you may have. 

From 11am to 12pm, come chat with professors and other students from our department for an informal Meet & Greet. Drop by the fourth-floor patio in the MN building. Snacks will be provided.