Why history? Revitalising endangered languages

Sharing insights from the past that help us to make sense of the present.

Languages are disappearing at an alarming rate and it is thought that at least half of the world’s 7,000 languages will be lost this century. For endangered language communities, this loss is often a traumatic experience and is connected to marginalisation of minority communities and ways of life.

In this event, Julia Sallabank explores how languages have and can be revitalised and protected to help preserve identities and cultural heritage and discusses why historically, there has been a focus on the decline rather than the future of minoritised languages and how this can be addressed.

Speaker: Professor Julia Sallabank, Professor of Language Policy and Revitalisation, SOAS University of London

Chair: Farhana Haider, Journalist and Broadcaster, Presenter for the BBC World Service’s Witness History

Julia Sallabank is a recipient of a British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant 2020 and the British Academy Writing Workshops Programme 2021 – funded by BEIS.

Free, booking required

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