Preserving the Future: Sustainability of Language, Culture and Nature

15th-17th April 2010

The Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Languages
University of Iceland, Reykjavík

This is an invitation to participate in the conference Preserving the
Future:
Sustainability of Language, Culture and Nature and a Call for Papers.
The conference is
organized by the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Languages at
the University
of Iceland and will take place in Reykjavík, 15th - 17th April 2010. It
will also
celebrate the eightieth birthday of Madame Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, former
President of
Iceland and UNESCO’s Goodwill Ambassador for Languages.

The aim of the conference is to examine and discuss how the relevance
and interaction of
languages, the natural environment, and intangible cultural heritages
can ensure the
development and prosperity of future generations. Culture is here
intended in its
broadest meaning to include history, customs, traditions and folklore,
both past and
present; language can be perceived as both foreign and native, local,
regional and
international, but with the constant varying attitudes as to which are
taught, which are
translated, which are becoming extinct; nature can imply both the
beauty, vitality and
uniqueness of a specific locality, region, or the natural environment of
the globe
itself. In all instances we need to explore how a viable interaction
between language,
culture and/or nature can help create and sustain a sense of identity
and continuity in
a world increasingly confronted with rapid environmental and social change.

Among keynote speakers are:
* Martti Ahtisaari, Former President of the Republic of Finland
* Professor Bernard Comrie, Director of the Department of Linguistics,
Max Planck
Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig
* Professor Claire Kramsch, Director of the Berkeley Language Center,
University of
California, Berkeley

Guidelines for submission of abstracts:

The conference will be comprised of parallel sessions organized by the
Vigdís
Finnbogadóttir Institute in addition to CFP sessions. We particularly
welcome proposals
on the following central themes:

1. Language of Place – Place of Language

- Prestige value of the global and the local – internationalization of
language
vs. localization

- Words and phrases across boundaries (loanwords, idioms etc.)

- Cultural history through place names

- The environment as a linguistic entity

- The role of language in preserving natural heritage

- Linguistic diversity

2. Cultural transition through literature, translation and discourse

- Preservation through translation

- National identity through literature

- The presentation and interpretation of Nature through literature

- What evidence of cultural transition can be found in discourse?

3. Developing identities and cultural understanding through multilingualism

- Can language preserve cultural identity?

- Language teaching and cultural understanding, cultural horizons

- The interaction of language and culture

- How does multilingualism enhance environmental/cultural literacy?