- The Executive Committee of the LSA will be holding its Spring meeting on 9-10 May, 2008, in Washington, DC. For further information, contact Katha Kissman.
- Nominations for the Leonard Bloomfield Book Award are due 1 June, 2008.
- Nominations for the LSA's "Linguistics, Language and the Public" Award will be accepted until 1 June, 2008.
What We Do
Short Answer: Six major things, but a lot more behind the scenes!
1. Language
The LSA publishes a quarterly journal, Language, consisting of major articles and shorter reports of original research, as well as review articles and book reviews. Journal articles cover all areas of the field and from all theoretical frameworks. Language is viewed as a prestigious publication and receives far more submissions than it can possibly publish.
2. eLanguage
Another source of academic research provided by the LSA is eLanguage.net, which was recently launched to make current findings from a wide selection of linguistic subfields available to a global readership. eLanguage is both a digital "family" of independent, specialized journals that publish peer-reviewed research articles and a source of book notices and news relevant to linguists around the world. All content in eLanguage is "open access", meaning it is available to any linguistically interested person with an Internet connection, free of charge and without restrictions.
3. Annual Meetings
In early January, the LSA sponsors an Annual Meeting, at which nearly 300 papers and posters are typically presented. Special events include the Presidential address, invited lectures, topical workshops, and the LSA business meeting. There is also a book exhibit and a job placement service. Other groups have chosen to hold their meetings at the same time (and typically within the same hotel), including the American Dialect Society (ADS), the American Name Society (ANS), the North American Association for the History of Language Sciences (NAAHoLS), the Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics, and the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas (SSILA). Recent meetings have been in Oakland (2005), Albuquerque (2006), Anaheim (2007), and Chicago (2008). In 2009, the LSA will meet in Portland.
4. Summer Meetings
The LSA now sponsors a biennial Summer Meeting, which focuses on issues of particular concern to graduate students. The 2006 Summer Meeting, the first summer meeting since 1982, was hosted by Michigan State University. The 2008 Summer Meeting will be hosted by Ohio State University.
5. Linguistic Institutes
The LSA sponsors a biennial summer Linguistic Institute at which more than 400 participants (students and scholars) choose from a wide range of courses, seminars, and workshops presented by leading scholars in virtually every area of linguistics. With courses offered at all levels, institute attendees can explore new areas or catch up on recent developments in areas not offered at their home institutions. Recent LSA Linguistic Institutes have been held at Stanford University (2007), MIT/Harvard University (2005), Michigan State University (2003), and the University of California, Santa Barbara (2001).
6. Frequently Asked Questions
The LSA publishes a series of educational and authoritative pamphlets on language-related issues. These pamphlets, published as FAQs, are available in both pdf and hardcopy format. Clearly written for the layperson, they have been used as instructional aids in Linguistics courses, information sessions for undergraduate majors, and in outreach to professionals outside of the field.
7. A lot more!
The LSA is also committed to supporting its members in other ways. To
this end, the Society has set up committees such as the following:
• The Advisory to Programs Committee provides assistance and/or information to
any department or program whose future may be threatened or in jeopardy
due to serious problems, financial or otherwise, at its institution.
• The Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation (CELP)
explores ways that individuals and institutions can offer assistance and
support to maintain and revitalize language varieties in language communities
at risk of, or currently experiencing, significant language or dialect loss;
it assists institutions in offering training and degree programs oriented
to the preparation of grammars and dictionaries of threatened and poorly
documented languages.
• The Committee on Ethnic Diversity in Linguistics (CEDL)
explores ways to promote greater ethnic diversity in linguistics, including communication,
networking, and mentoring between minority students and professional linguists.
• The Committee on Language in the School Curriculum explores and pursues ways in which the linguistics community can have an effect on K-12
instruction in language-related topics, including grammar, reading, language
arts, and linguistics.
• The Committee on Social and Political Concerns advises
the Society on policies concerning official responses of the Society to such issues
as political pressures affecting the ability of linguists to pursue their
research and legislation concerning language or linguistic rights.
• The Committee on the Status of Women in Linguistics
(COSWL) monitors and advances the status of women in linguistics and encourages research
on women and language.
• The Undergraduate Program Advisory Committee facilitates
the establishment and expansion of undergraduate programs in linguistics at universities,
colleges, and community colleges.
• The Video Archive Committee oversees the development of a
video archive that will be accessible on the web to provide information about
language to the general public. LSA members will be encouraged to submit
videos to the archive.
The LSA also sponsors the Leonard Bloomfield Book Award; the Linguistics, Language, and the Public Award; the Kenneth L. Hale Award; and the Victoria A. Fromkin Lifetime Service Award.
Behind-the-scenes activities of the LSA emanate from memberships and liaisons with other professional societies who share our commitment to scholarship. The officers of the Society (President, Vice-President, and Secretary-Treasurer), appointed members, and the Executive Director frequently attend meetings of other societies where they both represent the LSA and consult with others about on-going issues that affect us collectively. For example, the LSA is a member of the Consortium of Social Science Associations, an organization that acts as liaison between the academic research community and the policy-making community in Washington, which determines what kinds of grants there will be for linguistic research. The LSA is similarly involved in the Coalition for National Science Funding, the National Humanities Alliance, Joint National Committee on Languages and the American Council of Learned Societies. The Society organized a session at a recent National Council of Teachers of English convention and is collaborating with other language associations in observing the Year of Language. There is an initiative underway to create a Virtual Museum of Language, an online resource that presents what is known about language to the general public.
