While we were all busy teaching, marking papers, setting exams, attending conferences and writing papers, Dr Raquel de Pedro Ricoy spent part of the first semester in the jungle. Literally. Raquel is working on an AHRC-funded project entitled “Translating Cultures and the Mediation of Indigenous Rights in Peru” with Prof. Rosaleen Howard (Newcastle University) and […]
Tag: diversity
Research Report on New Irish Speakers launched
by Bernie O’Rourke On Friday 30th October, the Irish Language Commissioner, Rónán Ó Domhnaill, launched a Research Report on New Speakers of Irish. The report was prepared by Heriot-Watt LINCS Professor Bernadette O’Rourke and colleagues Dr. John Walsh and Dr. Hugh Rowland of the University of Ireland, Galway. This joint venture between Heriot-Watt University and the […]
17th September 2015: A momentous day for the BSL Community
by Graham Turner On a most extraordinary afternoon last week (17th September 2015, a date to be remembered), it seemed that half of Heriot-Watt’s Department of Languages & Intercultural Studies re-located to the Scottish Parliament for a few hours. Why? It was the Stage 3 (final) reading in the chamber of the British Sign Language […]
Hearing Loss or Deaf Gain? At the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas
On Saturday 8th August, Jemina Napier and Noel O’Connell engaged in a heated debate on “Hearing Loss or Deaf Gain?” at the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas. We’ve asked two members of LINCS, Heather Mole, a PhD student who is part of the BSL team, and Olwyn Alexander, Director of Academic English, to review the show. Heather […]
Passing as deaf or hearing: choosing cross-cultural identities
by Noel O’Connell On 15th June 2015, media reports raised questions about Rachel Dolezal’s background. A scholar of race and African-American culture and daughter of white parents, Dolezal had identified as Black. Stories of black people “passing” as white or white people as black have been a fascination for researchers and historians for many years. Racial […]
Les publics multilingues
by Katerina Strani This post was originally published in the CREM research blog Publics en Question. For a similar (but not identical) English version, please visit this page. Il a longtemps été prouvé que notre langage a un impact sur la façon dont nous pensons et, finalement, la façon dont nous soutenons nos arguments (Whorf, […]
Roots and Routes of Germans in Contemporary Britain
by Ullrich Kockel In socio-cultural research, there has been a long-running argument pitching “roots” against “routes” as the source of identity. At a time when identities appear to become ever more detached from territorial connections, it makes sense to define cultural belonging in terms of the intensity of communication within one’s social field, even though […]
Reporting from "Can Scotland Play a Leading Role in Defining Heritage?"
by Emma Hill What is Scotland’s relationship with the UNESCO Charter for the Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage? What should it be? How can ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ be defined? Should it be defined at all? Can ‘heritage’ be split into ‘tangible’ and ‘intangible’ features? Should it be split? Who defines a ‘heritage’ project? What does ‘community’ […]
In a nutshell
by Katerina Strani Last week’s post was about the language of reason in multilingual / multicultural societies. If you’re looking for something more succinct on this topic, check out the following video. Comments are welcome (yes, I will stick to my day job).
Exploring Access to Mental Health Care Services for Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Patients
by Isabelle Perez The rising prevalence of mental illness is a growing concern for societies worldwide and access to mental health care is one of the top public health priorities in Scotland, as in many countries. In addition, as more and more people migrate and settle or take refuge in countries with a dominant language […]