International conference: Multi-platform and Connecting Communities: Contemporary Challenges for Minority Language Media

31 March - 1 April 2022, Europa Universität Flensburg (Germany)

Both keynote lectures were live-streamed on our Youtube channel and FB account.

Overview

In 2022, the ECMI co-organised the second biennial conference on minority language media. Dr. Sergiusz Bober and Craig Willis, of the ECMI’s Politics and Civil Society Research Cluster, were cooperating with colleagues from the  International Association of Minority Language Media Research (IAMLMR), Europa Universität Flensburg and the University of the Basque Country, on this international academic event. The organisers brought into closer contact both scholars and practitioners from the field of minority language media, and thus reflect the plurality of media formats, socio-political contexts, linguistic situations, scientific methods and practical experiences. The conference, originally planned for October 2021, had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.    

Keynote speakers, roundtable discussion and book session

Keynote Speakers:

The conference featured two keynote addresses across the two days.

ICES Keynote Lecture: On Thursday 31st March, Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, University of Wales Trinity St. David will present on ‘Mediascapes for minority languages: what kind of players, provisions and platforms are needed for the future sustainability of vibrant communities and communication’.

RECORDING AVAILABLE HERE

KURS Keynote Lecture: On Friday 1st March, Jenny Stenberg-Sirén, University of Helsinki will present on ‘Journalistic ideals, professional identity, and language policy: perspectives on educating minority language journalists’.

RECORDING AVAILABLE HERE

Roundtable Discussion:

On Thursday 31st March, the final session of the day was a roundtable focusing on ‘Minority languages in Germany / Denmark and the Digital Age’. This featured four expert scholars/practitioners from the local minority communities / languages to the Danish/German border region, chaired by Nils Langer of the Europa Universität Flensburg.

Book Session:

Friday 1st April featured a book session titled ‘Conversing with the real: mapping problems of language of documentary film’, led by Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, University of Wales Trinity St. David and Dafydd Sills-Jones, Auckland University of Technology.

Panel sessions

Panel 1: Dynamic virtual landscapes: between social media, connectivity and language maintenance

Chair: Enrique Uribe-Jongbloed, Universidad Externado de Colombia.

  • Fan community building on Twitter: A method of minority language maintenance? – Maggie Glass
  • Twitter Campaigns for Gaeilge: Connecting the Collective. – Sarah McMonagle, University of Hamburg, Niamh Ní Bhroin, University of Oslo
  • Which languages do Besermans use on social media and why? – Christian Pischlöger, University of Vienna.
  • Academic indigenous lands: Connecting academics with the indigenous community, a Bolivian case study. – Swintha Danielsen

Panel 2: Caught in the middle: minority languages and minority language media in the context of minority-majority and bilateral relations.

Chair: Miren Manias Muñoz, University of the Basque Country

  • Minority-Language Broadcasting, Kin-state Media and Transnational Polarization: Turkish Community in North Macedonia between Skopje and Ankara. – Abdullah Sencer Gözübenli, Åbo Akademi University
  • Language Politics in Pandemic Times: The effects of Covid 19 on minority/majority relations in Northern Macedonia. – Roland Gjoni, University College Dublin
  • Bulgaria‘s Lack of Cultural Policies Towards the Minorities and the Struggle of Preserving the Authenticity of the Language of the Turkish Minority – Dzhafer Saatcha, Affiliation TBC
  • “The Basque government has imposed a dead language on the population…” – The delegitimization of minority language rights in Spanish online debates. – Karolin Breda, Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder

Panel 3: Grounded connectivity: Exploring digital capacity building with Indigenous and minoritized communities

Chair/Discussant: Guillem Belmar Viernes, University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Presenting the first two years of a program to offer digital training in language documentation and revitalization – Anna Belew, Endangered Languages Project
  • How language activists use digital media to promote and teach Meänkieli, an indigenous language in Sweden. – Constanze AckermannBoström, Umeå University
  • Building some technological capacity for ayapaneco, a minoritized language in Mexico. – Jhonnatan Rangel, SeDyL-INALCO
  • The role of digital and online technologies in Indigenous language revitalization. – Paul Meighan, McGill University

Panel 4: Unpacking minority language media situations: traditional formats and the demands of the technological shift

Chair: Nicole Dołowy-Rybińska, Polish Academy of Sciences

  • The Crimean Tatar TV channel „Millet“ as a factor of preserving and developing the Crimean Tatar language. – Prof. Natalia V. Yablonovskaya, Vladimir Vernadsky’s Crimean Federal University, Simferopol
  • Audience, Genres and Content Analysis: Minority Media in Serbia – Nataša Heror, Heror Media Pont
  • Information space of national minorities: case of Lithuania – Snezana Starovoitova, St Petersburg State University
  • Professionalism, financial compulsion or addiction? The working conditions and professional self-image of Hungarian journalists from Romania. – Orsolya Sarány, University of Debrecen
  • The right of persons belonging to national minorities to access the media in the digital age: is the Advisory Committee‘s monitoring work catching up on the digitally transformed reality? – Antonija Petričušić, University of Zagreb

Panel 5. Bottom-up versus top-down approaches: the contribution of culture and media to language revitalization

Chair: Hedwig Wagner, Europa Universität Flensburg

  • Online Pop Up Gaeltacht 2020: Challenging perspectives on the Irish language and its community. – Alexandra Philbin, Maynooth University
  • Northbay Hall on a Tuesday night: how live music events can support and develop minority language practices in bilingual communities. – Ingeborg Birnie, University of Strathclyde
  • How media is used in Northern Pakistan to complement the revitalization efforts of endangered languages. – Zubair Torwali, independent scholar
  • Media Ensembles and the Revitalisation of Indigenous Language. – Michael S. Daubs, University of Wellington
  • The impact of COVID-19 on the recovery of Basque through the education system. – Josu Amezaga, University of the Basque Country

 

Venue
Scientific Committee
  • Nicole Dołowy-Rybińska, Polish Academy of Sciences
  • Nils Langer, Europa Universität Flensburg
  • Aida Martori Muntsant, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
  • Bernadette O’Rourke, University of Glasgow
  • Abiodun Salawu, North-West University
Organising Committee
  • Sergiusz Bober, European Centre for Minority Issues
  • Miren Manias-Muñoz, University of the Basque Country
  • Craig Willis, European Centre for Minority Issues / Europa Universität Flensburg

Conference documents

Coordinators

Sergiusz Bober

Senior Researcher

Further Information

Craig Willis

Researcher

Further Information

ECMI Founders