Steve Leveen, author of the award-winning book America’s Bilingual Century: How Americans Are Giving the Gift of Bilingualism to Themselves, Their Loved Ones, and Their Country, will be visiting UChicago campus to deliver a paradigm-shifting talk about bilingualism in the 21st century titled “Test Your Perceptions of America’s Linguistic Landscape” on March 27th at 4:30pm.
His talk will juxtapose the declining enrollments in the study of foreign languages – and in the Humanities in general – with the reality of an ever-globalizing, ever-connected world. He will offer a provocative reframing of bilingualism and monolingualism in the U.S. through an interactive and informative presentation that is sure to deepen audience members’ understanding of some surprising changes taking place in the sociolinguistics of America. He invites the audience to consider how a changing linguistic landscape can offer language instructors hope, while also challenging our own assumptions about language study, minors, and majors.
In addition to being an award-winning author, Steve Leveen is the founder of the America the Bilingual Project, a non-profit which reports on the surprising changes in bilingualism now taking place in the United States. He also hosts a podcast by the same name which features conversations with American bilinguals who are making an impact in their professions.
The Language Center looks forward to co-hosting his talk with the Humanities Division to bring fresh perspectives on language learning to our instructional colleagues, university leadership, and students. Contact Vanessa Armand at varmand@uchicago.edu for information on how to RSVP.
