Sociolinguistics Symposium 14

Discourse resources:
the sociolinguistics of access,
availability and distribution.

BULLETIN BOARD 1 June 2001: outline proposals for colloquia 1 October 2001: abstracts 1-15 December 2001: outcome of refereeing process LIST WITH ACCEPTED 'STAND-ALONE' PAPERS LIST WITH CONTRIBUTIONS TO COLLOQUIA 30 January 2002: registration for presenters 28 February 2002: standard registration From 1 March onwards: late registration REGISTRATION & COSTS ACCOMMODATION PROGRAMME TIMETABLE LAST-MINUTE PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIPS TRAVEL CURRENCIES

The biennial Sociolinguistics Symposium was started in the 1970s by a group of British-based sociolinguists who saw the need for a fairly informal forum to discuss research findings and to debate theoretical and methodological issues. It has always been a broad church and this is one reason why it rapidly grew. For more than a decade now, it has been Europe's premier international conference on language in society, attracting around 300 participants, sometimes more, from all corners of the globe. Reflecting this expansion, SS14 is to be held, for the first time, outside Britain.

Gent is a historic Flemish city, the first in northern Europe to declare itself free of feudal control. It has a plethora of medieval vistas and canal bridges and is thus entitled to compete with Amsterdam and nearby Bruges for the title of 'Venice of the North'. Amongst other treasures it boasts Van Eyck's famous altarpiece (often known as the Mystic Lamb), housed in St. Baaf's Cathedral. It is also a busy industrial city and the commercial and administrative centre for the province of East Flanders. The present population is around 230,000. The first language here is Flemish/Dutch (it depends on your sociolinguistic viewpoint!) but nearly everybody can speak English, and to a lesser extent French, with at least some degree of fluency.

Gent can be reached: in less than an hour by train from Brussels (Zaventem) airport; in 40 minutes by train or car from the cross-channel link at Oostende; in 1˝ hours by car from Calais; in 2-and-a-bit hours by train from Paris (via Brussels); in 3 hours by train from Amsterdam; in 3-and-a-bit hours by train from London (via Brussels on Eurostar); in 3˝ hours by direct train from Köln.

Gent University, the second oldest in Belgium, has around 22,000 students and employs 4,200 staff. It is of the city type; there is no main campus and university buildings are dotted around the town. For SS14, we have hired the university's dedicated conference centre, Het Pand, located in a quiet part of the centre of town.

Organising Committee: Prof. J. Blommaert, Department of African Studies, University of Gent Mr. P. Flynn, English Department, University of Gent Dr. G. Jacobs, Faculty of Applied Economic Sciences, University of Antwerp Dr. J. O'Driscoll, English Department, University of Gent Ms. K. Maryns, Department of African Studies, University of Gent Prof. S. Slembrouck, English Department, University of Gent Prof. A-M. Vandenbergen, English Department, University of Gent Dr. M. Van Herreweghe, English Department, University of Gent and FEVLADO Ms. E. Van Praet, English Department, University of Gent

Contact: Sociolinguistics Symposium 14 c/o English Department University of Gent Rozier 44 B-9000 Gent (Belgium) Tel: +32-(0)9-264-3788 Fax: +32-(0)9-264-4179 E-mail: enquiries@ss14.org, abstracts@ss14.org, colloquia@ss14.org, registration@ss14.org Website: http://www.ss14.org