The webinar is a joint event with the UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts at Glasgow University, hosted by the University of Sanctuary at the University of East Anglia on ‘Language sanctuaries: why language is integral to the arts of integration’.
In this webinar, Alison Phipps with Gameli Tordzro, Naa Densua Tordzro, Tawona Sitholé, Giovanna Fassetta and Sahar Alshobaki present the work of the UNESCO Chair for Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts, with a particular focus on the ways in which language may offer sanctuary. This includes an examination of different policies that focus on integration through language acquisition; a critical assessment of the pitfalls in focusing on language acquisition as a technological or technocratic 'fix' to the tasks accompanying integration; a discussion of the ways in which a monolingual perspective dominates and shapes understandings of the language acquisition; and a consideration of shifting policy landscapes. In the presentation, Alison with colleagues will draw on insights from their work in Gaza, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Aoteaora, Scotland and in refugee communities which take a sanctuary view of language.
Phipps, A. (2018). Language Plenty, Refugees and the Post-Brexit World: New Practices from Scotland. In M. Kelly (Ed.), Languages after Brexit: How the UK Speaks to the World. London: Plagrave Macmillan.
Phipps, A. (2019). Decolonising Multilingualism: Struggles to Decreate. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Phipps, A. S., Tawona. (2018). The Warriors who do not Fight. Glasgow: Wild Goose Publications.
Scarry, E. (2011). Thinking in an Emergency. New York: W.W Norton & Company.
Alison Phipps holds the UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts at the University of Glasgow where she is also Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies, and Co-Convener of Glasgow Refugee, Asylum and Migration...
Gameli Tordzro is a Ghanaian educationist, multiple arts professional and a Practice Based Creative Arts (CA Film Music Theatre and Storytelling) researcher and consultant in Glasgow. He is an Artist-in-Residence of The UNESCO Chair in Refugee...
Naa Densua Tordzro currently works at the University of Glasgow as Research Assistant In Gcrf South-South Migration, Inequality And Development Hub, School Of Education. she is MPhil research student at the School of Education, University of...
Tawona is a poet, playwright, mbira musician, educator and facilitator. His ancestral family name, Ganyamatope, is a reminder of his heritage, which inspires him to make connections with other people through creativity, and the natural outlook to...
Giovanna is Lecturer in Intercultural Literacies and Languages in the School of Education. She is a qualified teacher with over 20 years’ experience of working with young people and adults in a variety of settings and in several countries. She...
Sahar is a PhD student at Roehampton University, Media, Culture and Language department. She has been teaching Arabic and English as a foreign language for almost 4 years online and face-to-face. She worked as a course a developer for the Online...
Jo Drugan is Professor of Translation, based in the School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies. A member of the UEA University of Sanctuary Steering Group, she is also co-Chair of the cross-faculty Ethics Forum, and a...