AMU organises three-day International Conference on “Mediatization, Culturalisation, and Language Alteration”

Language is an indispensable part of our lives, and as Cesar Chavez, the civil rights and labor movement activist, said, “Our language is the reflection of ourselves. A language is an exact reflection of the character and growth of its speakers.” Keeping in mind the importance of language in a society, the Department of Linguistics, Aligarh Muslim University organized the three-day international conference on “Mediatization, Culturalization and Language Alteration” in collaboration with Indian Council for Social Council Research.

The inaugural function of the conference was held on January 5th, 2017 at the Arts Faculty Lounge, Aligarh Muslim University. The conference was inaugurated by Prof. T.K.Bhatia, a distinguished linguist from the University of Syracuse, New York, USA. The keynote speaker of this conference was Prof. Poonam Arora, an illustrious scholar from the USA. The souvenir of the conference was released by the Pro-Vice Chancellor, Brigadier (retd.) Syed Ahmad Ali, whereas the Vice Chancellor, Lt. Gen. (retd.) Zameeruddin Shah presided over the function and released the Aligarh Journal of Linguistics.

The eminent personalities who contributed to the conference were journalist Iqbal Ahmad (BBC World Services), journalist Arfa Khanum (Rajya Sabha TV), Prof. Ghazanfar Ali (JMI), Prof. Anand Pradhan, journalist Om Thanvi, Omar S. Peerzada (PRO, AMU), Prof. A.K.Sinha (DU), Prof. Deb Kamal Ganguly (FTII, Pune), Prof. Salauddin Quraishi (AMU) and Prof. Dan Raj Regmi (Head, Department of Linguistics, Tribhuvan University, Nepal).

The three-day international conference was divided into six technical sessions and eight plenary sessions. It brought together over 40 professionals, journalists, linguists from all over the globe, apart from a wide range of participants, researchers, practitioners, educators, and activists. The conference was structured around the presentations on culture, movies, legends, advertisements, print and electronic media. Some of the presentations focused on the relations between motherhood, media, and language; history, geography and language; islamophobia and media; language and emojis; and, media, language and culture. A special skype presentation was made by Prof. Nancy Berg, University of Washington, USA.

The valedictory function of the conference was held on January 7th, 2017 in the Language Lab, Department of Linguistics, Aligarh Muslim University. The Chief Guest of the function was the reverend Prof. R.C. Sharma, Chairperson, Department of Linguistics, University of Delhi; while journalist Feroz Bakht Ahmad was the Guest of Honor for the evening. The token of appreciation were conferred upon the participants which was followed by Dr. M.J. Warsi, Organizing Secretary, Department of Linguistics, Aligarh Muslim University, who gave a detailed report on the three day conference. The presidential address was given by Prof. Dan Raj Regmi, congratulated the team for the hard work and success, and showered praises on Prof. A.R.Fatihi, Chairperson, Department of Linguistics, Aligarh Muslim University, who in turn extended his gratitude and gave away the vote of thanks.

 

(BY: Anam Beg, She is pursing Masters from AMU)

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