Studia Generalia: Mark Sebba
12/08/2011 - 14:00 - 14:00
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The next public lecture of Studia Generalia entitled "Script, Spelling and
Society" will be delivered by Mark Sebba, PhD. The lecture will take place
in the auditorium M-218 (TU Mare building, Uus-Sadama 5) on
Thursday, December 8 at 16:00. For a language to be written down, it must
have a script (also called a writing system) and a way of applying that
system to spell words (an orthography). Though this might seem a simple
matter of applying a technology, it is actually not that at all. Scripts
and orthographies give languages distinctive identities, and take on social
and cultural meaning. They can be used to create national and subcultural
identities, and even individual letters or diacritic marks can have
remarkable symbolic importance. This lecture will use examples from a range
of languages around the world to show how scripts and spelling choices are
culturally and politically significant and often complex and
controversial.Mark Sebba has done research on pidgin and creole languages
and on conversational code-switching. Through this he developed an interest
in the Sociolinguistics of Orthography, a relatively unexplored field which
examines the cultural and social aspects of spelling and writing systems.
His most recent interest is in written multilingual texts – magazines,
websites, and other texts in public space which contain a mixture of
languages. His approach explores multilingual texts as literacy practices
which draw on different repertoires of languages, visual images, and
spatial arrangements.Mark Sebba is visiting Tallinn as a University Guest.
He was invited to Tallinn University by the Institute of Estonian
Language and Culture.Studia Generalia is a series of public lectures
delivered by the teachers, researchers and visiting lecturers of TU. Anyone
who enters the University building can listen to what prominent thinkers
have to say on current topics that affect society, and also participate in
the discussion. The lectures are held once a month on Thursdays. Students
can obtain two credits after participating in the whole series.
Participation is free of charge. In order to watch past lectures, please
visit the Tallinn Virtual University.Lectures of Studia Generalia of
Tallinn University are part of the programme of the Year of Science in
Estonia.For further information please contact:Kaie LepikProject Manager,
TU Studia GeneraliaPhone: +372 641 0089Email:
studia@tlu.eewww.tlu.ee/studiageneralia
Society" will be delivered by Mark Sebba, PhD. The lecture will take place
in the auditorium M-218 (TU Mare building, Uus-Sadama 5) on
Thursday, December 8 at 16:00. For a language to be written down, it must
have a script (also called a writing system) and a way of applying that
system to spell words (an orthography). Though this might seem a simple
matter of applying a technology, it is actually not that at all. Scripts
and orthographies give languages distinctive identities, and take on social
and cultural meaning. They can be used to create national and subcultural
identities, and even individual letters or diacritic marks can have
remarkable symbolic importance. This lecture will use examples from a range
of languages around the world to show how scripts and spelling choices are
culturally and politically significant and often complex and
controversial.Mark Sebba has done research on pidgin and creole languages
and on conversational code-switching. Through this he developed an interest
in the Sociolinguistics of Orthography, a relatively unexplored field which
examines the cultural and social aspects of spelling and writing systems.
His most recent interest is in written multilingual texts – magazines,
websites, and other texts in public space which contain a mixture of
languages. His approach explores multilingual texts as literacy practices
which draw on different repertoires of languages, visual images, and
spatial arrangements.Mark Sebba is visiting Tallinn as a University Guest.
He was invited to Tallinn University by the Institute of Estonian
Language and Culture.Studia Generalia is a series of public lectures
delivered by the teachers, researchers and visiting lecturers of TU. Anyone
who enters the University building can listen to what prominent thinkers
have to say on current topics that affect society, and also participate in
the discussion. The lectures are held once a month on Thursdays. Students
can obtain two credits after participating in the whole series.
Participation is free of charge. In order to watch past lectures, please
visit the Tallinn Virtual University.Lectures of Studia Generalia of
Tallinn University are part of the programme of the Year of Science in
Estonia.For further information please contact:Kaie LepikProject Manager,
TU Studia GeneraliaPhone: +372 641 0089Email:
studia@tlu.eewww.tlu.ee/studiageneralia