SEEU Co-Hosts a Conference on Multiculturalism and Language Contact

The conference welcoming speech was delivered by the SEEU Provost, Prof. Dr. Andrew Goodspeed, who emphasized the multicultural and multilingual character of our University.

“The establishment of this University in 2001 was an elegant and creative solution to the linguistic problem of higher education in Macedonia. Our University remains committed its multiethnic, multilingual, and multicultural character, which so clearly relates to the themes of this conference,” said the Provost.

In his plenary address, the Director of the Research Institute “Max van der Stoel," Prof. Dr. Veton Latifi, said that he feels proud that the Institute was able to facilitate a gathering of some of the best-known names in the field of multiculturalism and language contact.

“Our students have chosen to enroll in our University for multiple reasons: because of its quality in higher education; because of its reputation; and because of the international presence of the teaching and managerial staff members; yet, at the same time, we know that they also find it attractive because of its multicultural concept of higher education, which is a significant and unique part of our founding mission,” Prof.Latifi observed.

On behalf of the Research Center for Areal Linguistics, the conference was welcomed by its Director, Prof. Dr. Marjan Marković. He said that the cooperation between the two research centres is concrete and that this conference demonstrates the viability and success of that collaboration. Prof. Marković thanked all the scholars for their contributions to the forum, and for having often come from substantial distances to do so.

“The scientific topic addressed today, on multiculturalism and language contact, represents a special interest for us as Ministry of Education and Science, as well as in general as a governmental coalition. This above all takes into account the high social relevance of this issue, which reflects our multicultural reality, particularly in the education of younger generations. In the spirit of this reality, we can play a very positive role,” said Visar Ganiu, the Deputy-Minister of Education and Science of Macedonia, in his formal opening of the conference.

Mr. Ninosllav Vasilijeviq, the Head of the Unit for Democratic Governance and Social Cohesion of the OSCE Mission in Skopje, expressed his greetings and wishes for the success of the conference, and spoke about the role of international organizations in promoting multiculturalism.

The keynote speaker of the conference was the world-renowned linguist, from the University of Chicago, Prof. Dr. Victor A. Friedman, who presented the scientific aspects of multiculturalism and bilingualism. Through case studies and research, Prof. Friedman came to the conclusion that teaching and using more languages is beneficial to people both in terms of practice and health. From the research conducted, he also presented the conclusion that bilingualism and multilingualism are likely more prevalent worldwide than monolingualism.

On the second day, the conference continued in Skopje, where scientific papers were presented and a concluding roundtable discussion was chaired by Prof. Friedman.