This Week in LANG 3/16/2026

March 16, 2026
Categories: Community Events, Conference, Cultural Events, General Events, General News, Information Session Tags: 2026, arabic, chinese, spanish

In this Edition: “Chair Office Hours Week of March 16:

T 11-1 (f2f and virtual), W 11-12:30 (f2f and virtual), R 3-5 (virtual), 2nd Half of Spring Semester”

Dear colleagues, 

I hope you have enjoyed some downtime during Spring Break and are ready for the second half of the semester. Please note that we have a department meeting this Friday. It is for full-time permanent faculty members only and in a virtual format. Please join me in my zoom room, which will be provided in the invite. MA Fellows, and DAAD Language Assistant, and part-time faculty members are excused.  The next regular department meeting is on April 24. At that point we will also celebrate the end of the semester and the retirements of Dr. Bissière and Professor Houston.

Dates and Events this Week

Chair Office Hours Week of March 16:

T 11-1 (f2f and virtual), W 11-12:30 (f2f and virtual), R 3-5 (virtual) 

March 20

  • Department Meeting (full-time permanent faculty members only), Virtual

Looking Ahead: Dates and Events Spring 2026

March 26

  • Faculty Forum for Associate Professors interested in learning about Promotion to Full 

March 27-28

  • SEACS Conference

March 30

  • CHESS Pop UP Event for Niner Nation Gives: Japanese and Arabic Writing, Chinese Dragon 

Plaza between Mebane and CHHS, 2-4, all are welcome to staff tables

April 7

  •  4:30 p.m.; Fretwell Room 100, Witness in Residence:  Emile XY?, a South African Hip Hop Activist and Educator

April 16

  • CHESS Faculty / Staff Achievement Recognition

April 18

  • NCAATG Annual Meeting, LRC 10:00-2:00

April 24

  • Department Meeting, Mebane 434, 2:30-4:00, end of year party 4:00-6:00

May 11, 12, 14 and 15

  • GLI Institute

May 13

  • 4th Charlotte AI Summit for Smarter Learning

Congratulations

Congratulations to David Dalton for winning the Harvey L. Johnson Publication Award for his book Robo Sacer.  

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Congratulations to Javier García León, who was the keynote speaker for the 19th Toronto Undergraduate Linguistics Conference (TULCON) at the University of Toronto, March 14, 2026. His presentation was titled “Who Gets Named Online? A Trans‑Crip Decolonial Linguistic Analysis of Labelling in the Digital Press and Beyond” (on Zoom). 

Information for Faculty and Staff

Upcoming Events

CHESS Pop UP Event for Niner Nation Gives

Our department is one of the three chosen to support the CHESS Pop UP Event for Niner Nation Gives. Thank you to the Chinese Program for performing the Chinese Dragon Dance and to the Japanese faculty members and the Arabic faculty member for organizing writing of student names in their respective languages. The department will have several tables. Volunteers are welcome.  Please sign up here if you are able to volunteer. 

March 30, Plaza between Mebane and CHHS, 2-4,

CHESS Faculty Governance Workshops

We have scheduled two CHESS Faculty Governance Workshops. Dean Boyer and Associate Dean Weeks will lead them, along with Faculty Council Co-Chairs Kent Brintnall and Greg Wickliff. The purpose is to discuss the importance and usefulness of faculty governance, the ways in which you can get involved, and the expectations we have of different ranks. There will be two sessions (to maximize who can participate) that will cover the same material.

  • Friday, March 20, 3:00-4:30 (Fretwell 418)
  • Monday, March 23, 1:00-2:30 (Fretwell 418)

Witness in Residence:  Emile XY?, a South African Hip Hop Activist and Educator

Emile YX? Jansen, a South African Hip Hop activist, educator, and founder of the Heal the Hood Project and Black Noise, has been selected as this fall’s witness for the Anabel Aliaga-Buchenau Witness in Residence Initiative. Raised under Apartheid, he left formal teaching in 1993 to use Hip Hop culture, breaking and storytelling specifically, as an educational tool for healing and personal and social transformation. He is internationally recognized for work that reframes Hip Hop Culture as a living practice of dignity, creativity, and liberation. Come learn from this award-winning South African Hip Hop activist and his decades of experience healing, sharing, and diversifying creative and economic solutions.

  • Tuesday, April 7; 4:30 p.m.; Fretwell Room 100. 
  • RSVP Here

Coffee with Provost Troyer

Faculty and staff, the provost would like to invite you to join her for coffee and assorted cookies on Friday, April 3 in Cone 112 from 9:00-9:45am. This is a wonderful opportunity for all of you to share any thoughts or concerns with the provost in a relaxed environment. Please respond to the embedded form. If you have any questions, reach out to Syreeta Taylor.

Save the Date: CHESS Faculty / Staff Achievement Recognition (FSAR) reception is April 16.
We look forward to celebrating our faculty and staff on Thursday, April 16 at 4 p.m. at the Harris Alumni Center.  More details about when and how to submit your achievements is forthcoming.

Wishing you a good week. 

All the best, 

Anabel