LINGUIST List 15.643

Thu Feb 19 2004

FYI: 2nd International Olympiad; Ecolinguistics

Editor for this issue: Anne Clarke <annelinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Ivan A Derzhanski, 1st Announcement: 2nd International Olympiad in Linguistics
2. Ryoko Harada, Ecolinguistics: the future of linguistics

Second International Olympiad in Theoretical, Mathematical and Applied
Linguistics for secondary school students

First Announcement
	
Dear colleagues,
	
We are happy to announce the Second International Olympiad in
Theoretical, Mathematical and Applied Linguistics for secondary school
students, which will take place from 31 July to 7 August 2004 in the
scenic suburbs of Moscow.
	
The world's First International Olympiad in Linguistics was
successfully held in September 2003 in the mountain resort Borovetz,
Bulgaria. (More information about this event can be found at the
address http://www.philol.msu.ru/~otipl/new/main/mol/index-en.php ).

The idea of holding an International Olympiad stems from the
experience with the Olympiads in Linguistics and Mathematics in Moscow
and St. Petersburg. (A detailed account of the history of the Moscow
Olympics and a selection of problems from past events (in Russian) is
available at http://ling.narod.ru). Since 1984, linguistic contests
have also been regularly held in Bulgaria. In recent years similar
events have been organised in the United States and the Netherlands.
	
We invite the participation of teams of up to four contestants who
must be students of a school for secondary education and younger than
19 years at the time of the Second International Olympiad. Teams may
represent individual cities as well as countries (one team per city;
the Organising Committee also reserves the right to place a limit on
the number of teams from one country). Those requiring a visa to
enter Russia will receive assistance with the formalities.
	
Competitors will need no special knowledge to solve the problems
offered at the International Olympiad. Each linguistic problem is
dedicated to some interesting phenomenon in one or several languages.
There will be two contests: an individual and a team one.

For preliminary registration for participation in the International
Olympiad, write to iadmath.bas.bg (Ivan Derzhanski) and lingnarod.ru
(Boris Iomdin) no later than 15 March 2004. If possible, indicate the
approximate age of the contestants and their experience, if any, with
solving linguistic problems. Teams which fail to meet this deadline
are not guaranteed the right of participation. The final application
must be sent by the team leader by 31 May 2004; it must contain the
list of team members together with the language in which each of them
wishes to have the problems of the individual contest, as well as the
language in which the team will receive the problems of the team
contest.
	
The Organising Committee also invites cooperation towards obtaining
financial and media coverage support of the International Olympiad
from academic, educational and commercial institutions, as well as all
those involved in linguistic research and development who are
interested in attracting young talent from all over the world into
this discipline.
	
Sincerely,
	
Professor Vladimir M. Alpatov (DSc),
Chair of the Organising Committee

The Organising Committee of the Second International Olympiad in
Theoretical, Mathematical and Applied Linguistics for secondary school
students:
	
Professor Vladimir M. Alpatov, Institute for Oriental Studies, RAS*
(Chair)
Evgeniya S. Abelyuk, Honoured Teacher of the Russian Federation,
Institute for Education Development, Education Department of the
Government of Moscow
Alexander S. Berdichevsky, MSU**
Dr Svetlana A. Burlak, Institute for Oriental Studies, RAS*
Dr Ivan A. Derzhanski, IMCS--BAS***
Dr Sergey Yu. Dmitrenko, Institute for Linguistic Research, RAS*
Dmitry V. Gerasimov, St Petersburg State University, Russia
Dr Xenia A. Guiliarova, MSU**
Stanislav B. Gurevich, Anichkov Lyceum, St Petersburg, Russia
Dr Richard Hudson, University College London, UK
Dr Boris L. Iomdin, Institute for Russian Language, RAS*
Dr Ilya B. Itkin, Institute for Oriental Studies, RAS*; Mumin Troll
High
School, Moscow, Russia
Academician Petar S. Kenderov, IMCS--BAS***
Professor Alexander E. Kibrik, MSU** (Chair)
Professor Maxim A. Krongauz, RSUH****
Svetlana O. Majskaja, RSUH****
Professor Ruslan V. Mitkov, University of Wolverhampton, UK
Dr Elena V. Muravenko, RSUH****
Dr Thomas E. Payne, University of Oregon, USA
Iliana P. Raeva, Angel Kunchev University of Rousse, Bulgaria
Maria L. Rubinstein, RSUH****
Professor Vladimir A. Uspensky, MSU**
Dr Sergey I. Vershinin, Institute for Education Development, Education
Department of Moscow Government
Dr Valentin F. Vydrine, Museum of Anthropology, RAS*
Academician Andrey A. Zaliznyak, Institute for Slavic Studies, RAS*
	
* Russian Academy of Sciences
** Moscow State University
*** Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, Bulgarian Academy
of Sciences
**** Russian State University for the Humanities
	
	

	

New online magazine and research center for ecolinguistics
(http://www.ecoling.net)

At first, linguists thought of language as something existing within
the human brain, but they ignored the rest. Then linguists thought of
language as existing within human societies, and discovered its power
to influence and shape those societies. But beyond societies of humans
interacting with other humans, they still ignored the rest. Now we
are beginning to realise that we ignore the rest at our peril, and at
the peril of all life on earth. Ecolinguists think of language as
existing within the delicate ecosystems which bind together the lives
of all animals, plants and the Earth. And the goal of ecolinguistics
is to explore the influence that language can have in shaping these
ecosystems and contributing to ecological devastation or harmony.

The discipline of ecolinguistics is fairly new, and does not yet have
a refereed journal. The Centre for Language and Ecology is therefore
launching a new on-line magazine which aims to present lively and
accessible articles on ecolinguistics.

If you are interested in finding out more about ecolinguistics, or
reading the February 2004 issue of Language & Ecology Online Magazine,
then please look at this site:

http://www.ecoling.net

Ryoko Harada
Centre for Language and Ecology
Futsukaichi 975, Fukuoka, Japan

Contents page of February 2004 issue of Language & Ecology Online
Magazine 

Editorial: The 'controlled environment' 
Are humans building a world which resembles an intensive pig farm? 

Article 1: Pigs, discourse, and ecological destruction
A look at the ecologically devastating consequences of the discourse
of the pork industry.

Article 2: Moving away from ecological 'political correctness' 
What is a 'non-domesticated nonhuman'? And do we really need terms
like this?

Article 3: Towards Poetic Activism 
A way of challenging ecologically destructive discourses without
creating a stifling new orthodoxy.

Article 4: Poetic activism and pigs
New ways of thinking about our porcine cousins