LINGUIST List 6.1762

Thu Dec 21 1995

All: International Conferences in Linguistics

Editor for this issue: Anthony M. Aristar <aristartam2000.tamu.edu>

Directory

1. Palto Parsa, International Conference fee
2. Peter Daniels, Re: 6.1759, All: XVIth International Congress of Linguists
3. hildo honorio do couto, Re: 6.1759, All: XVIth International Congress of Linguists

The extraordinarily high fee which the XVIth International Congress
of Linguists seems to me to be just a symbol of a rather sad fact:
the ICL has never really lived up to its potential, and is out of
touch with the body of linguists. If it weren't, it would never
even consider such a (to most linguists) impossible fee. Most
linguists have no dealings at all with it; many are even unaware of
its existence.

In fact, it seems to me that there is only one genuinely international,
widely recognized organization in linguistics: LINGUIST itself. It's
hard to find anyone in linguistics who hasn't heard of it, and most
linguists use it, in one way or another, even if only to find out
what jobs are available.

So here's a (serious) suggestion: if we really want an international
conference in linguistics, let's organize one around LINGUIST. "The 1st
International LINGUIST Conference" doesn't have a bad ring; and think of
seeing all the e-mail personalities we know so well in the flesh. My
guess is that it would work wonderfully; and we could make sure that
it would be an awful lot cheaper than the ICL...

Message 2: Re: 6.1759, All: XVIth International Congress of Linguists

Can anyone recall what the registration fees etc. for recent previous
International Congresses of Linguists were? That would be the most
relevant datum. For comparison, if I recall correctly, the reg. fee
for the International Congress of Asian and North African Studies
(formerly International Congress of Orientalists) in Toronto in 1990
was either $75 or $90 US. The two Congresses are of comparable size,
I think? Also, isn't it the case that for most profgessional meetings,
the scholar's (and so much more so the business person's) institution
pays the fees from a specified budget? So the price is relevant only
to those of us who are without instututional affiliation? Perhaps
organizers should establish a bargain rate for us who can't afford to
go to conferences? (Cf. the subscription policy of Current Anthroplogy,
which charges/d much less to subscribers in the "Third World" but
doesn't offer a discount to us in that situation in the "First World".)

Message 3: Re: 6.1759, All: XVIth International Congress of Linguists

Dear Colleagues,
I agree entirely with Martin Haspelmath concerning the
absurdely high fees for the International Congress of
Linguists in Paris/77.
Hildo Couto