Gathering Diversities at Congress 2018
By Laurissa Kainz
“Congress is a way of showcasing both the University and the City of Regina, and highlighting all the great work that is being done here. It’s also an opportunity for people to come from all over Canada to learn from us and for us to learn from them,” says Dr. Andrea Sterzuk, Acting Dean and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina.
Sterzuk works in the area of critical applied linguistics, and her research tends to examine issues of power, identity and language in schools and in higher education. She is a Congress veteran, having attended the event for nearly 15 years.
As President of the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics, Sterzuk and her team are responsible for their own conference, call for papers and putting together their own conference program, with its own free public events. “It’s really important that we share the things we’ve learned in our research with the community,” says Sterzuk. “Since our subject area is applied linguistics, discussions are very relevant to language teachers. Our keynote speakers are scheduled for the end of the school day, so teachers can come and listen at no charge.”