The intersection between linguistics and public policy is manifold. There are at least three corners of the intersection:

  1. government funding for linguistics research;
  2. public policies that are informed (or should be) by the findings of linguistics research;
  3. public policies that affect the context in which linguistics operates as a discipline.

This webinar provides a basic overview of all three “corners” and also includes practical guidance on the most effective strategies for influencing public policy in today’s political environment.

Linguistics in the Public Sphere An Advocacy Webinar

This webinar will be of interest to linguistics scholars, students, and enthusiasts who may be looking to engage in advocacy for the first time or seasoned advocates interested in hearing about the latest strategies for effectively talking about research to policy makers.

This webinar was co-facilitated by LSA Executive Director Alyson Reed, who holds an advanced degree in public policy and has over 25 years of experience managing advocacy campaigns around a broad range of issues, including higher education, STEM, linguistics, social science research, and health care. She will be joined by Wendy Naus, Executive Director of COSSA, the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA). Over her career, Naus has worked to shape legislation, programs, and regulations important to the research community and has advocated for increased research funding across federal agencies. In her role at COSSA, Wendy serves as the lead advocate for federal funding and policy that positively impact social and behavioral science research across the federal government, representing the breadth of the social science research enterprise.

Additional Resources

The LSA and COSSA have developed extensive resource materials for use by linguists in their advocacy efforts and we invite you to review them before and after the webinar.

More recently, the Coalition for National Science Funding hosted a webinar (July 26, 2018) entitled “Communicating the Value of NSF to Elected Officials”. The webinar focused on why continuing dialogue in the district is essential for communicating the value of science and offered advice about a range of ways for scientists and engineers to engage with elected officials while they are home in their districts.