Bridging Linguistic and Epistemological Divides in Higher Education

Many of you might be interested in an upcoming event organised by the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) that will focus on the linguistic and epistemological inequities in the academic world.

The event is facilitated by LANTERN member Dylan Williams, and will involve talks by Richard Fay, Jane Andrews and Wisam KH Abdul Jabbar, as well as other members of the Multilingual University network of the SRHE.

The event

As the organisers of the event note:

Linguistic-epistemic challenges faced by non-Anglophone students are a significant concern for all higher education researchers. This issue lies at the intersection of linguistics, higher education, and intercultural communication. Therefore, this event aims to bring together researchers, educators, and practitioners to focus on understanding, addressing, and ultimately bridging the language – and epistemology – related obstacles that hinder effective research, learning and communication within higher education settings.

The event opens with Jane Andrews and Richard Fay, experts in multilingualism and intercultural education. They will explore the need for a translingual and trans-epistemic mindset in decolonising higher education. Their talk connects translanguaging, transknowledging, and linguistic citizenship, highlighting the links between diverse languages, worldviews, and epistemic (in)justice.

This will be followed by Wisam Kh. Abdul-Jabbar, a leading scholar in intercultural education and curriculum development. His talk, focusing on epistemic challenges in international education, examines cultural and epistemic tensions Arab Gulf students face in Western education. He proposes rearticulating liberal arts education through Arab-Islamic traditions to bridge the epistemological divide.

The event aims to contribute to the development of a more inclusive and linguistically aware higher education epistemic landscape, fostering environments where all students and colleagues can thrive academically, regardless of their linguistic background, helping to enhance the inclusivity and effectiveness of academic communication across linguistic and cultural boundaries.

Important details

• Where: Online (link to be provided)
• When: 14th March 2025 (10:00-12:00 GMT)

Programme

10.00 – 10.05	SRHE welcome and housekeeping Introduction and overview of the session by Dr Dylan Williams
10.05 – 10.35	Dr Richard Fay & Dr Jane Andrews: Translanguaging and a translingual mindset; transknowledging and a trans-epistemic mindset
10.35 – 11.05	Dr Wisam KH Abdul Jabbar: Epistemic Challenges in International Education: Negotiating Liberal Arts Across Cultures
11.05 – 11.15	Comfort break
11.15 – 11.35	Discussion chaired by Dr Sal Consoli & Dr Zhen Li
11.35 – 12.00	Q&A chaired by Dr Dylan Williams & Dr Ibrar Bhatt