From Thursday, January 7 through Sunday, January 10, ADS will hold its 2016 annual meeting at the new Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C., hosted as usual by the Linguistic Society of America.
Theme: Dialect and innovation at the turn of the 21st century. From Sali A. Tagliamonte, ADS President-elect and program chair: Dialects are a vibrant part of North America, but there are still many unstudied geographic areas and social groups. Dialects are commonly thought to be rural, old and obsolescent, but dialects are constantly being formed or reconfigured as cultural change takes place and new communities (both virtual and non-virtual) emerge and evolve novel features. Many linguistic features remain to be documented. This year, let us work towards bringing new phenomena to our meeting, whether obsolescent or innovative, working towards a comprehensive documentation of forms and features of all kinds at the turn of the 21st century.
Monday, August 17, is the deadline for proposals for 20-minute presentations. All you need is a title and an abstract of 150 to 300 words, preferably in Microsoft Word. Send it via e-mail to Executive Secretary Allan Metcalf at americandialect@mac.edu. Proposals will be judged anonymously. If your proposal is accepted, you’ll be asked for an abstract of no more than 200 words for the LSA program.
You may also collaborate with others and propose a panel, with an abstract explaining the whole and naming the panelists.
This year a poster session will again be available. If you prefer to present at a poster session, please say so with your proposal.
Presenters must be current members of the American Dialect Society. Become a member here.
Teaching panel: As usual, the ADS Committee on Teaching will sponsor a panel at the annual meeting. If you would like to propose a 20-minute talk, or two or three coordinated talks, send your proposal directly to the chair of the Committee on Teaching, Anne Curzan, at acurzan@umich.edu. Her deadline is also August 17.
Panel on employment opportunities for linguists across the educational spectrum. This panel will present internship and non-academically focused career options at all levels of linguistic education: bachelors, masters, doctoral. Proposals are invited for brief (10-15 minute) presentations. If you have created such an internship or had success advising students into particular careers or work in an industry or organization that employs linguists, particularly those focusing on Sociolinguistics and/or Variation, please submit your abstract to Julie Roberts, at Julie.Roberts@uvm.edu. Her deadline is also August 17.
Audio-visual equipment: An LCD projector with sound will be available for all presentations, along with a microphone. If you will need other equipment, please say so when you send your proposal.
Scheduling: The meeting will follow this schedule:
Thursday, January 7: Executive Council and annual business meeting in afternoon. Program session in late afternoon, followed by Word of the Year nominations.
Friday, January 8: Program sessions in early morning and all afternoon. Poster session in late morning. Words of the Year vote and Bring-Your-Own-Book reception in early evening.
Saturday, January 9: Program sessions in morning and afternoon; Annual Luncheon in between. Luncheon speaker: Gregory Guy, New York University.
Sunday, January 10: Program sessions in morning.
Session chairs: If you’re interested in chairing a session, let the Executive Secretary know at americandialect@mac.edu. Tell him any preference you have for time or topic.
Travel grants for students: Four travel grants of $500 each will be awarded to students whose papers have been chosen for the program. Furthermore, all students who are members of ADS are invited to attend the Annual Luncheon for free.
Travel grant for ADS member: The fifth annual Audrey Duckert Memorial Travel Award of $500 to attend the Annual Meeting will be given to an ADS member. The recipient will be chosen by ADS President Robert Bayley. Applications in the form of a letter to President Bayley will be due after the program for the Annual Meeting has been determined. Audrey Duckert was a long-time member of ADS and co-founder of the Dictionary of American Regional English.
Hotel and registration: ADS members will be eligible to reserve rooms and register for the meeting at LSA member rates. For details see the website www.lsadc.org.
Future LSA-ADS meetings: 2017: Austin (Texas) Jan. 5-8, JW Marriott. 2018: Salt Lake City, Jan. 4-7, Grand America Hotel. 2019: New York City Jan. 3-6, Sheraton New York Times Square.
WOTY: As we have done for a quarter of a century, we will choose candidates for Word of the Year on Thursday and vote for our WOTY the next day, with our Bring Your Own Book exhibit and reception immediately following. Nominations for Words of the Year can be submitted all year long to woty@americandialect.org.