On Friday 6 May 2022, Prof. Jeroen Darquennes will give the inaugural lecture of his lecture series for the VUB-Francqui Chair 2021-2022. The lecture series focuses on ‘multilingualism and language contact’. In five lectures, Prof. Darquennes will reflect on the opportunities and challenges of the multilingual reality in Brussels, Belgium and Europe.

Friday 6 May: 10-12. Aloïs Gerlo Auditorium, D.2.01.
Inaugurale lezing: Taalwetenschap en de architectuur van de Europese samenleving. (In Dutch).
Wednesday 11 May: 10-12. Lecture room D.3.09.
Il est défendu de parler breton et de cracher à terre – over de rol van minderheidstalen in het Europese onderwijslandschap/taalonderwijs. (In Dutch).
Thursday 12 May: 10-12. Lecture room D.2.16.
Language standardization and the future of (unique) European minority languages. (In English).
Friday 13 May: 10-12. Lecture room D.3.09.
Geen taalcontact zonder taalconflict: Nelde’s Law revisited. (In Dutch).
Thursday 19 May: 10-12. Lecture room D.2.16.
Belgians and their languages in the 21st century. (In English).

Both the theme of the lectures and the chairholder’s expertise underscore the ambition of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel to be an active player in the multilingual European educational area. The focus on multilingualism and language contact highlights one of the university’s research spearheads, and reflects our institutional and social anchoring in multilingual Brussels.

You are cordially invited to the inaugural lecture (followed by a reception) on Friday 6 May 2022 at 10 AM in the Aloïs Gerlo Auditorium of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (room D.2.01 ‘Promotiezaal’, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels).

Please confirm your attendance before 25 April 2022 by sending an email to Wim Vandenbussche (wim.vandenbussche@vub.be). Anyone wishing to attend (one or more of) the other lectures is very welcome; please mention this when registering. Wearing a mouth mask is still recommended under the current corona measures.

Professor Jeroen Darquennes is Professor of German Linguistics at the University of Namur, where he currently serves as Vice Rector for Internationalisation. His research focuses on language contact and language conflict, with particular attention to language minorities in Europe. He is, among others, editor-in-chief of the series Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft / Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science [HSK, De Gruyter] and of the journal Sociolinguistica.

The VUB-Francqui-Chair is organised annually with the support of the Francqui Foundation. In the academic year 2021-2022, the chair is hosted by the Faculty of Languages and Humanities of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.