Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2026
Publication Title
Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America
Abstract
In the current political and social climate, diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice initiatives in higher education face pushback and at times abolition. Educators within the field of linguistics face a paradox: vulnerability of the classroom versus the fundamental duty to promote linguistic and social justice. This organized session aimed to support community and coalition building, helping linguists build capacity to engage in the work of linguistic and social justice through their teaching. The session was structured into four areas: diversity and inclusion, justice and equity, resistance and response, and lifelong learning and engagement. The first session introduced strategies for decentering English and Euro-Western narratives through a scaffolded indigenous languages project. The second session discussed how to shift classroom practices towards indigenous data sovereignty and collaborative praxis, as illustrated by an urban fieldwork model that empowers community experts and students as co-investigators. The third session detailed practical interventions for navigating both student and institutional pushback, offering a roadmap for maintaining momentum. The last session offered methods for applying linguistic analysis of linguistic landscapes, encouraging students to recognize and challenge marginalization within their own communities. Throughout these sessions a theme emerged of centering the humanity of language and the core values underlying the field of linguistics, all of which create opportunities to further social justice through linguistics education.
Keywords
social justice, diversity, inclusion, pedagogy, data sovereignty, scholarship of teaching and learning
Volume
11
Issue
1
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v11i1.6109
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2026 Reed Blaylock, Miranda McCarvel, James A. Berry, Evan D. Bradley, Emily Graham, Jill Hallett, Sarah E. Hercula, Lisa Morgan Johnson, Kahdeidra Monét Martin, Ebi Poweigha, Md. Abusalah Sakender, Allison Taylor-Adams
Version
Version of Record
Recommended Citation
Blaylock, Reed; McCarvel, Miranda; Berry, James A.; Bradley, Evan D.; Graham, Emily; Hallett, Jill; Hercula, Sarah E.; Johnson, Lisa Morgan; Martin, Kahdeidra Monét; Poweigha, Ebi; Sakender, Md. Abusalah; and Taylor-Adams, Allison, "Social Justice in the Linguistics Classroom" (2026). Education and Child Study: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/edc_facpubs/38