This language policy got me thinking: “To further enhance inclusivity and enrich academic discussions, IPSA introduced a new policy for the World Congress that allows participants in closed panels to present in languages other than English, French, or Korean (for LOC panels), provided that all panel members agree.”
On the one hand, I can see the appeal, given that most people on this planet are not native English speakers. On the other hand, a panel in another language will be excluding many more researchers, given that English is by far the most common second language. This is different from the situation in Switzerland, where historically, French-speakers could present in French, and German-speakers could present in German, assuming that the others will understand (it didn’t work for Italian in the first place, and increasingly it doesn’t work out anyway). Not sure what I’d do, though.
Published 5 August 2024