This week on the Huskie Conversation Cafe, your host J Pappas (they/them/theirs) is joined by Dr. Mehdi Semati (he/him/his), Professor and Chair in the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University.

J and Mehdi discuss culture and language, how the two create one another, the importance of common language, and communication and humor as a form of civic engagement and activism. They reference chapters 4 and 14 in this episode of the podcast.
Find Dr. Semati’s new co-authored book, Iran and the American Media, here: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030748999

Debrief Questions
Where do you see language informing culture in your community?
How is language weaponized in our communities today to increase othering?
In what ways can we make an impact in our communities regarding language and culture? How can we be more inclusive of different languages?

Episode Sources
https://southafrica-info.com/arts-culture/11-languages-south-africa/#:~:text=Afrikaans%20became%20an%20official%20language%20in%20South%20Africa,make%20up%2013.5%25%20of%20the%20country%E2%80%99s%20total%20population.
https://www.dhet.gov.za/reports%20doc%20library/development%20of%20indigenous%20african%20languages%20as%20mediums%20of%20instruction%20in%20higher%20education.pdf
https://libcom.org/history/1976-the-soweto-riots
https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/june-16-soweto-youth-uprising
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4168870.pdf
http://salanguages.com/timeline.htm
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/language-policy-and-oppression-south-africa

Continue Engaging!
Find other programming from Academic Diversity Equity, and Inclusion here: https://calendar.niu.edu/department/academic_diversity_equity_and_inclusion
Register for a CODE workshop here: https://www.niu.edu/diversity/education-training/code-workshops/index.shtml

Music:
Many thanks to Kevin MacLeod for the use of his music as the intro and outro of this podcast.
Beauty Flow by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5025-beauty-flow
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/