The theme of Language Centre Days was Languages across borders - event attracted over 200 participants to the campus

The theme of this year's Language Centre Days was "Tahto & Tila: Språk över gränserna - Languages across borders". In addition to the University of Vaasa, the sponsors were the City of Vaasa and Dermoshop.

The event featured more than 50 presentations on languages and communication in Finnish, Swedish and English, with speakers representing more than 20 different higher education institutions in Finland and abroad.

On Wednesday, plenary speakers Maria Järlström, Rebecca Piekkari and Gavin Furukawa discussed multilingualism in universities from a staff perspective and the ideals and practices of language trainers.

On Thursday, Tanja Sihvonen discussed finiteness in a positive sense from the perspectives of human memory and security policy, among others. Mari K. Niemi and Joakim Strand spoke about building community and opening up opportunities in a multilingual environment.

Various prizes were also awarded at the event:

Best presentation title: Eva Braidwood & Katrin Korkalainen, University of Oulu
Best poster design: Grainne Hiney, University of Helsinki.
Best social media content of the Language Centre Days: the Centre for Language and Communication Studies at the University of Turku
Best language story: Tiina Sorvali, University of Vaasa, Finland

The next Language Centre Days will be organised jointly by the University of the Arts Helsinki and the National Defence University in Helsinki in December 2023.

Photos of the event:

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Director of the Language Center Nina Pilke. 

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Vice Rector Annukka Jokipii.

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University Lecturer Maria Järlström as a plenary speaker.

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Professor Tanja Sihvonen as a plenary speaker. 

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