Language Centres at a Crossroads

Situated in officially neutral and linguistically diverse Switzerland, on the borders to both France and Germany, the University of Basel and its Language Center are entangled in contradictory regional and global histories. On the one hand, cosmopolitan and humanitarian; on the other, exceptionalist and isolationist.

Against this background, the Language Center of the University of Basel can look back on 17 years of experience with various projects and offers that reflect the commitments of the 2018 Wulkow Memorandum on Politics. This presentation takes a candid look at how these policies panned out in past practice and what we can learn from them in developing a vision for the future.

Taking inspiration from examples of non-partisan humanitarian work, this talk explores the applicability of the notion of radical neutrality for Language Centres. We briefly explicate the common successes and limitations of various language initiatives to promote inclusion and social cohesion. These include Café International, a collaboration with the office for National & International Cooperation to develop intercultural competences within the University community; Open Auditorium, an academic access programme for refugees; and Generation Talk, conversations that aim to foster the intergenerational and intercultural contract between incoming students and residents of a local retirement home.

Eschewing self-congratulation, we use this review as a starting point for serious and critical reflection on what the vision of language centres could be that put Wulkow policies into everyday practice beyond selected showcase projects. We invite the audience to consider the questions: Can our language centres pursue the traditions of humanitarian radical neutrality? What would language learning and teaching look like that is guided by such utopian pragmatism?

Mit Standort in der Schweiz und in einer Stadt an der Grenze zu Frankreich und Deutschland befindet sich das Sprachenzentrum der Universität Basel in einem Spannungsfeld von globaler und regionaler Geschichte. Politische Neutralität und sprachliche Vielfalt prägen diese ebenso wie die Tendenz zu Abschottung und Abgrenzung.

Ausgehend vom Prinzip der Radikalen Neutralität und seiner Anwendung in der humanitären Arbeit und vom Wulkow Memorandum on Politics von 2018, wirft dieser Vortrag einen kritischen Blick auf ausgewählte Projekte am Sprachenzentrum der Universität Basel: die Veranstaltungsreihe Café International, die Zusammenarbeit mit dem Verein Offener Hörsaal, welcher sich für die Chancengleichheit von Asylsuchenden einsetzt, und die Generationengespräche, welche einen kulturen- und generationenübergreifenden sprachlichen Austausch ermöglichen.

Nach einer Diskussion über die Chancen und Grenzen dieser Projekte zur Förderung von Integration und sozialer Kohäsion stellen wir uns der Frage, ob und wie das Prinzip der Radikalen Neutralität für Sprachenzentren anwendbar ist.

Melanie Küng is Director of the Language Center of the University of Basel and has worked in multilingual environments in both academia and industry. Her interests include the promotion of intercultural competence and border studies. Stephan Meyer is Deputy Director of the Language Center of the University of Basel, where he also teaches English. His interests are in academic discourse and critical theory. Melanie and Stephan also share an interest in narrative identity.