Grad student helps organize international linguistics conference at Fresno State

This year, the Western Conference on Linguistics (WECOL) at Fresno State on Nov. 16-17 will welcome 55 speakers representing 21 countries and 46 universities around the world. WECOL has a long history at Fresno State, beginning in 1988, but has greatly expanded since becoming virtual during the pandemic, attracting more international participants who may not have been able to attend in person. 

At the center of coordinating this event is Keira Colleluori, a graduate linguistics student who has worked tirelessly to ensure the conference runs smoothly. Her job includes reviewing the abstracts for each presenter, scheduling their spots and communicating with them to be sure the event program is accurate. She then coordinates with the rest of the conference organizing team to be sure everyone is on the same page.

“I learned a lot about how all of the background work that goes into putting together a conference like this…especially with an international conference, making sure that everyone has a good time because their time zones are so different,” Colleluori said. 

Two keynote speakers will take virtual center stage at WECOL. The first is Martina Wiltschko, an ICREA Research Professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, will be giving a keynote address titled “The grammar of self-talk. What different modes of talking reveal about language.” Wiltschko is a syntax expert who has published extensively on various topics in linguistics. Her research often focuses on how languages are structured if they don’t mark grammatical tense. Her talk will be at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 16.

Her presentation will be chaired by Dr. John Boyle with Fresno State and alumnus Zach Metzler, who is working on his Ph.D. at UCLA. 

“I’ve been a huge fan of Martina Wilko’s work. For a long time now and we’ve tried to get her here,” said Golston. “So, I’m really happy that she’s finally able to come, this time from Spain.”

The second keynote speaker Martin Krämer, a phonologist and a postdoc in phonology at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, in Tromsø. He will present his talk, “Laryngeal Rationalism,” at 9 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 17th. His research focuses on the sounds of languages, including consonants, vowels, and syllable structure. Krämer has published a book on phonological representations, as well as numerous articles on topics such as palatalization, syllable structure, and vowel harmony. He has given presentations at conferences all over the world, including WECOL in 2021.

His presentation will be chaired by Dr. Brian Agbayani, Dr. Chris Golston and Dr. Jidong Chen from Fresno State. WECOL is free and open to the public. The full WECOL program and registration information is available at WECOL.weebly.com.