Prof. Jeroen Darquennes is VUB-Francqui Chairholder 2021-2022
Wednesday, May 4, 2022 — On Friday 6 May 2022, Prof. Jeroen Darquennes, Professor of German Linguistics at the University of Namur, will give the inaugural lecture of his lecture series for the VUB-Francqui Chair 2021-2022. The lecture series focuses on 'multilingualism and language contact'. In five lectures, Prof. Darquennes will reflect on the opportunities and challenges of the multilingual reality in Brussels, Belgium and Europe.
Both the theme of the lectures and the chairholder's expertise underscore the ambition of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel to be an active player in the multilingual European educational area. The focus on multilingualism and language contact highlights one of the university’s research spearheads, and reflects VUB's institutional and social anchoring in multilingual Brussels
The research of prof. Jeroen Darquennes focuses on language contact and language conflict, with particular attention to language minorities in Europe. He is, among others, editor-in-chief of the series Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft and of the journal Sociolinguistica
The VUB-Francqui-Chair is organised annually with the support of the Francqui Foundation. In the academic year 2021-2022, the chair is hosted by the Faculty of Languages and Humanities of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.