After two years of preparation, the Second Cantonese Worlds Workshop (CW2) and the 4th Workshop on Innovations in Cantonese Linguistics (WICL-4) were successfully held on June 21st through 24th, 2018, at St. John’s College, Richmond Public Library, and the UBC Asian Centre. The four-day series brought together scholars, experts, students, and the general public to discuss all things related to Cantonese language and culture.
Initially held in April 2015, the Cantonese Worlds Workshop was a pilot event to host important conversations among leading scholars and observers regarding the transformations of the Cantonese culture in the world over the past few decades. Now, with the establishment of the popular Cantonese Language Program at UBC, CW2 aimed to continue this process of discussion with guiding questions to shape future research, outreach, and public education in various areas of Cantonese studies. The 2-day workshop featured established local and international researchers and educators, presentations by university students, screenings of films, an original musical, and a master class on lyric writing.
The Workshop on Innovations in Cantonese Linguistics was initiated in 2012 by Dr. Marjorie Chan of Ohio State University. The conference focused on new advances in Cantonese Linguistics, including new approaches to theory and data, methodologies, and applications. New research on geographical variations, overseas speaker communities, and pedagogical issues were featured this year under the theme of Cantonese Linguistics in the Pacific Rim: Theory and Applications. WICL-5 will return to Ohio State University in 2020.
The success of both events is attributed to the many sponsoring organizations and people involved, including all the local and visiting presenters, local media outlets for event promotion, as well as the organizing committee and student volunteers.
