About

Fact Sheet for the African Linguistics School

Purpose: The African Linguistics School (ALS) is a two-week institute which brings the latest work in core areas of linguistics to students from African universities. The areas of focus are syntax, semantics, phonology, sociolinguistics and fieldwork. 

Students: For each of the meetings of the ALS, 50-70 students have come from universities all over Africa (Togo, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, South Africa, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Tunisia, etc.) chosen each time from over 300 applications. A small number of students have come from universities in Europe or North America.

Postdoctoral scholars: A small number of recent Ph.D.’s from across Africa have also participated in each ALS.

Faculty: Sixteen to eighteen internationally recognized faculty members from North America, Europe and Africa. All faculty teach pro-bono.

Benefits to Students: Students participate in two weeks of intense training in the core areas of linguistics through a combination of course work, presentations, projects and individual consultation with faculty members. They develop international networks with faculty members and other students. Through ALS they gain access to a library of relevant literature. Students take what they have learned back to their host universities to share with their colleagues. After attending the ALS, some students go on to gain admission to North American and European graduate schools. In recent years, ALS alumni have been invited to teach at ALS, thereby helping to train the next generation of African linguistics scholars. 

Student Cost: Apart from a nominal registration fee upon arrival, all costs are covered for students from African universities. Students coming from outside Africa generally cover their own travel expenses; all other expenses are covered for them as well. (Note: in 2022, a select number of students at US universities will have travel expenses covered in addition to accommodation). 

Organizers: Chris Collins (New York University) (2009-2013); Enoch Aboh (University of Amsterdam); Akin Akinlabi (Rutgers University); John Singler (New York University) (2009-2022), (as of 2020) Sharon Rose (University of California San Diego) and (as of 2022) Lotfi Sayahi (State University of New York, Albany) and Malte Zimmermann (Potsdam University). 

Past Schools: 

ALS1: Accra, Ghana (2009)

ALS2: Porto Novo, Benin (2011)

ALS3: Ibadan, Nigeria (2013)

ALS4: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (2016)

ALS5: Makhanda, South Africa (2019)

ALS6: Porto Novo, Benin (2022)

Future Schools: ALS 7: University of Education, Winneba, Ghana (2024) 

Donors Past and Present: National Science Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, CODESRIA (Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa), Rutgers University, NYU Dean for the Social Sciences, NYU Vice Provost of Globalization and Multiculturalism, NYU Department of Linguistics, NYU Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Science, University of Amsterdam, GLOW (Generative Linguistics in the Old World), African Millennium Foundation, Yale University, Laboratoire de phonétique et de phonologie, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Association of Contemporary African Linguistics