On Friday, March 22, students, staff, and faculty gathered at Mike’s Place for a SLaLS networking event. The gathering, organized by the Carleton Applied and Theoretical Linguistics Society (CATL) and co-hosted with the Graduate Student Society of Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies (SALaDS), brought the SLaLS community together once again for snacks, games, and conversation.
Members of the SLaLS community at Mike’s Place for the networking event on March 22, 2024
Year after year, the undergraduate and graduate students of CATL and SALaDS create meaningful opportunities for connection among members of the School of Linguistics and Language Studies (SLaLS), through workshops, research symposia, and social events.
“The CATL executive have done an excellent job of encouraging student involvement this year,” notes Professor and Undergraduate Advisor Karen Jesney. “They have organized a wide variety of academic, career, and social events, and our undergraduate students have really benefited. New students should definitely check it out!”
Professor Jaffer Sheyholislami, currently serving as Graduate Supervisor (ALDS), echoes the sentiment, noting that “SALaDS have been instrumental in helping students to develop leadership skills and gain practical experience outside the classroom.”
“I am grateful to all the students who have been active members of the society, and I encourage everyone else to be involved with its activities.”
Attendees enjoyed catered snacks at the networking event on March 22, 2024
With another term winding down, we took a moment to catch up with Morgan (2023-2024 President, CATL) and Ann-Sophie (2023-2024 President, SALaDS) to learn more about some of their favourite moments from the past year and gain insight into what lies ahead for both groups.
“I am so thankful to have had the opportunity this year to lead an amazing executive team in planning and running a variety of events for the CATL community, as well as completing a very successful (and cute) merch order,” Morgan shares.
“My favourite events included our guest speaker series which explored some careers in the LING and ALDS fields and highlighted the super cool work of some of our SLaLS professors, our ‘paint a wug night’ where students got really creative in creating their own wug portraits, and the SLaLS networking night at Mike’s Place!”
2023-2024 CATL members (from left to right) Jasmine, Kennedy, Morgan, and Holly (not pictured: Julia)
Second-year PhD student Ann-Sophie has been keeping busy behind-the-scenes as a member of the organizing committee for the upcoming Graduate Student Symposium.
“We’re holding our annual Graduate Student Symposium on April 5,” Ann-Sophie shares. “It’s a great opportunity to network with fellow students, faculty, and staff, and to discover the fascinating projects being developed in the school.”
Ann-Sophie Boily (right) with Dr. Chloe Grace Fogarty-Bourget
Michael Rodgers, Director of the School of Linguistics and Language Studies, commends the two student groups for their efforts this past year.
“I would like to thank CATL and SALaDS for everything they do to bring the SLaLS community together and for increasing the quality of the student experience here at Carleton.”
The CATL events have wrapped for the academic year, and the society met on March 20 to hold a leadership succession meeting to decide on the 2024-2025 executive team. They may re-open nominations for other positions, such as Vice President Internal and another Vice President Social, later in the year.
Keep up to date on all things CATL by joining their Discord server and/or following their Instagram. Graduate students interested in joining the SALaDS executive committee for 2024-2025 are encouraged to send a message to Ann-Sophie.