Emerging Field Languages & Literacies
The emerging field “Languages and Literacies” investigates phenomena of linguistic diversity and challenges of language education in social contexts. Together, the Research Center Literacy in Diversity Settings (LiDS) and the Faculty of Humanities develop foundational knowledge, innovative research approaches, and practical applications.
Since 2021, the faculty research center Literacy in Diversity Settings has been bundling pioneering research on successful language education in the context of diversity. Projects such as Physics Teaching in the Context of Linguistic Diversity (PHYDIV), Under Pressure: Literacy and Discrimination, and the junior research group Multiliterality as a Labor Market Resource (MARE) demonstrate the scope and relevance of the research conducted at LiDS. Since 2025, the research center has been further strengthened by Ingrid Piller's Alexander von Humboldt Professorship.
This extraordinary research expertise is now being combined with the research strength and variety of the Faculty of Humanities in the emerging field "Languages & Literacies". Existing interfaculty projects, such as the CoDiPro project, already demonstrate the extraordinary innovative power of joint collaborations. As part of the University of Hamburg's Excellence Strategy, the joint research interests and expertise are now being leveraged in the emerging field “Languages and Literacies” to investigate linguistic diversity and education in social contexts.
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LiDS News
Photo: MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development
8 January 2026|LiDSLanguage Shift in Indigenous Communities - LiDS Lunch Lecture with Dr Hannah Sarvasy
You are cordially invited to the LiDS Lunch Lecture “New Approaches to Language Shift in Indigenous Communities” on January 22, 2026, from 12:15 p.m. to 01:45 p.m. in Room 020 of Von-Melle-Park 8.
New generations of speakers are indispensable for languages to survive. During the UN-designated “Decade of Indigenous...
Photo: Gert Albrecht für DIE ZEIT, Stiftung Lesen, Deutsche Bahn Stiftung
18 November 2025|LiDS“Shared Reading speaks your Language” - German Shared Reading Day 2025
This year's German Shared Reading Day will take place on November 21 under the motto “Shared Reading speaks your Language.” The initiative aims to highlight the unifying power of shared reading and show that every language and every voice counts. Let's use our voices and read together!
Click here to go to the official...
Photo: Cherry Zin Oo
17 November 2025|LiDSLanguage Skills and Self-Assessment - LiDS Lunch Lecture with Dr Cherry Zin Oo
You are cordially invited to the LiDS Lunch Lecture “Language Skills and Self-Assessment” on November 27, 2025, from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in Room 020 of Von-Melle-Park 8.
In her LiDS Lunch Lecture guest researcher and WERA Visiting Researcher Award winner Dr. Cherry Zin Oo will focus on the role of self-assessment and...
