Symposium 2025

In a world that has increasingly become marked by tensions and divisions, breaking down silos and overcoming isolation is more important now than ever. Whether our work focuses on bridging boundaries, dismantling disciplinary silos, or fostering reciprocal relationships with others, a sense of belonging to the human community remains at the very core of all these endeavours, bringing us together in solidarity and resistance. The 6th Symposium of the Southern Ontario Universities invites scholars, students, and practitioners to share and critically reflect on the role and impact of collaboration and care within the field of languages and literacies in Education. 

The Symposium of the Southern Ontario Universities will be in its sixth edition this year and is the result of ongoing collaborative efforts between different universities and post-secondary institutions in the region. The symposium seeks to continue building community not only between participating institutions but, more importantly, among students, faculty, practitioners and all those interested in language and literacies education. By creating a supportive environment for all participants, the symposium challenges traditional academic hierarchies, encouraging meaningful connections and learning from one another.  Following traditions of previous years, the symposium will feature two keynote speakers, one from a local and one from an international context respectively, to further strengthen discussion and dialogue not only within Ontario but also beyond. As a new addition to this year’s symposium, there will be an initiative to specifically support first-time attendees through mentoring and pre-symposium workshops, aiming to demystify what it means to attend or present at an academic symposium. 

We are excited to announce that the sixth Symposium of the Southern Ontario Universities will take place October 23-24, 2025 at Niagara College’s DJP Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and we invite you to submit contributions to one of the three different strands (presentations, roundtable discussion, poster presentations) in which participants will discuss new research avenues, including:

• bi-/multi-/trans-/plurilingualism in language education
• multiliteracies and multimodalities
• teachers’ and students’ agency
• mobility, migration and inclusion
• impact of language policies
• innovation in language teaching methodologies and assessment
• artificial intelligence in language education
• language acquisition and language use
• technology-assisted language learning and teaching
• online learning and distance education
• antiracism, decolonization and social justice in language education
• newcomer language education
• indigenous and heritage language education

The Symposium offers a valuable opportunity for scholars, including faculty members, graduate students, activists and practitioners, engaged in languages and literacies education to connect, share insights, and discuss their research. It serves as a platform to establish and expand opportunities for academic networking for future collaborations.

Now in its sixth edition, the Symposium is hosted by Niagara College’s Centre for Research in Education and is jointly organized by the Center for Educational Research on Languages and Literacies (CERLL) of OISE-University of Toronto and Niagara College. The University of Toronto at Mississauga, Western University, York University, the University of Waterloo and Glendon College are also major collaborators in this initiative. The Symposium provides a unique opportunity to further strengthen collaboration and cultivate community both within and across institutional boundaries. The hybrid format will once again allow for broader participation, welcoming both national and international audiences, as was successfully achieved in previous editions. With a diverse program featuring plenary sessions, presentations, roundtable discussions, poster sessions, and social events, the Symposium offers participants from Ontario and beyond an excellent opportunity to engage with the wider academic community in language and literacies education.